“Can’t blame him for not opening up to us,” Ivy said. “If there was a glitch in a system they provided, his company could be held liable or something.”
“Can you imagine feeling like you need to watch your nanny?”
“Actually, I’ve got one of those. Mine’s a cat, not a penguin. Probably bought it online from here, now that I think about it.”
“Do you use it?”
“Not anymore. I got it when we hired our first nanny. Used it for a month or two. It felt kind of weird. Like I was getting too paranoid. It’s on a shelf in the garage.”
Court’s phone buzzed with another text from Madeline. He turned his back to Ivy for a little privacy. She was having a good day and hoping he was having a good one, too. It was followed by a selfie of Madeline holding a coffee mug declaring Revenge is sweet and not fattening—a famous Hitchcock line. It was a quote he’d always found a little disturbing if taken seriously. They’d talked about their mutual love of all things Hitchcock last night. He had one at home with another quote—Television has brought back murder into the home—where it belongs. His mug probably came from the same website where Madeline had gotten hers.
In the background behind her, shelves were cluttered with figurines. He recognized some of them from movies and TV shows. There were more he didn’t recognize than those he did. Above her head was a Lego space ship, which he tentatively identified as the Millennium Falcon. She followed it briefly with another text declaring the image “me at work.”
She was an artist at the same company his brother-in-law, Pat, worked for. Court didn’t own any game consoles and never played them on his computer, so whenever Pat talked about what his company did it flew right over Court’s head. He’d toyed with a silly bird game on his phone for a while, but he wasn’t into the games where everyone ran around shooting at each other. He experienced enough of violence in real life; he didn’t need the pretend version.
He studied the picture of Madeline for a while, and then raised his phone to take a selfie. It showed him sitting in a plain chair with an empty white board behind him. Boring as all hell. He deleted it and slid his thumb up the text history with Madeline until he got to the steamy one she’d taken earlier in the morning at his place.
“Selfies, Court?” Ivy asked, interrupting his private moment.
He closed the message window and opened his email. “How long’s it been, anyway? Maybe we should do something else and come back.”
“Ten minutes, maybe. I bet he’ll be back within half an hour. By the time we get anywhere, it will be ready for us. Besides, whatever he’s got for us is probably our next best bet.”
He scrolled through his email. “Nothing on Drummond’s priest yet. If they can get a good drawing from her…”
“Yeah, don’t count on it. You know eyewitnesses are almost entirely unreliable. Especially five days out?”
“Still. The collar. He’s got to be our killer. It gives us some idea about his build at least.”
“Hunter’s size and general shape. Leather doesn’t stretch much, does it?”
“No, it doesn’t. There could be some variation in height, but the build would have to be similar.”
“Even if they’d worn the suit so it was super tight, they’d still have to be similar in size. They could be taller. A skinny guy could fit in it with the hem of the legs hitting him above the ankles.”
“Could have been a woman. Don’t forget that.”
“True. True. You think Audrey Drummond’s about the same size as Karen Hunter?”
Walker returned half an hour later with a file three inches thick. “Everything you asked for is here.”
“We’d like to look it over and ask you a few follow-up questions.”
“I’ve complied with the warrant. If you want to ask me questions, you’ll have to do it with my attorney present.” Walker slid the file onto the table with enough force it practically flew across the wood to Court. “I’d like you to leave, now.”
Court trapped the file with a firm hand, not sure where the outright belligerence was coming from. He remained seated, thumbing through the stack with deliberate slowness. There were several smaller bundles wrapped in rubber bands, each with a sticky note on top labeling them. It appeared to be pretty complete, though it was tough to know what they should have asked for but didn’t.
“Hey, the warrant specifies the components of the system you removed from Hunter’s office eight weeks ago. The old reader. Do you still have it?”
Walker’s lips tightened. “No. It’s been recycled.”
“Thanks for all your help.” Court tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. He stood.
Walker flashed a coffee-stained fake smile. “You’re very welcome, detectives.”
Court turned around at the door. “Oh, and that thing about answering questions? This is a death investigation. Come see us at eleven tomorrow morning, and bring your attorney. If you need a ride, I’d be happy to send a pair of uniformed officers to collect you.”
37
Court opened the file on his lap as soon as he was belted in. The first bundle of papers was made up of work orders and invoices for Hunter’s system. Haubek installed the original system three years prior. After the initial installation, there were two other system upgrades performed onsite that would have required Hunter to be present. The replacement on the entry and reboot a couple months ago was the only other work done on her system.
This was completed by two Haubek technicians—a J. Nolan and a T. Payne. The notes confirmed Hunter’s story about the reader being smashed during a break-in. They wiped the system and told her to reissue cards to everyone who needed them. They also replaced the original card coder to accommodate software upgrades in the newer card reader. The last page included an inventory of returned equipment and how it was broken down into components for reuse or disposal. The usable pieces were wiped clean of all data before being sent back into the manufacturing line. It would be a mess, trying to locate the components of Hunter’s system. And, if he was reading the notes correctly, there wouldn’t be any data left on them.
