The Jester's Court

Chapter 11: Goin' to be Interestin'

We arrived at the first bank right on time. It was a narrow thing; the traffic had been particularly bad. The bank manager took us into the security room and there we watched the Jester reprogram the bank's ATMs, one at a time.

He wore his typical get up, includin' the mask and gloves. I didn't think there would be any evidence available that would link me to the crime and I was relieved. It seemed that the Jester put my police knowledge to work and was attemptin' to be smart. We asked for a copy of the footage, which they gave eagerly.

The thing is, it wasn't clear to me that there was a crime committed since the Jester himself didn't gain anythin' from what he did. I said as much to Danny on the way to lunch before the next bank meetin'.

"Hmm... I think that tampering with an ATM is at least a state violation, but I'm not sure," Danny said.

"Yeah, but since he himself didn't actually take any money, I'm willin' to bet that he could get out of that." I countered.

"You're probably right. Regardless, that's a thing for the lawyers. Our job is to catch him."

"Right."

After lunch, and the requisite deposit on my tie, we headed to the second bank. It was much the same experience as the first.

As soon as we were done, my work phone rang. We were one of the few precincts around that were issued cell phones as part of the job. It was dispatch with a third bank on the line. I had them patch it through.

As with the others, we made our way there and collected the evidence. By the end of the day, all of the banks with ATMs on the block had contacted us. We made appointments with each one, a few of which would be left until the mornin'.

In the afternoon, I also got a call from the garage. The insurance would cover the damages; they were less severe than I had expected. I had them start on the work, of course.

Once home for the evenin', I began to research twenty-four hour mailbox places and found a few within walkin' distance from home. I set out to take a look.

I had my answer right away when I walked in the door of the first one. The young man behind the counter said, "Hi Mr. Smith! How are you this evening?"

"I'm doin' well, but I seem to have forgotten my key."

"Oh, no problem. Just show me your ID, you know, for official purposes, and I'll grab what's in it for you."

I showed him my driver's license, hopin' it was the correct ID. Sure enough, it was and he brought out five Amazon packages for me, one of which was very heavy. I was never going to be able to just carry these home, walking.

I was becomin' more and more impressed with the Jester. He could have ordered items from very specific stores, but, instead, he'd ordered from a place with a generic packin' system. I thought about the electronics, because he'd not have been able to order that kind of stuff from Amazon. I realized, though, that it wouldn't be out of character for me to order electronics, so I was probably safe, if the mailbox was ever discovered.

I could also play off havin' the box because I didn't want packages delivered to the house anymore. I might just happen to mention to Danny that a few of my boxes were stolen and that I was goin' to open up said box. That could be a passable alibi.

"Oh, wow," I said the the clerk as he stacked the boxes. I thought fast. "I wasn't expectin' these packages so soon. My car's in the shop."

"Oh, man, that sucks. Oh, hey! Yeah! The Jester dropped your car into a manhole. Man, that was sick," the kid laughed.

I faked a laughed back. "You wouldn't think so, if you saw the repair bill."

"Dude, yeah. So, what are you going to do about the boxes?"

"I guess I'll just Lyft them." I requested the ride in the app and, in about a half an hour, it showed up. God I love modern society and its technology.

All-in-all, the whole fiasco took about an hour and a half. I was anxious as to what was in the boxes, but, right when I walked in the door, I got a call from Sue. I couldn't put her off, so I had to answer. She said she need to ask a bunch of legal questions; I had to pay attention. That meant that the boxes had to wait.

"So, I need to know what your salary is. And, actually, I need to know a budget."

I was immediately suspicious, which I hated. I didn't want to not trust her, despite the fact that she was goin' to be my ex very shortly.

"Why?" I found myself askin'.

"Because we both know that I'll owe you alimony, so I need to have a budget in order to figure out a fair amount, Terry."

The accent on the word fair pissed me off. I tried to hide it. "Look, I'm sorry about the fair comment, okay? Can we let that go?"

"Sure, Terry. Now, how much do you make?"

I told her everythin' she needed to know in order to create a budget profile for me. I was even honest about it; no need for that kind of thing to come back and bite me.

"Okay, I'll give this to the lawyers. They're almost done since it's such a simple case because we have little joint property and no children. I don't want the house, so you can have it."

I let out a breath I'd been holdin'. I didn't realize until right then that I'd been worried about the house. It was good to know that I wasn't goin' to be forced to sell it.

My stomach was growlin' by the time I got off the phone with Sue and I had a headache. It seemed to be an ordinary, everyday headache, fortunately. I took some aspirin, made a sandwich, and finally settled in to open boxes.

When I did, I couldn't begin to fathom what the Jester was goin' to do next. Two hundred and forty mini rubber duckies and a gallon of super concentrated dish soap. I was at least reasonably reassured that it would be a harmless prank. This one was goin' to be interestin'.