Day 7 of COVID quarantine: I'VE BEEN ROBBED! I went to grab my wallet to see how many more punches until a free Jimmy John's sandwich when I realize that my wallet that has been sitting next to my bed has disappeared.

I begin searching the house.

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Day 9: I begin to suspect my small children of hiding it. This is the log of my first interrogation session:



I am beginning to think that the small children are responsible. Their alibis are full of holes and their stories don't match up at all. Placing them under 24/7 surveillance to see if either of them go after the loot.

Day 11: My children are taunting me. When I asked them once again where my wallet is the older one said he found it and ran off. I followed, excited at having my property recovered. He returned with his "Hide & Seek" cat toy.

That monster. He was taunting me. Clear as day. Further surveillance reported nothing unusual.

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Day 12: The taunting has become torture. Every five minutes one of my children cries out "I FOUND YOUR WALLET" and runs up to me with a random household object. Transcript as follows:



Surveillance is costing the department a mountain in overtime. Chief Mom is saying the investigation is going to have to come to a close soon if no further progress is to be made. I have the culprits but I cannot get either one of them to crack. I might have to continue the case...off the books.

Day 13: I have decided to broaden my scope. While the young children are proving to be suspicious they might be covering for someone else. I decided to make a subtle interrogation of Chief Mom. Transcript as follows.



Chief Mom made me immediately. If I am going to make further accusations against her I will need to go to a judge and pull a warrant. In the meantime I am processing the paperwork to issue a search of the children's rooms. If one of them is hiding stolen property we will find out when we no-knock raid tomorrow at dawn.

edit: Day 13 cont.

I thought I had a break. The oldest child cracked and ratted out the younger claiming they had seen the other grab my wallet and take it to the basement. The game was afoot! We descended into the dark bowels as I followed my guide to the back closet. So far things seemed plausible, this was spare storage for their toys and they would often run down here to play with their old toys. I looked around the closet but didn't see anything. Here is the transcript for the interrogation.



4YO points at a crack in the covered sump pit. It was definitely large enough to fall down there. Further interrogation reveals the 4YO and 2YO were fighting over it and to avoid giving it to 4YO the 2YO threw it and it fell down the crack. So far while the story isn't the most likely it does sound plausible. I shine a light into the sump pit and luckily there is only 2.5" of water so I can clearly see the bottom. I don't see it so I uncover the pit and carefully check the area. Nothing. Further transcript as follows:



I called off the search for the day. Yet another false lead from one of my top suspects. I begin consulting with Chief Mom to see if we can build a case for obstruction of justice.
This message was last edited by the user at 18:08, Fri 27 Mar 2020.

Day 14: No-Knock raid at dawn went off beautifully. Right as the sun was rising I burst through 4YO's door. 4YO was still in bed so was unable to hide any evidence. Immediately started tossing the place. Toys and stuffed animals went flying as 4YO stared in wonder at my speed and efficiency. 4YO didn't even try to run. Maybe they weren't guilty after all? I would imagine the guilty party would try and flee or get rid of evidence.

Halfway through tossing the room I came upon the stuffed animal bin. With tactical precision I upended the bin and dumped it on the floor. There in the middle next to the ewok and the Minion was a small black leather square. I had found it.  4YO looked confused.

Interrogation transcript follows:



Ah, the Shaggy Defence. A powerful legal defense but by this point I was already above the law. Chief Mom had pulled me from the case the previous night after the sump pump fiasco so I was off the books now. Further interrogation as follows.



Unfortunately I later found out that by retrieving the wallet immediately I had tainted the evidence. Chief Mom tried to avoid a lawsuit by suspending me and making me restore 4YO's room. In the end while there was strong circumstantial evidence that 4YO was the culprit we couldn't establish a timeline or a motive so D.A. Mom decided not to pursue the case any further.

The case was dropped, the culprit still walks free but at least I can drive to the store legally once again. Perhaps that is all the justice I can hope for in this crazy upside-down world we live in.

<END>

*applauds*

Thank you so much for this!!

That was simply awesome

Bravo!

Social Distancing Day Three-Thousand Nine Hundred Forty Seven

Faithful journal, have moved again.  C19's found safehouse.  Have found new home, once owned by The Detective.  Quite tidy, except for one room strewn with toys.  Have found series of case logs detailing Detective's last case.  Perhaps they shall shed light into what occurred here.  Following them shall at least divert the mind from the screeching C19s searching deeper in The City.

May they bypass this place.

Am I the only one that noticed the issue was driving to the store illegally, but not driving to the store with no way to pay?

No need money when have gun.

In reply to NowhereMan (msg # 10):

So if you're going to break the law, you might as well go all the way huh?

I suspect The Detective was ordering Jimmy John's delivery...

Well done, very entertaining!

*Applause*

In reply to evileeyore (msg # 8):

Loved your follow up as well, thanks to all for the entertainment!

What a suspense!

Honestly, looks like a classic frame-job to me. I'd keep an eye on Chief/D.A. Mom. No one gets a cushy position like that without having some skeletons in their closet.

Tread carefully, though. If I'm right, and it gets out, it'll hurt the reputation of the whole agency.