Court flipped through to the list of identical systems, scanning their names for anyone he might recognize. There were over three hundred names and companies on the list, but he was only interested in a few.
“Well, look at this,” he said. “Okay, don’t look, you keep driving. Your friend Jim Schorr is also a Haubek customer. And, lookie here, so is Colchuck Down.”
“You think that means he would be able to hack into Hunter’s system? And wouldn’t Colchuck have a much larger, more involved security system than Hunter’s?”
“Yeah. It’s still a connection. So, it looks like two techs worked on Hunter’s system a couple months ago. An expert in the system could fake a card, right?”
“Why would a tech at Haubek be interested in Drummond?” she asked.
“Could be that someone was following Drummond, figured out he had a weekly appointment with Hunter, and bribed one of the techs to get access.” Court flipped through the papers to the stack marked personnel. There were only three records, one for each of the techs who’d installed the new reader, and one for Walker.
“What motive would Walker have for offing Drummond? Unless there was some bigger thing going on with Colchuck security… Security and shipping logs?” Court tucked the idea away for now. “Let’s hope this is not some larger Triad conspiracy with Haubek at the center.”
“Oh, that would suck. And be kinda awesome at the same time, wouldn’t it?”
“I can’t imagine anything less awesome, Langston. Anytime the Triad is involved, things get nasty. I’ve had enough of them for one career.” He took a deep breath. “Okay, so, here’s Payne’s personnel record. Not much to it. Shows he’s a model employee. Given regular raises over the years, no complaints against him except once back in 2008. A customer called in about how slow Payne was being on some work. The notes say that Payne was given a warning and nothing more
after that. Nothing else in here but a note about his mother dying. He initially took off two weeks, but called back in to give final notice after a week.”
Back at his desk, Court pulled the DMV records on Nolan and Payne while Ivy pored through the Haubek paperwork. Court soon had phone numbers on both men. Payne’s went to voicemail, but the message was from a woman with a different name. The number must have been reassigned.
Payne’s DMV records showed the same address as in his personnel file from Haubek. If he’d moved recently, he might not have gotten around to updating his license information.
Nolan’s personnel record was a bit sketchier than Payne’s. He was chronically late. He had four warnings in his records over the last six months. Before that, he had been a model employee. There wasn’t much else in the record. Court tried the number in the record for Nolan. He picked up on the first ring as if he had been waiting for Court’s call. He politely informed Court that he couldn’t talk to him over the phone or without an attorney present. Court told him to come to the station with his boss tomorrow.
“What can you tell me about Payne leaving Haubek?” Court asked, hoping he’d answer some questions anyway.
“I don’t think that’s a secret. His mother died about a month or so ago, and he quit. She left the house to him. He was going to sell it to pursue his dream.”
“Pursue his dream? What kinda dream would that be?”
“You know, I’m not sure about that. Used to talk some about sailing, but he never invited anyone out on a boat as far as I know.”
“You know how I can get hold of him?”
“Sure, it’s still on my phone.”
It was the same number that Court had already tried. If Payne’s mom had died a month prior, how likely was it the house had already sold? Court checked the county tax records, but the home was still listed under Barbara Payne. So, if it had sold, it was recent enough that the database hadn’t caught up with the sale. It was weird that the guy had disconnected his phone. Doubly weird since it was his cell phone and not a land line. Maybe his hunch had been right. Maybe Payne had been bought off by someone to gain access to Hunter’s offices.
Court stood up and leaned over his cubicle to Ivy’s. She had the Haubek file open out on her desk, and was scribbling on her yellow pad.
“Find anything useful?” he asked.
“Meh. You?”
“We need to go find this Payne guy. I have this weird feeling about him. His mom died a month ago, and he quit working at Haubek.”
“So? What’s weird about that? Lots of people lose it when their parents die. Maybe she left him some money and he could quit.”
“Yeah, I know. Nolan refused to talk about anything technical on the Haubek system, but he told me Payne’s mom left him the house, and he was going to sell it to pursue his dream.”
“Like I said, Pearson, it sounds like a totally normal thing to me.”
“The thing is, people with ‘dreams’ talk about them a lot, don’t they? Nolan wasn’t even sure what this dream of Payne’s might be. And, he disconnected his cell phone. Talk about bizarre. Who does that?”
“Seriously? You’re not liking this guy for Drummond, are you? I mean, he’s a tech who worked on the system once. What connection does he have to Drummond?”
“I don’t know. Drummond has a Haubek system. We should see if he ever worked on that one. Maybe there was some connection over at Colchuck. It’s more likely that the killer bribed Payne for access to Hunter’s system.”
Ivy breathed out heavily. “Those guys at Haubek are all licensed and bonded security types. I wonder how much it would take to get them to blow their careers.”
Court shrugged. “We didn’t ask for documentation on Schorr’s or Colchuck Down’s maintenance history. Let’s see if either Nolan or Payne worked on them. If we can place either one with Schorr or Colchuck, it would make a connection to Drummond.”
