Timing is Everything

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It smelt of cigarettes. Haze flowed through the sepia-themed room. Books were neatly lined on shelves, dusty and worn. The floor was rough and jagged, stained with past events such as parties. For an office, it was quite the mess. Red sofas sat against a wall, both on either side of a door with the name "Carter Harpe" haphazardly plastered on the blurred glass. The desk that greeted any visitor's sight as they entered the room was the only sleek furnished item. There sat a fan, a cup full of pencils, stacks of paper, handcuffs, and a cup of lukewarm coffee. No one was in the room. Instead, on the wall behind the desk were blinds, showcasing the late-night rain.

Carter ran through the rain. He passed lamp posts, rhythmically running his feet across the pavement. The lights acted as a spotlight, decorating his fabulously charming descent down the town. Puddles of water splashed under his shoe, glistening from the bright moon. Carter's elongated brown trench coat swished back, fighting against the wind and deluge as he held his hat firm on his head. His body was slanted forward like a submarine missile travelling to its victim.

Real spotlights shone from a tall building, signalling to Carter his destination was within reach. The dirtied white building loomed over Carter, its pillars taller than the height of a hundred men. He sprinted over the steps, gracefully tapping over three steps at a time without slipping. He used his free hand to dig into his coat pocket, and he reached through the revolving door. When a staff member of the casino came to question the rushed but elegant man, Carter pulled a badge from his pocket before jumping past him.

Across the enormous hall, a tastefully red-dressed woman sang on a stage. To each side of the hall were slot machines all whirring and ticking at the same time. People crowded around the stage as Carter shouted and shoved people out of the way. Eventually, this commotion caught up to people ahead; they parted like the Red Sea, leading Carter to the singer. A young boy brushed Carter's shoulder as the sea of people opened. Carter spotted the peculiar boy, who wore a tuxedo and smiled before running off. Carter gazed wide-eyed at the boy for a split second before continuing to the singer.

The woman still sang, even as the commotion that was Carter's arrival disoriented the audience. He hopped onto the stage and sped past the singer and into backstage. Backstage workers gasped as Carter dove through a metal door and into a room. There, a podium with a glass box stood. In the glass box was nothing: Carter was too late. The diamond had been stolen.

Carter rushed back to the singer and swiped her microphone. He screamed into the microphone searching for the thief. He then remembered the oddly placed boy: this was a casino, if he really was a boy, he wouldn't be inside the building. It all clicked. Carter made a dramatic exit off stage and through the entrance of the building.

At this point, a fleet of cars pulled up to the casino as Carter loudly ordered them to find a boy wearing a tuxedo. He briefly described the boy as possibly being a female with dark blue hair. Then, he jumped into a car before spotting a truck with the boy in the back making a silly face. Carter yelled at the police officer to follow the truck before taking a speakerphone and ordering the cars behind him to do the same. The truck sped through the town, eventually exited through a stone bridge that separated the island city-town from the mainland. The boy stripped off his tuxedo to reveal a short-haired girl with a white t-shirt and joggers. The girl pulled off binders from inside her shirt, revealing she was in fact a female. She stuck her tongue out and flicked off Carter before sticking her head into the driver's seat. Carter climbed out of the window and crawled onto the car roof. The police car neared the truck as Carter pounced onto the vehicle before the girl turned around and gasped. Carter and the girl tumbled out of the truck and fell onto the ground harshly. Carter had restrained the girl, holding her down as police cars sped past to catch the truck driver. A couple of police cars halted to help Carter.

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