by Estelle Ryan
“Not everyone is interested in creating the caches and searches. Some—like Jace and I—just want to take part in the search.”
“Like a treasure hunt,” Vinnie said.
“It’s not a treasure hunt.” Caelan frowned and turned away from Vinnie. “There’s no treasure.”
“What is in the cache?” Daniel asked.
Some of the tension left Caelan’s face. “A riddle.”
Colin smiled when Caelan didn’t expand on his answer. “Please explain.”
“None of us are interested in finding caches with little superheroes or trinkets in them. And the people who create the caches are far too smart to create something as simplistic as that. So we have cognitive challenges.”
“To see who’s the smartest.” Vinnie leaned back in his chair. “Man, I would be so out of my depth.”
“You would.” There was no malice in Caelan’s reply. “Each cache’s riddle leads us to the next cache. There are always three caches in a set. We’re given an initial riddle to lead us to the first cache, then we have to find our way to the last cache. With each one, the riddles become more abstract and complicated. Until the final cache which always has the hardest riddle.”
“Hold on a bit there, superman.” Vinnie’s frown pulled his brow down. “You gotta explain it real simple for me.”
“Why? You’re not stupid.”
Vinnie’s loud laugh was one of surprise. He shook his head. “Thanks, dude. Okay, my question is this: If you guys get a riddle in each cache, how do you know where to look for the next cache? I mean, how does it lead you to the next cache?”
Caelan took his smartphone from his pocket and put it on the table. “There’s a website, but everything about the caches is on an app on our phones. When you solve the riddle from one cache, you enter the answer into the place for it on the app and the GPS co-ordinates for the next cache are revealed.”
“Aha.” Vinnie leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “Is there a time limit or some such thing to solve the riddles?”
“No.” Caelan glanced at his phone. “The app gives points for each riddle solved and every other action. The faster you solve the riddle, the more points you get. The quicker you get to the next cache, the more points you get.”
“And the person with the most points wins what?” Vinnie raised both shoulders. “A riddle?”
Caelan glared at his shoulder. “I’m not sure, but I think you’re being sarcastic.”
“Sorry, superman.” Vinnie lowered his shoulders. “But I would still like to know what you win.”
“Nothing. It’s knowing that we were the fastest in solving the riddles and getting the caches that counts. There have been a few members who thought it was stupid not to have big prizes, but only a few. The others kicked them out of the group.”
“Harsh. Does everyone work in teams?”
“No, but most of us do.” Caelan swallowed. “Jace is a perfect match for me. I don’t like being outside among other people. I like searching and researching the locations on my computer with the many satellite mapping systems available. Jace loves running through the city or forest or buildings, looking for the caches. He enjoys being outside. As long as no one talks to him.”
“Then how do you communicate?” Daniel asked. “Only via instant messages on your phones?”
“Not only. Jace has smart glasses. He wears them very often and streams his footage live to me. That way I can see where he is and what he’s doing. When we work like that, I’m on the phone with him, speaking to him.”
“GIPN has been using smart glasses.” Vinnie nodded towards Daniel. He often joined Daniel’s GIPN team when they trained. A few times he’d taken part in their rescues as well. “Pink was going on and on and on and on about it. Just like Franny.”
Pink was GIPN’s IT expert and shared his passion with Francine, my best friend and a world-renowned hacker.
Almost a year ago, Pink had been grievously injured during one of our investigations. My respect for him had grown exponentially watching his determination to recover physically and emotionally from that event. He’d moved into our extended apartment when he’d been released from the physical rehabilitation centre. I’d observed his optimism and relentless hard work to speed up his recovery. It inspired me.
Two months ago, the department had cleared him for active duty after rigorous tests to ensure that he was indeed able—physically and psychologically—to perform his duties.
“I still prefer the body cams.” Daniel looked at me. “If we’re going to be recording things, body cams are better.”