“I’ll write up a warrant.”
“We can stop by Haubek on our way out to Payne’s house,” Court said.
Stensland stepped out of his office, ordering them both inside. He waved a meaty hand at two seats in front of his desk. Court dropped onto the edge of one, not settling in. Whatever Stensland had to say would be quick.
“Tell me about the visit you two made to a known associate of the Triad. What the hell is going on?”
It was disconcerting that they had been caught under someone else’s surveillance. He was glad he was sitting as his legs turned to rubber. “Sorry, sir. We learned earlier today that Drummond had an argument with a man who worked for him.” He filled him in on their visit to Wu’s house and their subsequent trip to see Fang.
“And you didn’t think to call Brody up in Gangs?” Stensland asked. “For either visit?”
Detective Trevon Brody headed the growing Gangs unit that was supposed to work in conjunction with other units—Homicide, Narcotics and Vice—to link all gang-related activity. In theory, close communication between everyone would make it easier and faster to solve crimes. When they’d been at Colchuck, Court hadn’t seen any undercover cops. But, he hadn’t been looking for them either. They wouldn’t have signaled their presence. Not talking to Brody was a lapse in procedure, but not a huge one. Why were Stensland’s panties in such a bunch?
Stensland pointed a finger at Ivy. “And you, Langston. You didn’t either?”
Ivy sat in silence, her fingers interlaced over her stomach. The color had drained from her face. This was the first time she’d taken any heat from Stensland. She leaned back into her chair, crossing her legs at her ankles. She gave Court a “go ahead, you tell him” look.
“With all due respect, sir, we had no idea Wu was involved with the Triad until we were at his house. We were following up on a lead,” Court said.
“Wu? Who’s talking about Wu? We’re talking about Fang. She’s one of Brody’s informants.”
Court fell back in his seat, jaw dropping. Fang hadn’t given him any indication or hinted at being anyone else’s informant. What the hell was Brody using her for?
“What am I supposed to do when my lead detective on a case isn’t communicating the way he’s supposed to? And his partner doesn’t call him on it? The two of you are supposed to cover each other’s ass and make sure all lines of communication are working.”
Ivy leaned forward to say something, but Stensland cut her off with a wave of his hand. “I’m not done yet. You are going to include Brody on every aspect of this case. If the Triad is involved, he’s got to be kept up to date and involved.”
“Sir, was there anyone in Gangs on Colchuck Down?” Court asked.
“The point is, you can’t go running into their territory. You might fuck up a concurrent investigation.”
“I asked you if someone was already on Colchuck. Did we interrupt an active investigation? Or did we catch them with their pants down?”
Stensland’s eyebrow twitched with a tic telling Court that he was pushing it.
“You need to report everything you touch from here on out to Brody. Let him know before you have any further contact. Got it?”
38
There were a few inquisitive looks from others as they stepped out of Stensland’s office, but Court ignored them as he made his way back to his cubicle and focused on his work. He printed out two copies of Payne’s and Nolan’s DMV photos while Ivy worked on the new warrant. The sketch artist’s rendering popped up at the top of his email. He clicked the file and opened it on his screen. The most distinguishing feature the guy had was his balding head with a slim tonsure of hair circling the back and sides. He could be almost any white guy in his late thirties or early forties. The single definitive thing they got from the exercise is that he wasn’t Chinese.
He flashed the printed copy at Ivy; she gave him a told-you-so smile. “To tell you the truth, I am hoping this has no link to the Triad—that could get nasty very fast. Whoever he is, he took the suit with him. Maybe he kept it as a souvenir so we’
ll have something tying him to the killing.”
Court didn’t like the sound of that. Killers who kept souvenirs were not usually stable, regular folks. Most murders were crimes of passion. When a killer is confronted face-to-face, they usually break and confess. The serial killers of the world are the ones who don’t break under pressure. They creeped Court out as much as they fascinated him.
“It’s too bad the drawing is mostly useless. But I think we can rule out a Chinese hit man from the possibilities.”
“The Triad could have hired him out. They could still be behind this,” Court said.
“I hope not. After that scene with Stensland, I am hoping there is absolutely no connection with the Triad. The way Stensland was all quiet after you asked him, I’m betting Gangs had nothing going over at Colchuck.”
Court checked his phone. It had only been a couple of hours, and he was pretty sure Fang had not had time to do any checking. “Here’s hoping Fang can get back to me tomorrow sometime and clear it up. I’d be happy to cross the Triad off our list.”
Ivy traced circles on her watch face. “If we leave now, we can go check on Payne’s address and be back before traffic stinks.”
They dropped the new warrant at Haubek. It took Walker fifteen minutes to comply, and they hit the road to check up on Payne. This time, Court drove as Ivy read through the file.
“Colchuck has a Haubek system, but the techs who have worked on it are all different. Neither Nolan or Payne are on the list. And, before you ask, I checked— none of the techs who have ever worked at Hunter’s have worked at Colchuck Down.”
“So no connection between Payne and Drummond. What about Schorr?”
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