The Lottery Ticket

by Michael D Goodman

  In between the gasps Jennifer informed him that they had cut the glass in the back door and managed to get in that way. By this time David had finished on the phone and came into the lounge. James stood close to him as he repeated the conversation he had just had with the police.

  “They said not to touch anything until they get here and to start to make a list of the missing items. They would send a detective out to see us within the hour”, He related.

  “Dave, like I already said to Jenny, I’m so sorry. I did keep an eye on the back as I watered the garden but with the bushes between us I couldn’t see much of the side of the house. I made sure every day that nothing was poking out of the letter box. When I saw a white van outside yours I challenged the man who was at the door. He showed me a note he was going to put in the door. He said you would know who he was. He confirmed he worked for a security firm. I was suspicious and so I rang the number on his van and they confirmed his story. In fact they praised me and said it was a pity other neighbours weren’t as diligent”, John assured them both.

  “You mustn’t blame yourself John, it’s not your fault and I thank you for what you’ve done. I blame myself for not getting the alarms fitted before we left”, David retorted.

  “I’ll just nip home and get Sylvia to make a pot of tea, I’m sure you could all use one”, John announced as he backed out of the hall and pulled the front door to.

  David sat in the armchair wondering what he could do but not feeling like doing anything. The whole family sat and gazed into nothingness. Eventually Jennifer got up from the settee and searched in the study for pen and paper to begin the task of itemising the losses.

  “I know this is no consolation at the moment but whoever it was who did this were very selective”, suggested David. “Look around at what hasn’t been taken. “None of the electrical items have been taken, the television, the sky box, the computer down here or the one in Mandy’s bedroom and other things in the kitchen”, he observed.

  Just as he said this he noticed the lottery tickets were not where he had left them under the lamp on the coffee table.

  Just to make sure he asked Jennifer. “Did I leave the lottery tickets in the usual place before we went”?

  “Yes, why”, answered Jennifer as she started on the list.

  “Well they’re not there now”, David replied, as he lifted the lamp up to see if they had wedged under it somehow. They had gone.

  As they began to come to terms with the thought that someone had violated their space and had deprived them of their treasured possessions another knock came at the door.

  “Here James, come and help me with these”, shouted Sylvia as she pushed open the door with the tray filled with cups and saucers. “I’ll just nip back for the tea”.

  On her return she put the tea and a plate of biscuits on the coffee table and pointed to Jennifer and the others to sit and take the tea. You could see that she too was upset by what had happened and she confirmed the account that John had given.

  She took her leave of them and told them not to worry about the pots she would pop back later for them.

  As she left she saw a car pull up outside. Two suited men got out and were making their way to number 23. She did not stop but made a mental note of the car number plate just in case.

  The door bell sounded and David answered it. The two men standing at the door identified themselves as police officers. The first one flashed his ID badge as confirmation of their introduction.

  “I’m Detective Constable Ifor Williams”, the first officer informed. “And my colleague is Detective Sergeant Keith Davis”, he continued.

  David invited them in to the lounge, where they sat on the settee side by side.

  The constable had out his note pad and had already started to make notes.

  The sergeant began by asking whether they had been on holiday or were about to go as he had noticed the cases standing in the hall. David told them that they had only been back a couple of hours and that it wasn’t until his wife had gone into the kitchen and seen the panel out of the back door that they realised they had been broken into.

  “Can I see the door Mr Campbell” asked the sergeant as he rose from the settee?

  David took him to the kitchen and showed him the door.

  “Would you mind if I looked down the garden sir”, Sergeant Davis asked.

  “By all means sergeant, I haven’t even been out there myself yet so if you don’t mind I would like to follow you if I may”, David inquired.

  As they both made their way down the path it was obvious to Davis what he would find. As he neared the fence he could see the gaping hole in it where the thieves had cut their way in. Foot prints were visible under a couple of trees.

  As if he didn’t know it, the signs were all there that this was the work of Roger’s gang. He knew the way these gangs worked and he had been in the force long enough to identify the tell tale signs that were left at the scene. He did not give David any clues as to who it might be.

  Back at the house the other detective was taking statements from the rest of the family. He took the list of items that Jennifer had written down and suggested that she contact her insurance company as soon as possible.

  “You will need to quote this crime number to them” the constable informed her.

  As David led the sergeant back into the house he offered them a drink which they both accepted. As they sat at the kitchen table the constable remarked that this was one of a number of burglaries in this area over the past few months. After the officers had finished their drinks they got up to leave.

  It was Sergeant Davis who spoke next. “We will send out the forensic people to see if there are any finger prints anywhere but I wouldn’t put much store in them finding any. These thieves are good at what they do. However we may get a clue from the footprints in the garden”, he suggested.

  “We will catch them you know”, Davis assured them as he and Williams left the doorstep. As if for emphasis he repeated his assurance, “We will catch them, mark my words”.

