What No One Sees

An unexpected event

Despite what Jimmy told me yesterday, I´m here again, at the café… He gave me the day to stay at home to rest and heal, but I´d said I´d cover for Helen, and she does need her day off. So, the only recommendation I took, was Ann´s. I suspended my night patrol from yesterday and I might do the same with tonight´s, but that I´m still considering.

When I enter though the main door, Jane looks sceptically at me.

            “Didn´t you have the day off?”

            “I did, but I said I´ll cover Helen today. Here I am. Where can I help?”

            “Well then. We´ll do the usual thing.” I nodded and head to the counter. Jane stared at my blue muslin scarf, then back to me.  I pretend I didn’t notice.

“You ok?” I know she is asking because of the scarf; she knows it´s my favourite and I´m very fond of it. But it´s my favourite because my ex-girlfriend gave it to me. It reminds me of her, gives me comfort and keeps me warm. And yes, I use it every night to hide my face, but I also use it by daylight from time to time, whenever I miss her…And last night, I didn´t sleep well.

“Aye, don´t worry. It was a long night, that’s all.” She´s convinced with my answer and returns to work. I walk among the tables to check everything is in order and between the both of us, we manage to have everything under control for a couple of hours; we change places and I take the orders while she prepares them. Perhaps for any other person might be a bit difficult but, the three of us, we have been working together for more than two years now, we know each other´s movers and patterns. It´s not so hard to know when we might collide in our way and how to adjust our steps to avoid it… The number of customers in line decreases and as usual, we start talking rabbiting about nothing important.

            Jane tends to the call of a table and I eye through the front window seeing certain detective followed by her companion who´s smoking a cigarette.  Detective Whitlock stops for her mate to finish smoking and I can´t avoid smiling when the two of them keep on talking making some signs with their hands. Somewhere in the corner of my mind I can hear Jane nodding to the customer at the table and making her way back to the counter. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and eying for no one to be waiting to be attended, I answer. It´s my brother.

            “Hey, Ben. You all right? Are classes over?”

            “Hey Lena. No, we just finished maths. I only wanted to remember you, I´ll go to football practice at evening, so you don´t have to come in a hurry, ok?”

            “Football at evening, got it. Have fun, Ben. And be safe, all tight? I´ll see you later.”

            “Ok, later. Love you, Lena.”

            “Love you too, Lion.”

I hung up and saw Jane approaching. She was about to tell me something, but she froze and stared horrified at the entrance. I turned to see what caused her reaction. I hear supressed exclamations from some of the costumers and everything seems to tense. When I turn front, two guys dressed in dark clothes, gloves and winter hats approach to the counter. Both carry short guns. The one behind pointing at several tables and the other directly to Jane.

“No one moves!” screamed the man pointing at us. “You! Open the cash box” but Jane couldn´t move. The man screams at her again and she started to tremble. Giving a slow step forward, I manage to get Jane behind me.

“I can open it for you. Just calm down, ok?” he turns his gun at me and I take it as my sign to proceed. Jane is still trembling trying to find support from the wall at the corner.

“Don´t try anything.” he threatens. I move slowly to reach the cashier passing my hands gently over the counter for him to see them, being sure that Whitlock and her partner are looking through the window. When Jill notices, she sees right to my eyes, perhaps with shock… but I show reassurance in my glance, letting her know that I´m waiting for them; her partner calls a number at her phone immediately whilst Whitlock approaches cautiously to the main door using the corner to guard her. The second burglar has started to collect personal objects from our customers. I lift my hands a bit and explain what I will do to the burglar in front of me. He neither nods, nor denies, to anything I say for me to know if he´s listening but leaves me to continue what I´m doing.  At the door, Jill´s companion reaches her and draws her weapon; Whitlock mirrors her. I´m sure Jane has a vague idea of my intentions, but she´s still froze at her place, it may be better for her to stay that way.  

The burglar in front of me is getting anxious and starts to hurry me. I place the money over the counter.

“That´s all there is.” I explain.

“Bollocks! There must be something else at the back. Where the hell is Jimmy? Bring him here!” I was surprised with his demand.

“Jimmy? The owner?”

“He´s not here. He barely comes.” Interferes Jane.  The man looks at her and Jane can´t supress her horror expression, and a second latter it´s worst when seeing the two detectives behind him, one approaching his fellow accomplice and Jill, coming slowly to us…

The burglar turns around immediately and points his weapon at Whitlock, her partner disarms the other guy; Jane leans backwards against the wall as if she could guard herself and disappear from everything.

“Drop the gun” orders Jill without losing sight of him. Behind, her partner struggles cuffing the accomplice. The remaining burglar doesn´t seem to be very surprised. “I´m doing nothing until I see Jimmy, he owes us!” he exclaims shaking the gun in his hand, pointing at her, and I know what may come next. Without losing another second, I grab a cup from over the coffee machine and smash it hard against the back side of his head. The man fells limp to the ground, and I´m glad he´s out.

“I thought it was time, sorry” I say to Jill as she sheaths her gun looking at me, as if she´d forgotten I was there.