“But smart glasses do so much more.” Vinnie shrugged when we looked at him. “What? I’ve been listening to Pink and Franny sing these things’ praises. And then I tried it. Must say, the fact that these glasses can ID so many things before our brains have time to process them can be very useful.”
Daniel sighed. “Vin is right. The smart glasses are programmed for facial recognition. The idea is for law enforcement personnel to be wearing them all the time. The glasses will process everyone crossing the agent’s path. If someone is on a watchlist and the system recognises the face, it will alert the agent. If the agent is busy in a verbal exchange with a suspect and focused on his face, he might miss the butt of a weapon peeking out from the suspect’s shirt. The glasses will pick that up and alert the agent. There are many life-saving uses for the glasses.”
This information was interesting and I appreciated that Daniel kept his explanation short. I knew Francine well enough to be convinced that she would’ve wasted valuable time going into unnecessary detail. I turned my attention back to Caelan. “When is the last time Jace streamed footage from his glasses?”
“Yesterday morning.” Caelan’s fists clenched. “It was also the last time I spoke to him.”
Something in his tone caught my attention. “But not the last time you communicated?”
“He sent me a photo yesterday afternoon.” He took his phone and swiped the screen. “When I phoned him to ask what this was supposed to be, he didn’t answer. He hasn’t answered since.”
“May we see?” Colin held out his hand towards Caelan’s phone.
The young man immediately pulled the phone closer to his chest. “I’ll send it to Doctor Lenard. No one touches my phone. Lebanon is the only state in the Middle East in which there is no desert.”
I lifted my phone from the conference table. Four seconds later, a notification tone sounded and I swiped the screen. “Is this his flat?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve never been there,” Vinnie said.
“I was there this morning.” Caelan’s chin dropped. “But I’ve never been inside my friend’s flat.”
“Could you forward the photo to us, love?” Colin took his phone from his trouser pocket. “Maybe one of us will see something important.”
I tapped the share icon and soon notification tones filled the room. I enlarged the photo to study the view from the floor. At this angle, the only possibility was that Jace had taken the photo while on the floor. It showed a few centimetres of a rug over a dark wooden floor that disappeared under a bed.
I enlarged the photo even more to focus on the space directly under the centre of the bed. “Those are smart glasses.”
Colin leaned towards me and I tilted the phone so he could see what I was looking at. “It sure looks like it.”
Vinnie raised one eyebrow. “This means he took the photo with his phone.”
Daniel cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. He was frowning at his phone, his muscle tension increased. “I think we need his address, Caelan.”
“What’s wrong?” It was written all over his face. His attempt to modulate his tone didn’t fool me. What had he seen in the photo?
“He’s looking at the blood.” Caelan’s words came out louder than usual. “Show them the blood.”
“The very bottom of the photo.” Daniel tilted his head, his expression softening
with compassion as he looked at Caelan. “We don’t know that it is blood. That’s why we’ll go and check on him.”
With my index finger, I moved the image until I could study the bottom of the photo. The image was still enlarged and as I moved the image to the left, I jerked my hand away. What had looked like the grain on the wooden floor now appeared to be blood spatter. It wasn’t a fine mist as was often seen in cases of gunshots, but rather long streaks. Seen in cases of blunt-force trauma. I shuddered.
Colin inhaled sharply and leaned forward. “Can’t be.”
“Can’t be what, dude?” Vinnie stretched his neck to see Colin’s screen.
“Under the bed against the far wall.”
Everyone lifted their phones, fingers stretching the image. Phillip put his phone on the table. “That’s a painting.”
“A Roubaud.” Colin brought the phone closer to his face. “It’s too far and too dark to make out whether this is authentic or any other details, but this is undoubtedly Franz Roubaud’s The Battle of Elisavetpol, also known by the very long name of The defeat of the Persian troops at Elisavetpol on September 13, 1826. I would recognise the horses and soldiers anywhere.” He looked up. “It’s currently in a museum in Baku, Azerbaijan.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated and he swiped the screen. A micro-expression of disquiet pulled at the corners of his mouth. He looked at Caelan. “Do you have a photo of Jace?”