  Chapter 6

  The Missing Lottery Tickets

  It was Saturday morning. Julie made herself ready for her meeting with Mandy. She was looking forward to seeing her again and to hearing all about her holiday. She asked her mum if there was anything she could get for her while she was in town, to which came the reply that she would go up later herself.

  She walked up to the bus stop and waited for the number 16 bus that would take her into town. Her mum had given her some pocket money so that she could buy herself something and if she wanted she could go with Mandy to the coffee shop. The bus journey from her town to the city took about twenty five minutes.

  The arrangements she had made with Mandy was that they would meet at the bus station at ten o’clock. She had not spoken to Mandy since her family had arrived back from their holiday and so she considered their plans had not changed.

  She stepped off the bus and found a bench and sat and waited. While she waited she pulled out her diary to double check that 11o’clock was the time they had arranged. Clearly written in her handwriting was the time on this Saturday. When the clock in the bus station had pointed to ten past eleven she began to wonder where Mandy had got to. It was most unusual for her friend to be late and her bus had already parked up in the station. The next bus would arrive at 11.30, so she sat and waited for this one to arrive.

  When Mandy did not get off this bus she began to wonder what may have happened.

  This was most strange, she thought to herself. “I‘m sure she hadn’t phoned me”, she thought to herself. She decided that as she hadn’t turned up, that she would catch the outgoing bus and call round to her house to see if anything was wrong.

  She boarded the next bus out to Mandy’s side of town. The bus route was much longer going to the side
of town that Mandy lived in than it took for Julie to bike as it had several stops before it reached the nearest stop to Mandy’s house. Julie walked the short distance to the house to see a double glazing van and a security alarm van parked outside the house.

  She knocked on the partly opened door and waited. Mr Campbell answered her knock and invited her in. He showed her to the kitchen where Mandy was sitting with her eyes all puffed up and her face red, holding a handkerchief to her nose.

  Julie could tell her friend was upset. She thought it might be because the holiday was over.

  “Whatever’s the matter”, she asked as she went to put a consoling arm around her friend.

  In broken gasps Mandy began to explain what had happened while they were away.

  “They took my jewellery, my best watch and loads of mum and dad’s things. They even took James’s Gameboy. How mean is that”? Mandy told her in broken sentences.

  Julie wasn’t sure whether she should mention her wait in the bus station. As it turned out she didn’t have to. Mandy apologised for not being there as arranged and also for not ringing her. Mrs Campbell had entered the kitchen to make a brew for the workmen.

  “Why don’t you two go up to Mandy’s room, I’ll bring you a drink up shortly”, she suggested.

  They both nodded at the idea and made their way upstairs. They both sat on the bed while Mandy filled Julie in on what they had come home to. Julie then told her friend about the break-in at the house just up the road. As they both mulled over the similarities between the two robberies it was plain that whoever they were they were becoming more active. The burglary at the Campbell’s was the fifth in the area over the past month, the month before there were three break-ins.

  Mandy began to feel more like herself as her friend had come to see her. She felt that as she had let her friend down the least she could do was to go with her to town. After having their drinks Mandy went to the bathroom to freshen up. After telling her mother where they were going and getting approval from her they made their way back to the bus stop.

  On the journey Julie explained that it was her intention to invite Mandy to their picnic. To this Mandy replied that she would love to come as she was now feeling much better and she needed to get away from the house and the feelings she had of the break-in if that were possible.

  “Are all your family going”, asked Mandy.

  “Everyone except my dad, he never comes on family outings. He will probably sit in front of the television and watch the stupid cricket or go over to his pals. He seems to prefer their company to ours”, replied Julie.

  Knowing this was the case, did not make Julie feel any better. She saw how a real family could be when she observed the relationships Mandy’s family had with one another. Her, her mother and sister were very close but her father seemed to move further away from the family unit.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by their arrival in the city. They decided to go to one or two shops then call in at the coffee shop before going their separate ways. They would meet again tomorrow for the picnic.

  ------ x ------

  Sandra had cleaned through the house with the help of Rachel. Before she went to town she would finish the ironing. Rachel had decided she would go with her mum and help her carry the shopping she would need for the following days picnic.

  Once the house was empty Roger climbed out of bed and sauntered into the bathroom. He shaved and bathed himself taking his time. He knew he would not be disturbed for some time. As soon as he had dressed he went down to the kitchen and made himself a plate of food and a drink. Leaving the pots on the draining board he left by the back door.

  He was going to the bookies to place his bets for the afternoon races. No one in the family knew he had money and no one asked. He contributed nothing to the household budget but still he helped himself to whatever he wanted. The money he gained from Tuesday’s job would not last him long. He would soon be back in pocket after the warehouse job, he thought to himself.