She nods, “It was, thanks. But please, try not to do that again, it could´ve end up the wrong way.” I nod once obliging. Her partner cuffs the man and I can see our customers relaxing. A patrol stops outside and she starts getting the burglars out as a cop approaches our shop to help. A sob behind me drags my attention and I remember Jane who´s still curling against the corner. I left the remains of the cup´s handle at the sink and I walk over to Jane, rubbing her back and shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.

“Jane…” she hugs me standing up.

“Thank you, Lena. Really, I… thank you. I couldn´t have done what you did.”

“Don´t worry, everything is all right now. I´ll make you a tea before we carry on tending our clients. Go sit at a table.”  Jane squeezed my hand and does as I say. I believe we´ll have to call Jimmy to let him know what happened.

“Are you all right?” asks Jill casually.

“Yes. You?”

“Yep, it´s part of the job…” I smile realizing it probably is. She´s a cop after all.

“I´m sorry this visit couldn´t be as comfortable as last night´s, but we had an unexpected situation…” she smiles and comments “I´m sure it was unexpected…” We both sigh my co-worker at the table. A man a bit taller than Jill enters the shop, he´s wearing a grey suit and a brown gabardine. His face seems to have many years of experience and the padlock beard gives him a comforting gesture. His sight fixes on me for a couple of seconds before turning to Jill.

“Whitlock, what happened here?”

“A frustrated robbery, Sr. The two burglars were armed and went straight for the cashier counter. Williams and I were right outside when it all started. Then she called you and we entered. Williams cuffed the first burglar and the second one wasn´t too cooperative but, Lena, the barista helped hitting him on the head. He fell unconscious and I believe two or three minutes later, you arrived.” The man was still registering everything with his gaze.

“What about the owner? Has he been informed?” he asked.

“Not yet, Sr.” Answered Jill, turning to glance at me. She didn’t have to ask me to call Jimmy, I was already turning for Jane who had his phone number. We where a couple of steps away from the detectives.

“You don’t think Jimmy might be involved, right?” Jane asks.

“I don´t think so, but they need to be sure. We need to call him and let him know what happened.”  She nodded and checked for the number in her phone. Less than ten minutes later, Jimmy arrived at the café. He saw stunned at the patrols outside and entered looking in every direction until his eyes landed on Jane and me.

“Heavens. What happened?” he approached us barely watching the detectives at a side. “Jane, Lena, are you all right?” Jane nodded and answered his supportive embrace. “We´re fine, Jimmy. Luckily nothing tragic happened and the police officers where nearby.” We assured him that the bad thing resumed itself in the robbery attempt; after Jimmy talks for some minutes with the police Detective he asked us to drop by Scotland Yard to give our declaration under record. Police agreed with us and excused Jane for doing the trip to the station, we send her home instead. Jill´s boss drove Jimmy to the station while she, her partner and I boarded another patrol.

On our way to the station, any remain of adrenaline abandoned my system and I felt my body utterly exhausted, between my fall, my sleepless night and this morning´s event perhaps I could use some time off, though I couldn´t afford anything at the moment. Thinking it twice, I could barely manage for a few days if Jimmy decides to close momentary the café….  I sigh trying to slow my thoughts and despite my desire for closing my eyes a moment, I opt for looking the insides of the patrol. The furniture feels firm but comforting at the same time, if I forget that I’m in a patrol, I might even like this car. Jill, who´s sited by my side looks as normal as I´ve ever seen her. As if she´s synchronized with the car and moves swiftly with the light-turn on the row, perhaps even in a numb atmosphere, but surely she´s done this path a thousand times; she also looks as if she measures every single thing outside the car. Relaxed but compromised. I smile innerly. My examination of the vehicle ends when the shadow if the outer sign reading “New Scotland Yard” passes by my window, and I admire the scenery of the building with its shining windows. I´ve never been this close of the station, I´m glad I´m only here to make a statement and not for my night adventures.

“We´re here” announces Williams and she´s the first in descending as well as the driver. I delay a bit because I have no rush given my tiredness. When I´m outside, almost everyone has walked closer to the entrance, around two or three parked cars from our place, but Jill waits for me before closing her door and after a moment of observation she approaches. “I would offer you a coffee, but I´m afraid the one we have at the office is pretty bad.” I smile easily with her comment, because I believe what she says and because it is known, that after drinking a prepared coffee, like the one it´s served at places like Jimmy´s, its hard to go back to the previous one. “For the way my face looks? Nah, don´t worry, I just need some hours of sleep, that´s all. But perhaps I could accept your offer one of these days.” We approached the others and went inside the building. 

Once inside, Jimmy and I were separated, a mere policy for the fact that we were there to give a declaration, and even though I was the employee and he was the owner of the place, police didn´t know if he had some pendent business with the burglars. Jimmy went firs, my turn came a few minutes latter when he hadn´t finished. I entered in a small and austere room that had only a couple of chairs, a rectangular table at the middle and a large mirror by one of the side walls adjoining the door, I assume that’s the window where the detectives will stare from. Jill and her partner entered with me and asked me to sit at the opposite side from them.

