Harper spied Jankowitz coming into the bullpen from the bathroom and waved him over. “Bring your partner. We need to talk about the push-ins.”
Twenty-year veteran Detective Jeff Leeds made a face as he settled into a chair opposite them. A grumpy bear of a man, he had instincts that couldn’t be taught and a gut that rarely pointed him in the wrong direction. “I gotta tell you, what’s the world coming to when we got girl gangs roaming the streets?”
Jankowitz set his hard jaw and rolled his eyes behind black-framed glasses. “I tried to tell Jeff here that it doesn’t matter—man or woman, thugs are gonna thug. They hit one old man on Columbia Heights off Cranberry. He was wheeling his little grocery cart to his front door, and when he opened it, this girl conked him on the head and took his wallet. Poor slob had over a hundred bucks in it. He’d just been at the bank.”
“Only one perp this time?” Harper asked, surprised.
“Yeah, looks like they’re splitting up because about five minutes later another vic—a woman in her sixties—opened the door and got the same treatment, only this time her house was ransacked. No prints, nothing.” Jankowitz made a disgusted sound.
“Getting brazen,” Leeds added. “But that’s when they usually slip up.”
“We hope,” Nolan said. “But if they’re splitting up, that means they feel emboldened because we haven’t been able to catch them.”
“Yet.I think they’re getting cocky and greedy, not bold,” Harper insisted. “I agree with Leeds.”
“One thing you’re gonna find interesting”—Leeds pulled his notepad closer—“is that the lady told us the one who popped her over the head had a tattoo of the devil on her arm. So these are the same people doing the e-scooter robberies.”
“Fucking hell,” Harper cursed. “It never occurred to me to connect them. Makes it harder, but it’s all good info.”
“All right.” Jankowitz rose to his feet. “I’m going home to remind my wife I’m alive. See you in a couple of days.”
“Thanks, guys.” Nolan raised a hand in a salute. “We’re going to head out in a few.”
That proved to be delayed, as they got tied up with phone calls and leads calling in from all the cards they’d handed out. It wasn’t until the afternoon that they escaped the squad room andgot to the street. They interviewed the elderly man, who couldn’t remember a thing, and several of the neighbors on the street, but no one had seen anything. The woman who’d been burglarized had left to go to Long Island and stay with her daughter for a while, so that was a bust.
“A whole lot of nothing,” Nolan groused.
He agreed and was about to suggest a cup of coffee when his phone rang with an unidentified number.
“Rose,” he answered.
“Is this the detective I spoke to last week? The one at the bank? I was holding the door. You gave me your card.”
“Yes.” He searched his memory. “Mr…Lewis?”
“That’s me.”
“How can I help you?”
“Well, I think I’m the one who’s going to help you. Ms. Millie Johnson was here, and I didn’t think nothin’ of it, but then I noticed this girl followed her down the block. Now, I couldn’t go far ’cause this gentleman was paying me fifteen dollars to watch and make sure his car didn’t get no tickets. But I saw Ms. Johnson go into the fruit stand, and this girl waited, then followed her. Like a lion stalking her prey.”
“Thank you very much.” He shoved the phone in his pants. “Let’s go.” He waved to Nolan and took off. “That was the door opener from the bank. Said some girl was following Millie Johnson home.”
They tore through the quiet streets, zipping past dog walkers, delivery people, and the stroller brigade. At the approach to Millie’s house, he drew his weapon, as did Nolan. The front door sat ajar, and he raced up the brownstone’s stairs. He heard voices—female and a male—and ran inside.
“Freeze, police.” He pointed his gun…at Millie, who stood unfazed in her foyer.
“Detective Rose. We were just about to call you.”
He spied Colson standing over a girl on the ground. She was holding her face and moaning.
“Anyone else here, or is she alone?”
“No,” Colson answered.
Nolan scanned the room and holstered his gun. “What happened?”
“I was just about to ask that,” Harper growled. “Will someone tell us?”