  The first one to arrive home was Julie. She went upstairs to log the latest burglary, on the map. She was baffled by what she saw. Up until now there seemed to be a pattern emerging of the break-ins, not only were they becoming more frequent but they seemed to be occurring one in a village then two in the town.

  What was strange about her friend’s robbery was that it followed another break-in further down the same road. This had never happened before. It seemed from the stickers on the map that the two robberies in the town would be at each end. They had never been together as the two latest ones. These findings she would discuss with Mandy tomorrow.

  The next to arrive home was Sandra and Rachel with the goodies for the picnic. Julie couldn’t wait to tell her mum what had happened to Mandy’s home. As they sat in the kitchen talking about what had happened, the back door opened. In came Roger from his outing to the bookies. He made himself a mug of tea as Julie carried on explaining what the Campbell’s had come home to.

  Roger knew that if Detective Sergeant Davis was on the case he wouldn’t need to worry about being suspected. He made his drink and went into the front room to watch the races on TV. It was likely that this is where he would stay for the rest of the afternoon and evening whilst the others busied themselves getting most of the things they would need for the picnic the next day.

  One thing that was still on Julie’s mind was the open diary she had found on her bedside table. She was sure it was put there by Rachel and she needed to remind her that she was out of order going in her drawers and taking things that didn’t belong to her.

  “I did not go in your drawers”, Rachel adamantly denied.

  She looked at both her sister and her mother in such a way as to convince them she was telling the truth. Her mother knew her well enough to know she was telling the truth.

  “Maybe you took it out yourself and forgot to put it back”, suggested Sandra.

  “It is possible I suppose, but you know I always put my things away when I’ve finished with them mum”, reminded Julie.

  “Well it wasn’t me”, blurted Rachel.

  “Lets stop this arguing now, no harm has come of it so let’s not hear any more about it”, demanded Sandra.

  They continued to prepare for the picnic. When this was completed they decided that as it was a nice evening they would all go into the garden and tidy it. The lawns, back and front needed cutting and while Sandra did this the girls could don the garden gloves and pull up some weeds.

  They all knew it would be pointless going into the front room while dad was in there because he would be watching the sports or anything else that took his fancy. This meant that they would not be able to watch their favourite TV programs. As darkness began to fall they returned to the kitchen and prepared to play card games.

  Meanwhile in the lounge the slumped figure of a disappointed gambler was tearing up the betting slips he had exchanged for his ill gotten money earlier that day. In all the years he had gambled he had never won much, but his dreamy desire to hit the jackpot made him continue to back the donkey rather than the horse.

  The Lottery Draw was the next program on the television which reminded him of the tickets he had picked up in the last break-in. He pulled them out of his pocket and waited for the balls to pop up out of the machine. The first ticket was of no use as this was the previous weeks draw. This he tossed into the fire grate and looked at the second ticket which had this Saturday’s date on it.

  As the numbers came out one by one he began to mark them off. He had three in a row as the third ball appeared on the screen. Convinced that with his luck he had only won ‘a tenner’, he waited for the next ball to pop out of the machine. This number was also on the ticket. Now he began to get excited. He realised that with four numbers he would get a bigger payout. He sat upright in his armchair now as the fifth ball rolled down the shoot. This too
was on the ticket he was staring at. Now all he needed was one more and he would hit the jackpot. The bonus ball was his chance of being a millionaire. Out came the ball as the commentator called the number thirteen. As he quoted the saying ‘unlucky for some’, Roger looked down at the ticket to reaffirm what he had been waiting for.

  He now waited what seemed like hours, but in reality was only seconds, to see the balls put up on the screen in numerical order. Yes he had all six numbers needed to win the Jackpot. The announcer had already estimated the top prize as being 4.2 million pounds.

  How do you react when you realise you have gone from being a hard up bugler to a multi-millionaire in just a few minutes. Roger realised that this is exactly what had happened to him. As the presenter had just announced that there was only one winning ticket. He felt like screaming and shouting at the top of his voice he wanted to tell someone. His reasoning took over from his initial shock. “If I shout out, the others will come running in to see what the matter was and I will have to tell them, better I keep it quiet for the time being”, he thought.

  This was indeed his lucky day after all. He had no thoughts for the people he had stolen the tickets from only for the things he could buy with the kind of money he was about to receive. He did not want the rest of the family to overhear his conversation with the lottery organisers so he took the phone up to his bedroom and spoke quietly into the receiver.

  To receive the money he would be picked up and taken to a hotel and there he would receive the cheque. There would be a champagne reception with the media present. This was not what he wanted. He would be happy just to make his own way to the venue and with no fuss and no publicity. He explained this to the person on the other end of the line to their disappointment. He would have his wish honoured he was assured. After getting the details of the hotel he hung up. Even after speaking to the person on the phone he still couldn’t quite believe his good fortune. He returned to the front room and bought up the teletext page that would hopefully confirm again that he was indeed a millionaire. Sure enough it confirmed his new status.