Thieves and Magicians

Chapter 5

The following weeks were mostly spent at Xavier's place practising for the upcoming show as usual when they had a performance coming up. Except this time, the carefree atmosphere was now heavy due to the uncertainty of the future. Xavier was running a list of his connections through his mind, trying to think of a suitable assistant candidate, while also wondering what was gonna happen to him and Lizzie. Despite the circumstances, the unlikely duo had become rather close within those three months and considered the other a friend.

Lizzie too was pondering over the questions regarding her future. Is she just gonna leave all this behind and return to her old ways of living? She liked being a magician and working with Xavier but because of the reason she joined in the first place, just staying felt weird. Besides, the extra cash helped pay back the loan whilst also keeping a roof over her head. The two, however, decided not to voice those thoughts and continued practice as usual.

The 14th eventually rolled around and it was time to make magic. As usual, they arrived about an hour early at the venue to set everything ready for the show. The show went smoothly, the tricks were epic and the audience was charmed. With the final bows taken and clean-up done, the performers started to head home. Soon enough they reached the point where their ways departed. "Are you going home or spending the night in my place?" Xavier stopped and glanced at Lizzie. "I'm going home," Lizzie responded as she halted and turned to face Xavier. He nodded. "Guess this is goodbye then," Xavier said, trying to cover up the sadness in his tone. "Guess so..." Lizzie sighed and after a moment, spread out her arms as if asking for a hug. They embraced each other tightly and after pulling away, gave each other one last wave before turning around and going in opposite directions.

Before going home, she made a quick trip to the forest hideout to see whether she had any new letters. She pushed the rocks aside to reveal an envelope in a plastic bag. She slipped it in her bag and headed home. Before going inside she took the mail from the mailbox and skimmed through the newsletters headlines as she approached her front door. The front door closed and locked, boots and jacket put away, she plopped down on the couch and undid the knot sealing the plastic bag shut to retrieve the letter. Upon checking the writing on the envelope, she discovered one of her informants had found her a new target.

Long time no talk, Birdie. I have found something that I think might interest you. There's a mansion in the city suburbs and the owner is filthy rich. And guess what - she just so happens to go on a weekend trip in four weeks. She leaves on Friday night and is supposed to return on Sunday at noon. Now, the gardener and the maids are still there - usually not all on the same day though - but their shifts start a little after noon and they usually leave early the next morning or even the same night so there's at least a couple hours when the mansion is totally empty. I've provided the address below and pictures in the envelope. If you decide to pick up this gig then I'm sure it's gonna be worth your time.

Take care, Birdie.

Mockingbird

There were indeed photos in the envelope, all printed out and enhanced with magic. There were photos of the workers, owners and the mansion itself. The house deserved the mansion title - it was huge. Lizzie read the letter again and investigated the building in the photo. She was tempted - she was certain there were more valuables than she could carry - but she also realised that a mere couple hours is way too little time to properly comb a mansion of this size alone, so she had serious doubts about whether the risk was worth it, even if she did have a month to prepare. As she was sealing the envelope shut, a thought crossed her mind - what if she wasn't alone? Two people is still better than one. She tried to make the thoughts crawl back into the dark hole where they came from, but failed miserably.

He said it himself, thieves and magicians use a similar set of skills, just for different purposes. That doesn't mean you should ask him to be a thief, you idiot! Hey, don't call me an idiot, idiot! He is already your accomplice! He could have easily talked his way out of it! There was no real danger for him, you moron! Additionally, you can't know for sure that he didn't tip off the cops!

After a while of such inner dialogue, she groaned and got ready for bed, hoping the thoughts would be gone in the morning. The thoughts were, indeed, not gone by the morning.

She was still thinking about it as she washed her face and made herself breakfast. With a sigh, she placed the dishes in the sink without bothering to wash them and went to get the latest newspaper from the mail. Still nothing about her. She headed back inside and straight to her closet. She brought out an emergency backpack containing some money, contact lenses, multiple pairs of zero glasses, wigs, a makeup kit, spare clothes, gloves, a bottle of spirit, a small cloth, rations, knives and about a dozen hairpins. She let out a sigh of relief and zipped the bag shut again but left it out of the closet.

Two weeks, she thought to herself as she headed to the living room, bringing a notebook and some pencils with her. If I see nothing about me on the newspaper or city info board in the next two weeks then I'll conclude that he kept his mouth shut and consider talking to him. She sat down and started planning, not certain whether the plan was ever gonna see the light of day or just the light of destructive flames as it turned to ash.

Two weeks passed and the cold case remained cold. No news articles or posters on the city board asking the city folk whether they've seen this criminal with her photo attached. No one on the streets looked at her weirdly either, to most people, she was just another passerby. There were a few people who approached her, though they either wanted her autograph or to just express admiration. She was somewhat surprised, but by that point, she was more surprised about being surprised. Everyone knew the cops were incompetent so even if Xavier had left them a tip, there is a chance nothing would have been done - it was just a theft case and more than three months old by now.

She'd put together a plan, acquainted herself with the mansion as well as she could and analyzed the risks. As she was eating breakfast one morning, she took one final look at all she knew and the plan she'd put together. Everything seemed fine. The only remaining question was whether she was going inside there alone or with an accomplice - if at all. Though she tried hard to think of anyone else other than Xavier who would possibly even consider accompanying her, her mind was blank. Sure, she could blackmail a colleague of hers to work with her, but she'd much rather start with bribing - and so far Xavier was the only one who could gain something from this besides extra cash.

"Ah, to hell with it!" she groaned, grabbed the envelope and her notebook, threw on a light jacket and headed for the exit door. She was almost out the door when she came to a halt upon seeing the clock on the wall next to the entrance - it wasn't even eight a.m. yet. While Lizzie was the "early to bed, early to rise" type of person, Xavier was more of a "stay awake late, wake up late" type of person. With an annoyed sigh, she put the jacket back on the hangar and went to sit down. She figured she should wait at least until ten before suddenly showing up at his door.

She sat down on the couch, leg pouncing. After about two minutes, she started pacing around the living room. This isn't working. Out of boredom, she decided to dig up more letters from her informants mentioning some kind of mansions or generally more difficult targets. Don't get your hopes up, this is just so I can keep my mind occupied. She found four more letters mentioning places similar to her next target. She put two of them aside immediately - the reasons being guard dogs, at least one person present in the house most of the time, lots of difficult-to-pick locks and vigilant neighbours, to top it all off. Not worth the risk.

She checked the remaining two - though the buildings were huge and the nearest police station was just a few blocks down south, they didn't seem so bad otherwise. Neither of the owners had any dogs, their neighbours mostly minded their own business, they went out regularly and though both of them had maids to take care of the house then even they weren't present all the time - meaning that there were a solid few hours in which the buildings were empty. Not quite enough for one person to properly comb through the place, but for two it might just be enough.

She grabbed a notebook from a shelf and started writing down the key details about the targets. Soon enough she had also scribbled down some ideas for each building, so she had something to show Xavier, on the off-chance he accepted her first proposal. By the time she was done, the clock had struck 11. She packed her stuff, slung her messenger bag on her shoulder and headed out.