'''The Crime'''

 

A break-in at the Pierres Brillantes jewellers recently saw the thief making off with their prized display piece, named the Eye of Azure. Without even touching any of the other valuables, or triggering an alarm. The RIS have been hired to recover the diamond and arrest the thief. Information on any buyers of stolen jewellery obtained would also be appreciated by the store.

 

'''The Investigation'''

 

The team assigned to the burglary case have chased rumours that a master thief named Eleanor Galloway, a shrew, is trying to find a buyer for a ‘hot commodity’. But with the Star of Haldar out of town, her best customer is unavailable.

 

Going undercover, Coco has approached the thief with an offer to buy the diamond instead. By letting it slip through that detectives are close to making an arrest in the case, Eleanor has agreed to the sale, before she’s caught red handed.

 

'''The Plan'''

 

The exchange has been arranged at the Sparkler club. Coco has a performance scheduled there, and her dressing room offers a private location for the swap. The RIS will also know the layout of the backstage area and all the exits.

 

The team will wait for Eleanor to show Coco the diamond. A microphone inside the dressing room has been rigged up to the sound equipment storage next-door to let the RIS listen in on the conversation. The codeword to make the arrest is for Coco to say that the diamond is ‘genuine’.

 

As part of maintaining her cover, the other RIS detectives are expected to arrest both women, and not to treat Coco as a fellow detective. A bail bonds company conveniently located inside the Camberline office building has been requested to keep them both in holding. Publicly, Coco will be arraigned and released on bail the next morning. She’s adamant Eleanor can’t know she’s in on the bust.

 

Galloway, for her part, will be offered a plea deal by prosecutors if she names her contacts who fence the goods she steals. Information about the black market trade in gemstones, precious metals and jewellery would be considered valuable to the client. Coco herself also would like to see the avenues for organized crime to launder their dirty money cut off.

 

Naturally, the diamond will be taken as evidence before it is returned to Pierres Billantes.

 

'''The Problem'''

 

There is no problem, surely. The trap is set, a holding cell has been reserved, and only the team know that this is an undercover investigation. It’s not like the suspect is just going to drop dead before she can give names, right?