“Here on by, this conversation will be recorded for security purposes. Please say your name to proceed.” Explained Williams to me and after a small pause I leaned closer to the small microphone.

“I´m Lena Mc Allister, I´m 20 years old. I work as a barista at a coffee shop at the centre of the city. I´m here today because that coffee shop was assaulted this morning and I witnessed the events.” Williams and Jill didn’t add anything more to my personal introduction, so I assumed I had done it right. Jill seemed to be having fun when I finished. Leaning to the device, Williams continued.

“Can you please explain to us how was the place earlier that morning? Before the events took place.  Was there something off or out of place?”

“I arrived a bit late for work. Yesterday, Jimmy had suggested that I should take the day off, but I had previously agreed with my co-worker that I´d took her place today. I asked Jane where I could help her best and I took the cash machine. It was a normal morning, staring to get a bit busy, but it was accurate for the hour and the day. Afterwards, I received a call from my brother. A moment later, the burglars entered.” Williams nodded and Whitlock finished taking notes. We reviewed the facts of the main events and even after the second time I narrated everything, I don´t think neither me nor the detectives noticed anything strange.

“What about your boss Jimmy? How long have you worked for him? Do you know of any illicit activity he might be involved? Perhaps he had a debt he hadn´t paid?”

“I´ve worked for him for about four or five years. In all that time I don´t think I´ve seen anything suspicious or illicit about him. This has never happened before and I don´t recall anyone, not even our customers, asking to see Jimmy personally, not for something rather than congratulate him for the good service and the place.”   

“Going back to the moment of the assault, is there something you might want to tell us about the burglars?” Both pay more attention, if that´s even possible, to what I was  about to say.

“There was something peculiar about them. At first, seconds before they could fully enter the establishment, they walked as if they owned the place, but as soon as they approached the costumers and wanted something different than the money, they seemed to get more nervous. They demanded for Jimmy, even with rage but, the way they reacted when things got a bit more complicated…makes me think that they are regular robbers and were asked to look for something else… You know what I mean? When demanding for Jimmy…they don´t care about the money they´d just collected, they search for someone, something more. The entire thing is off from the beginning. They both had tattoos, one at the neck the other at the arm… I guess you could get a good look of them with the vigilance cameras, if not, perhaps I could draw them.”

            “And, about your friend, your co-worker. We´ll need her phone number to make her some questions, by the way. But, what would you say about her? Is it possible that somehow she might know about the facts that where going to happen?”

            My mind and heart reacted immediately rejecting that idea, because I know there´s no way Helen could have known or planned anything. I denied with my head.

            “No. There´s no way Helen could have known anything. She had to took care of a family issue and she had been putting it off due lack of time.” Both detectives nodded at me.

            “Very well, Lena. I believe that would be all.” Said Williams. “I hope you understand that you might still be required for further questions in the future, if needed. And, please do not hesitate in calling us if you remember anything that might seem important for solving this.” I nodded and stood up when Detective Whitlock invite me to do so and flowed me to the door.

            “I hope this thing won´t get you too busy…” I adventured to Jill when exiting the room.

            “I hope it too. With a bit of luck, we´ll be able to catch these burglars and shorten the period that the café might need to be closed.” She says rubbing the back of her neck and remembering me that I won´t have the pay warrantee of the café for some days.  “You´ll manage, right?”

            “Aye, yes. We´ll be fine.” I answer quickly swallowing the growing nervousness inside me.  

            “Very well.” I believe it´s time for me to go. She still has work to do and I must go with my brother. “I´ll try to let you know for any fast resolution…” she says a bit timidly and I give a step backwards, closer to the door and distancing me from her.

            “All right, thanks” I say almost whispering. Another step backwards, her eyes examine me a bit more in full picture…

            “That´s a nice scarf” she points out casually when I´m almost reaching the door. I recall it and my hand reaches my neck. I caress it melancholically.

            “Thank you” I open the door and turn around, her partner approaching Jill just in time to see me leave while folding her arms.

Detective Williams stood beside Jill Whitlock mentioning some ideas she had for the case as she saw Lena leave.

            “The barista´s declaration seems to match with the café owner´s, though I have the feeling I´ve seen her somewhere before and I can´t put my finger on it.” Jill answered without seeing at her

            “We drink coffee at that place since a month after we started to work together, and she works there. Stop trying to find the three-paw cat.” Williams stood still for a couple of second before answering:

            “You just mentioned her blue scarf, right?” Jill rolled her eyes with amusement. “I did. I thought it was nice, why?”

            “There was a time when the boss asked us to take a look on the case of the guy who pickpockets mayor criminals… didn´t he uses a blue scarf to cover his face?” Williams turned deep in her thoughts; Jill saw her partner with a look of surprise wondering if her partner´s comment could even be interesting.

Lena walked behind her brother and carried their bags before entering the building. A red car was parked across the street where seven lads where laughing and drinking beer. One of them, Markus saw the woman and called out loud:

            “Oy, Lena! Won´t you join us? Callum is still prepared to take you back in his business whenever you want.”

            The woman turned at him with a serious glance.

“I don´t think so, Markus.”

            The guy seemed a bit bothered by her answer and carry on with his chat.