Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt #7

You have excellent manners for a thief and a liar

Penelope Rhodes, criminal mastermind, strikes again.

On the cover of the daily news was a character I was more than familiar with. My hands wound up crumpling the newspaper

Today at around eleven a.m., a pawn shop by the name if Fixt located in the middle of Evercrest Road was broken into. A lone blue-haired girl made off with all the money in the register only leaving behind a signature playing card of Bulma from Dragon Ball; it was the Queen of Hearts. Her goofy face and a peace sign with girly cursive that said "Better luck next time!" has been taunting the police for months now. I suppose this would be the ninth one this year.

To this day I was never able to catch even a glimpse of this blue-haired criminal, somehow she always eluded me. You'd think a woman with teal hair would stand out as a noticeable characteristic but I tell you - that girl is like the wind. Her name is Penelope Rhodes and I'm going to get her if it's the last thing I do.

HQ was less than hectic today. Captain was at a press conference about human trafficking in the east, near the docks while the rest of us were stuck dealing with petty crimes. Last week an eight year old called me fore help on their homework assignment. I don't remember learning trigonometry in third grade but kids these days have all their tablets and gizmos that the board of education just assume this stuff is easy for them.

Lunch today was a cup of ramen noodles in the office. It leaned more towards watery and disappointment than appetizing and fulfilling meal of the day. When I heard the call I was more than willing to abandon the poor excuse for a meal and catch this woman. I was just itching to be on the case.

Sadly Penelope was nowhere in sight when I arrived, not that I honestly expected her since this incident wouldn't be recognized as a grand heist, this wasn't regarded as a case worth investigating. A couple hundred dollars were taken. It was nothing worth getting your panties in a twist. Even my superior was confused as to why a detective such as myself would actively want to solve in a petty theft.

Penelope was more elaborate than this, something was wrong.

At around two, there were only two officers on the scene speaking to the owner, apart from the crime scene unit attempting to pick up a print or two. Nasty sounding crunch beneath my shoes alerted me that glass scattered.

The pawn shop, Fixt, was sitting next to an abandoned liquor store decorated with an uninviting thick chain across the door coupled with an ironic "welcome" sign that flickered erratically. Beside that store were two apartment buildings with a poor excuse for an alley cut between them, small enough for one large dumpster. A chained gate separated the dumpster from the rusty playground the neighborhood kids would smoke pot in.

Other than walking around with my hands in my pocket and glancing over possible evidence, there is nothing for me to do. Penelope left no trail, as per usual, and the two rookie cops did all the basic things so I didn't have to lift a finger. At almost three, they were on their way back to HQ. Even the CSU had wrapped up. It was just me, the owner and broken glass but no broken window.

"Old man, where'd this glass come from?" I call to him. The shop owner had permanent frown lines ingrained on his face. Just how many lifetimes of disappointment had he endured?

When he saw me it was clear that he wasn't a very happy camper. Getting robbed sort of puts you in a bad mood.

"And you are?" he sneered at me, a sniffle betrayed his mean appearance.