"You might want to come down here, Miss Andrews."
"Um, can I ask why?" My daycare was closed on weekends, so I knew there wasn't an issue with a child or one of my staff. So, why on earth would the police be there?
"There's been a break-in. Our guess is that it happened last night sometime. A passer-by saw that one of the windows had been smashed and that it looked like someone had forcibly entered the building. They called us and reported it, and we went to investigate, and we can confirm that the building has indeed been broken into. We need you to come here and check the situation out, and see if anything of value has been stolen. Also, uh, the intruder left a message. Our guess is it's not for you, but maybe when you see it, it'll ring a bell. It might be meant for someone who works here. You're going to have to come see it, and we'll have to ask you some questions about it. Are you able to come down here now?"
"I am, yes. I'll be there shortly."
"We'll be waiting for you, Miss Andrews."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. I'll see you soon."
We said our goodbyes, and I put my phone back in my handbag and stared at the screen with an expression of shock splayed across my face.
"What's wrong, Viv?" asked Kerry, sounding worried.
"Someone... someone broke into my daycare last night."
"What?! Why? Who would break into a daycare?"
"Whoever it is, they left some sort of message."
"A message? Saying what?"
"I don't know... but I'm about to find out. I'll call you later and let you know what happened."
Twenty minutes later, I arrived at my daycare with a strange and uncomfortable mix of emotions sloshing around inside me. I was worried, more than anything, but I there was also a twinge of fear bubbling through my veins. Two patrol cars with blue lights flashing through the darkness were positioned at the entrance to the parking lot.
I pulled up to the main gate and used my remote to open it then proceeded into the parking area. The cops had apparently climbed over the wall to get in. As soon as I parked, I got out and made my way to the playground where three cops were standing amongst the playground equipment. One was making notes in a notebook, and another was taking photographs of the place. The one writing in his notepad saw me and walked over to me.
"You must be Miss Andrews," he said.
"That's right; I'm Vivienne Andrews, owner of this daycare."
"I'm Lieutenant Todd. We spoke on the phone."
I shook hands with him. "Thank you for informing me of the situation, Lieutenant."
"No problem. Now, before I show you the damage and where the guy got in, I do need to ask you a few questions," he said, positioning his notebook to jot down my responses.
"Sure thing, fire away."
"How long have you owned this place?"
"Well, I've been at this daycare for two years, since I moved to Irvine."
"Alright, two years," he said, writing in his notebook.
"No, Lieutenant, I didn't say I've owned this place for two years. Sorry for the confusion."
"I see. So how long have you owned it then?"
"I bought it from the former owner around a year ago."
"So you were first an employee, and then you bought it and took over ownership?"
"That's correct, yes."
"And would you mind providing me with the name of the former owner?"