#22 Teamwork

Dear diary,

Make sure you watch the news tomorrow night - you might catch a segment about how the library staff caught a criminal red-handed. It was a huge concerted effort by all of us, and very heroic, if I may say so. Here's the scoop:

We had a staff meeting today, well, more of a debriefing. As Boudecia was still strangely absent, Goldie took the mantle of leadership for the meeting. We discussed the problems incurred due to the system crashing, and the more pressing issue of the vanished Head Librarian. We also brought up the recent spate of book theft and vandalism which had been terrorising other local libraries. I had planned on mentioning my job offer in Adelaide, but decided to let it sit for the moment. No need to complicate matters.

I put it down to our increased vigilance for book safety that we first noticed the man in the trenchcoat. His shifty look and darting movements came to the attention of all of us as we were leaving the meeting room. Goldie asked me to keep an eye on him, you know, just in case. I found an excuse to shelve in his general vicinity and dogged his movements out of the corner of my eye. In the magazine section I watched him take some editions of Ralph (why do we even have that?) and slide them under his trenchcoat. Very dodgy.

I tailed him into Non-Fiction, making sure to keep out of his sight by commando rolling and ducking behind squat reading tables. He picked up a Lonely Planet guide to France, flicked through it, took out a pen and scribbled on the page. He then selected another book, a folio on Inuit culture. He tore out the middle page and stuffed it and the guidebook into his trenchcoat. My mouth hung open in shock as he proceeded to swipe unwary books from the shelves and hide them on his person.

He began to walk to the front of the library, so I took a shortcut along Reference to beat him there. I hastily warned Bron and TJ about him, just in time to see him walk past the borrowing counter towards the exit. Bron asked him if he had anything he wanted to borrow, but he ignored her and kept going. Bron reached into the drawer and threw a ring of keys to TJ, who had swiftly dashed over to the door controls. In one movement he grabbed the keys and spun to lock the door.

The man, realising we had him trapped, turned and bumped into Talia. "Sorry," she said sarcastically as a handful of books spilled out from under his coat. He pushed her back hard into Goldie, who luckily managed to catch her without losing her own footing.

"How DARE you do that to her!" Goldie's voice echoed throughout the library, causing everyone to stop and stare. A burly man using PC4 stood up, the glare he fixated on the trenchcoated man full of anger. The thief fled to the back of the library, with me in hot-footed pursuit. I saw him accost Pepper, who shrieked and grabbed onto his trenchcoat. As he ripped her security swipecard from its chain around her neck she pulled off his coat, liberating the library's stolen goods. While I stopped to see if Pepper was alright he used the card to lock himself inside the staffroom.

Five seconds later he came out running, Ernesto lumbering after him. The man flicked out a Swiss Army Knife and waved it at us menacingly. But he didn't count on Sylvia coming up from behind and flykicking it out of his hand. We blocked off all his available exits. He backed into the local history room and grabbed hold of a nearby reader, a young boy.

"Get back, bookworms, and I'll let the kid go safely once I'm out the door."

"No." Boudecia stepped out from the shadows. She extended her hand towards the young boy. The man hesitated, and so did the rest of us. My heart was pounding so fast it felt like it would explode. Boudecia did not blink as she stared down the thief for what seemed like an eternity. Seconds dragged into hours as time held us in its icy grip. Only Boudecia seemed unaffected. She stepped forward and took the boy's hand in hers. As soon as they were apart from the man time returned to normal speed. The man was in a trance-like state. Boudecia let go of the boy's hand and he ran to the arms of his greatly relieved mother. The police stormed past me to arrest the unmoving criminal. My heartbeat started to slow to normal pace. It was over.

In the second meeting, more ad hoc than the last, Boudecia explained why she had been gone for so long. She'd been investigating the inexplicable system crash, speaking to certain 'contacts' of hers. She had concluded that it had been caused by a bug in the system, and that it had all been sorted out and we weren't to worry. I didn't believe her for one second. For a while I'd thought it had been her, but there was no motive, and if she had done it, why vanish for several days? No, it was definitely someone else who had intimate access to the system, and I've got a good idea whom.

Ah well, it's been a good day regardless. One criminal caught, many books saved. Now I've just got to massage my back; those commando rolls put something out of place. Ow ow ow