Christmas Even [Short story]

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The Three Kings Pawnshop on Hollywood Boulevard had been burglarized three times in two years. The criminal methods of each break-in were similar, so the Los Angeles Police Department suspected that the same thief was responsible. But the thief was careful to never leave a fingerprint. No arrests were ever made and no stolen property was recovered. Nikolai Servan, the Russian immigrant who owned the store, was left to wonder about the justice system of his adopted country.

On the day before Christmas of this year, Servan unlocked the rear door of the pawnshop, entered and found that his business had been victimized a fourth time. He also discovered that the burglar was still inside. It was this discovery that ultimately brought Detective Harry Bosch and his partner, Jerry Edgar, to the pawnshop. For the burglar was dead.

When the two homicide detectives arrived they were greeted by Detective Eugene Braxton from the burglary squad. He had investigated the previous burglaries at Three Kings and had gotten there first because Servan had his business card taped to the side of the telephone. When the shop owner came to work that morning and found the dead burglar behind the jewelry case, he didn’t dial 911. He dialed Braxton.

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