I always enjoyed  the planning stages of a robbery. It's like a different flavor of ice cream each time. No robbery is quite the same as another. They all have a different finger print to them. Different security, different personnel, different items to steal. A different puzzle.
I relish every one.

For the Madam Shan's Store, I went the more direct route. I sent Billy in to scout the place.
I know what you're thinking.
Billy? The guy towers over half the population and sticks out like a sore thumb!
That's why he's perfect.
He stands out. People don't suspect a guy who stands out to be casing the place to rob it.
No they expect someone smaller, wearing baggy clothing, avoiding talking to the workers, and getting in and out quickly.
Billy though, he can just look and remember. He has one of those eidetic memories. So he can just look like he's browsing, when everything he sees, he remembers. That means a quick glance up to the ceiling reveals any security. Looking down to open the door tells him what kind of locks they use. Plus, he isn't afraid to go talk to the workers.
He's good. Real good. I'm lucky to have found him.

What I didn't count on when I first encountered Billy, was that he would end up  being the 'conscience' of the group.
I admit, I get caught up in the planning. I don't consider the moral/emotional/mental/physical damage that I can do.
Billy does. In a way that makes our heists better. For we take the most for our buck, with the least amount of emotional damage to others.
Only...sometimes Billy doesn't have a good reason.
Like his reason for not robbing the Pet Store.
For a man into the details, he was rather vague about what was wrong with the place.

High rolling customers. Fine by me.
Lots of items. Fine by me.
Lousy security. Fine by me.

But not for Billy. Something was off to him, Something wasn't fitting quite right in his picture. And surprisingly for him. He couldn't figure it out.

I really need to learn to listen to Billy more.
I'm sure he's told me that a hundred times. I probably didn't listen to him when he did. I get that way when I'm in the middle of planning.
I didn't care at that point. It was an easy job. The sender of the note was pulling my leg. Billy was taking the note too seriously. We'd be in and out in a heart beat now that I had the schematics of the place, schedules, and security.

I just needed to know how fast we would need to be. And what to steal.

#Henry