Billy and Jim Bucklin burglarize a computer store

The computer-store burglary is the planned theft that brings Billy into police custody and forces Burke Devore to confront the consequences of his son’s actions. The boys prepared their entry in advance, but a silent alarm installed after three earlier burglaries brought officers to the store before they could escape with the stolen software.

Preparation and Entry

Billy and Jim Bucklin went to the mall computer store during the afternoon before the burglary. The store sold business software, computer games, and related items. Finding an opportunity to enter the rear area unseen, the boys tampered with the back door, which opened onto an alley used for deliveries and trash removal. They made it appear locked while leaving it unsecured, preparing a way in for later. That night, after Burke and Marjorie believed Billy was asleep in his bed, he slipped out of the house. Jim, who had a car, picked him up, and they drove to the mall. The two entered the store through the door they had rigged earlier. The sequence—from preparing the entrance in daylight to returning after the household had settled—established the burglary as deliberate rather than spontaneous.

Alarm and Apprehension

The boys did not know that the store had already been burglarized three times in the same manner. In response, its operators had installed a silent alarm that notified the State Police barracks. When Billy and Jim entered, the alert prompted four police cars to converge on the store: two from the state trooper barracks and two from the local town police. Billy and Jim were leaving with canvas tote bags full of software when officers arrived. They abandoned the bags and ran, but police apprehended them. Their attempt to flee, the stolen goods, and the prepared entry made the incident a documented, planned crime rather than an unexplained or impulsive theft.

Evidence and Immediate Stakes

The police had an admission from Jim, proof that the boys had planned the burglary and rigged the door, eyewitness accounts from officers who saw them carrying the stolen property, and evidence of their attempted flight. Together, these details gave investigators substantial evidence against the boys for this break-in. The investigation also had a wider unresolved question: whether Billy and Jim were responsible for the three earlier burglaries committed in the same way. The detective wanted proof connecting them to those crimes, but the evidence described so far established their involvement in the current burglary, not the previous ones.

Family Consequences

The burglary reaches the reader through Burke’s account of a conversation with the detective, which Marjorie follows more attentively than Burke can. Burke is distracted and wants to see Billy; Marjorie asks questions, takes notes, and listens calmly as the detective explains what happened. In that setting, the police account becomes a direct test of Burke’s response to the evidence against his son. Burke tells the detective that this is Billy’s first offense, although the police are still seeking evidence about the earlier break-ins. The distinction matters: the boys’ planned entry and attempted escape are established, while their connection to the other burglaries remains unproved in the account. The theft thus carries consequences beyond the store itself, confronting the family with Billy’s legal exposure and Burke’s decision about what to disclose.