Aurum Regium

An abandoned warehouse in NYC:

Oliver was clad in black. He was sitting at a desk and plotting his escape. The details about a certain cruise were displayed on the screen of his laptop. After a long time, he was feeling happy and content. The events so far had gone according to plan, he had robbed the diamonds and the collection, and he had also eliminated the biggest problems. Now all that remained to do was sell the diamonds, conclude the plan with a flourish and then enjoy life.

Oliver felt certain that the FBI agents possessed no threat anymore, they had learned their lesson the hard way. He had also taken the liberty of disclosing his name to the federal agents, and there were two reasons for the same. The first was that he was certain that the feds would not be able to predict his next move, and the second was that Oliver was not his real name.

FBI Field Office, NYC:

Michael and Sam were staring at each other, and Jefferson was sitting in his chair, staring into space. All three of them were well aware of the severity of the crime they had just witnessed. This latest crime had made it even more important for them to catch the thief but none of them could move, they wanted to, but they were unable to. It felt like the shock had slowed down time and dimmed their wits. Their misconception was only broken when the door to Jefferson’s office opened again. The agent who had entered had completed only two months with the FBI.  

The agent said, “Jefferson, the media is outside the building, they won’t go away.”

Jefferson did not reply and kept staring at the floor.

Sam said, “Just tell them we do not want to comment right now.”

“We did, but they aren’t going away, the security has tried to move them back, but we cannot use any force.”

Michael said, “Just tell them that we are preparing the official statement.”

“I don’t think they will go away,” said the agent doubtfully.

“Then let them stand!” snapped Michael.

The agent took a hurried leave, but just as he was closing the door, Michal could see that the other agents in the unit were craning their necks from their cubicles to see what was going on in the office.

Sam said, “Jefferson, we need to do something, we can’t let him get away with this, with any of this.”

Jefferson did not reply.

“Jefferson, all of us are shocked but we need to overcome it,” said Michael gently.

Jefferson looked at the two agents in front of him. They didn’t realize it, not one of them did. Jefferson was not suffering only from shock. It was the feeling of being defeated, being manipulated and he had never felt that before. He had met criminals before but none of them had made him feel inferior to such an extent. He wondered what mistakes of him were finding his way back to him.

Suddenly Jefferson’s office phone rang. He picked it up and waited for the worst to happen, for Oliver’s voice to reach his ears, but it didn’t. The call was from his wife, the one person who could improve his condition.  As Jefferson received the call, Michael and Sam excused themselves from his office; they understood when a man needed space.

Once he had closed the door of the office behind him, Sam said, “So what do you think the guy would do now?”

“His name is Oliver,” replied Michael.

“How do you know that?”

“I was standing close to Jefferson, I read the last message he received from the thief.”

“And he signed it with his name?” asked Sam disbelievingly

Michael nodded. “He knows that what he did shook us. He thinks we are not a threat anymore.”

 “Well, he is wrong about that.”

“And very soon he is going to realize that.”

Evelyn and Rob’s Apartment:

Evelyn’s hands were shaking, and her head was aching. She had taken two tablets for the pain, but so far, they had done nothing to ease her suffering. She had been at work when she had seen the news. When she had witnessed… the incident, he had dropped the things she had in her hand. Everyone in the store was shocked but Evelyn felt as though she would faint. She had taken a deep breath to steady herself and taken a cab straight home. Rob had been surprised to see her, but he had been concerned, seeing how pale she looked. He had even offered to get her some coffee, knowing very well that he wasn’t capable of making a coffee that could be ingested without a grimace.

Now Evelyn was lying down in the bed and Rob was staring at her from the doorway. After a moment of silence, he said, “Sis, did you lose your job?”

“No.”

“Then why are you home early?”

“I wasn’t feeling very well.”

Rob nodded his head maturely. His sister was unwell, which meant she needed to rest. He quietly closed the door behind him as he made his way to the living room. He sat down on the couch to complete his homework but then got an idea. He was concerned for his sister, but this was the perfect opportunity to leave his homework and watch some television. He switched on the television and raised the volume. The news channel was on, but before he could change the channel, his sister literally ran out of the room, took the remote from his hand, and switched off the TV.

