Sincerely Yours and All That Shit

Usually, Dyl was much smarter than this.

They were extraordinarily young for their rank in the police force, having sped straight through the police academy and up the ranks almost as soon as they got their badge, and there were quite a few, older, more experienced officers more than a little bitter over the fact that they were taking orders from a "kid."

In short, Dyl didn't have the time nor the credibility to mess up, which is why they had full confidence in themselves and their chosen team when they indulged the request to help guard a party of sorts to be held in the upper east side that weekend.

There had been a few reports about suspicious activity in the neighborhood, setting the parties host on edge, yet not enough so to cancel the party, and Dyl figured it would be a cake walk. Show up, ease the minds of the guests, overall a nice break from the almost dangerously tall mound of paperwork teetering on their desk.

Mistake number one was when the theft happened a full three days before the actual soiree was set to be held. 

"Maybe the thief's watch is off?" Dyl's deputy of sorts, Captain Fanta, suggested, with a joking tone, calm even in the growing chaos around them, as the two arrived on scene. They were ushered past guarded doors into the security room quickly, not even given time to marvel at the large manor around them. Fanta, being the same age more or less as Dyl, also had both very little room for mistakes and very little free time.

The hired security personnel, two or twelve men with well-defined muscles and unmovable stances whom all looked the same, cooperated well enough, following the orders Dyl barked upon entering the room; one setting off to silence the ringing of the properties alarms going off, and the others taking up posts beside the exits.

Dyl's team of five, including them, who arrived on site very shortly after Dyl, was already on the move, Fanta disappearing from their side to run damage control and go over security footage while Mini, another younger officer, cleared a space on the nearest table with a swipe of their arm and unrolled the blueprints of the house.

"The alarm is coming from the main vault," Mini said, tapping the blueprints with a red pencil crayon and leaving a slash of pigment on the blue paper, "this is the most likely route our thief took." Mini outlined the route from the vault up the closest staircase and to a room near the center of the house.

"What kind of valuables we talking about?" Dyl asked, staring down at the blueprints in concentration, already working out a plan to be as many steps ahead of the thief as possible.

Mini shrugged, "jewels, mostly. A painting too, but not one easily moved in broad daylight."

Dyl nodded, taking in the information, then turning to Fanta and Mary, who were watching the security footage from the last ten hours intently, Mary having kicked the usual guard from his chair and Fanta leaning over Mary's shoulder to be closer to the monitors.

"No one's been caught on tape, though the cameras in the west hallway and connecting staircase outside the main vault have a few odd frames within the span of twenty minutes." Mary relayed, gesturing to three separate monitors where the images had been set back thirty minutes, and when they crossed the line of twenty minutes ago, they flickered briefly before returning to normal. Anyone who wasn't looking for it wouldn't have noticed.

"When was the last irregularity?" Dyl asked, eyes flickering over each screen, taking in as much as they could. This was quickly taking a sharp turn towards a professional crime.

"Thirty seconds ago, in the north entrance wing," Mary reported, catching on to Dyl's train of thought quickly.

"Right. Mini, Ty," the two looked up, breaking away from the hired guards they had been speaking with, "take the west wing, in case the thief doubles back. Fanta and I will head to the north wing, Mary, you stay on stand by and update us about any other flickers." Dyl took a last glance at the blueprints spread open nearby, before ducking out into the hallway with the rest of their people as they broke off into different directions.