Wonderland Woes

A Bowl of Mafia, Just Right

Goldilocks straightened her sunglasses. Visiting the restaurant during daytime was dangerous, it would invite unwanted attention, possibly blow her cover, but it was the only time when the bosses weren’t there. Besides, Goldilocks' bosses were now losing patience with the operation and wanted her back at the station working homicide.
The Three Bears mafia wasn’t that powerful – on the surface. Goldilocks had gotten obsessed with it recently, after her criminal informant tipped her off – it wasn’t called the Three Bears mafia for nothing. Her informant told her that they were enforcers, making factory workers strike, bringing the company stocks and production down, which worked for the stock market bears wonderfully well.
Running a restaurant called ' Three Bears’ next to Beast Street which was also a front for a mafia was… one of the smarter ideas Goldilocks had heard of. If it were up to her, she’d just run the restaurant – imagine the revenues on just that! As she got nearer to the restaurant, the temperature dropped to one uncharacteristic for Wonderland in summer. Chills ran up her spine, defying the rules of gravity. She remembered to silence her phone. It wouldn’t be convenient if her phone rang in the middle of her tryst with espionage.
Her skin was dotted with pebbles as she swung open the door to the little wooden restaurant. It would be cute and homely if she didn’t know it was a front for a mafia. She gave a curt nod to the manager who wasn’t just a manager. The waiters and chefs didn’t know the double act, so she was a little safer because of that. It felt like a lead block had been dropped in her gut, her intestines clenching themselves tighter. First, she headed into the ladies’ room. Her contact had sneaked a gun in there. The police department was in serious trouble if they copied their tradecraft from The Godfather.
Goldilocks slowly turned the knob on the back-office door, with a packet of Advil in one hand. Shutting the door just as quietly, she rushed to the desk. No – hiding mafia information here would be far too easy. She looked around. She had to be swift, she didn’t have time to check the entire room. She looked around – there was a trap door on the other side of the room, but hiding something there would be far too difficult. What if something needed to be accessed quickly? She looked at a small cabinet in the corner. That was just right – it was inconspicuous, she would’ve ignored it if she wasn’t looking for something like it in particular.
She twisted her hair pin until she heard a click. Files! Opening them, she saw that these were receipts of payments – to enforcers, to politicians. Taking them all out, Goldilocks opened her phone, still on silent, and started clicking pictures. Anything even somewhat relevant, she clicked. Putting all the files back and making it look like nothing had been touched. Just as she was about to leave, she saw the paperweight on the desk. It was a very normal wooden block, but Goldilocks found it odd somehow, so she took a picture of the varnished block with a rabbit engraved on it as well. The door swung open. The manager.
Goldilocks tried to keep her breathing in check. She raised her hand which still had the Advil. “I had a terrible headache. Thought I might find something here.” The manager looked suspicious, but Goldilocks pushed past him, and signaled a waiter as she took a table near the exit. “I’ll have a porridge. And make sure it’s not too hot or cold, please. I’d like if it’s just right.”