“What happened?” asked Rob.

Evelyn just kept the remote down and said, “Nothing. I’m feeling much better now, let’s play a game.”

“Sure,” said Rob

Evelyn heaved a sigh of relief. She could not take the risk of her brother even catching a glimpse of what she had seen.

FBI Field Office, NYC:

Jefferson had just disconnected the call with his wife, and he was feeling much better now. He was still aware of the fact that Oliver had murdered two people, but now, the shock had been replaced by anger.

He looked out of his office to see Michael and Sam discussing something. He knew what they were discussing, and he felt proud. Here were two agents who did not focus on their failures on the attempts made by their opponent to humiliate them, rather they focused on what was important, they focused on how to win so that justice could prevail. His wife had told him something similar. She had told him that he had got this far in life not by focusing on his failures, rather, he had achieved these heights by taking each negative experience as an opportunity to learn and move on.

Moving on. That would be easier said than done in this case. Emotionally speaking, Jefferson had already suppressed the darkness, mentally, he was still shocked, but in terms of leads, he had nothing. The thief had murdered two people right in front of hundreds of thousands of people, but no one had any idea where he was. The only clue they had as of now was the cruise but that was also not very definitive, he could be travelling on any one of the cruises.

Jefferson was feeling as though he was missing something. He felt as though something was right in front of him, but it was still hidden from his view. He opened a file on his computer and went through the details of the various cruises once again. He had finished reading all of them once when he realized something. In fact, he had remembered something which made him realize the truth. The thief had made sure that no one could follow him, he had taken various measures to ensure the same, but the thing which had cost him was his overconfidence.

Jefferson called Michael and Sam into his office. The two agents entered the office and stood at the entrance awkwardly. They didn’t know if Jefferson was any better.

Jefferson understood what they were thinking at once. “Michael, close the door and both of you sit down.”

The authoritative and calm manner in which Jefferson spoke seemed to assure the two agents that their senior’s condition had improved. They gave each other a quick look and then seated themselves on the two vacant chairs in the office.

Jefferson looked at them and said, “I think I know which cruise he will be on.”

Michael and Sam looked at each other with astonishment.

“How do you know?” asked Michael.

“Did the thief tell you that too?” asked Sam.

“He might as well have, because the clue he left me leaves little to chance.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that the thief sent me a message stating that he was going to sell the diamonds soon.”

“And how does that tell you which ship he will be on?” asked Michael.

“In the message, he told me that he was going to sell the diamonds soon and that his work here was done.”

“So?” prompted Sam, but Michael was quiet, as though he was beginning to see the truth.

“That means he will not stick around long because that will increase the chances of the FBI catching him.”

“You mean he will try to leave as early as possible?” asked Sam. 

Michael said, “Yes, he is going to leave on the earliest cruise.”

“It leaves tomorrow morning, and that gives us about fifteen hours to prepare,” stated Jefferson.

“Prepare for what?” asked Michael.

“Prepare to leave, on the same cruise, we are not letting him get away this time.”

“But even if we do get on the ship, how will we arrest him?” asked Sam 

“That’s a good point. We don’t know what he looks like, nor do we know the name under which he has purchased the ticket.”

“That does pose a challenge, but we know that he is travelling on the ship and what’s to say that he isn’t doing it for a reason?”

“He just wants to get away, that’s his reason.”

“But what if it is something more than that? A cruise with a limited number of guests and limited surveillance is the best place to exchange goods, even stolen ones.”

Michael’s eyes widened. “So, you think he and his buyer will be there and that is where the exchange will take place?”

“Correct, so all we have to do is get on that ship and keep a close eye on as many guests as possible and I have a plan to flush the thief out into the open.”

“What’s the plan?” asked Sam. 

“Let’s just say I’ll be forcing him to panic and thus reveal his identity to us.”