“Yes!” Caelan swiped the screen of his phone a few times then turned it for Daniel to see. “His hair is very red.”
“So it is.” Daniel’s smile wasn’t sincere. It didn’t lift his cheeks and crinkle the corners of his eyes. He looked at Phillip. “Could you please take Caelan to your office and get him to write down every small detail he knows about Jace’s life?”
Phillip’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then he nodded and got up. “Of course. The more data we have on this young man, the easier it will be for us to find him. Caelan?”
He looked at Phillip’s shoulder, then at Daniel’s, back to Phillip’s, then at mine. “Are they lying to me?”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t specialise in working with people on the spectrum. I only knew how I processed information. And how desperately I needed as much information as possible. “They are lying to you to protect you. I don’t know from what yet, but I will find out.”
“Jace is dead, isn’t he?” Caelan didn’t take his eyes off my shoulder. His breathing was erratic.
I looked at Daniel. “Is he?”
Daniel closed his eyes and nodded. “I’m so sorry, Caelan.”
“Russia and China are both bordered by fourteen countries! The Andes form the longest exposed mountain range at seven thousand kilometres!” He got up and looked at Phillip’s shoulder through the tears filling his eyes. “I’m ready to go to your office now. Greenland is the largest island in the world.”
Phillip’s eye and mouth muscles contracted in compassion as he held out his hand towards the door. “I’ll get Tim to bring you more milk and white cookies.”
They left the room and Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but paused when Caelan rushed back in. He stopped next to my chair and stared hard at my shoulder. “I trust you with my friend, Doctor Lenard. Take care of his body and his memory.”
I watched him rush out and exhaled slowly. Typical of people on the spectrum, Caelan didn’t exhibit emotion as openly as neurotypical people. Yet the overwhelming pain I’d seen on his face and heard in his voice affected me. I searched for Colin’s hand and gripped it tightly before I looked at Daniel. “What do you know?”
“When Caelan first mentioned his friend, I asked Pink to search for anything related to the young man. I’d hoped we’d find him in hospital at worst.” He shook his head. “Pink just sent me crime scene photos. The police found Jace’s body in the woods to the south of Strasbourg. Pink is organising for us to go there now. He’s also asked the team there to wait for us before they process the scene any further.”
“We need to get the old man and Franny to go with us.” Vinnie got up, his phone already pressed to his ear.
“I don’t want to go.” I closed my eyes, my hand tightening around Colin’s. “I don’t want to see Caelan’s dead friend.”
“You don’t have to go, love.” Colin lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles. “We’ll work it from here.”
I opened my eyes and turned to him. “I didn’t say I wasn’t going. Just that I don’t want to go.”
He smiled. “Gotcha.”
“The old man will meet us there.” Vinnie leaned against the door frame. “Franny is on her way to Phillip’s office. She’ll get that data from Caelan and start doing her computer magic. Dan, you wanna come with us or go with Pink?”
“I’ll meet you guys there.” Daniel got up slowly and shook his head. “The younger they are, the harder it is.”
Chapter TWO
“THIS IS IT.” COLIN drove slowly towards the police vehicles and other cars parked at the entrance of the Neuhof forest. Strasbourg was the only European city with alluvial forests surrounding its outskirts. As one of Strasbourg’s three forests, Neuhof was considered a genuine natural monument and was awaiting approval for listing as a nature reserve.
Located south of the city, along the Rhine River, it covered an area of seven hundred and fifty-seven hectares. There were many paths for cycling, jogging, even horse riding. But it also had a reputation for prostitution and late-night illegal activities. I’d been here numerous times, but only during the day.
It was mostly the nature that drew people here during the day, myself included. Especially in the warmer months. This part of the season, some trees were bare while the evergreen trees provided a bit of colour. It had snowed last night, the fresh snow adding to the breathtaking beauty of the nature surrounding us, the ground now hidden beneath five centimetres of snow.
It had taken us sixteen minutes to drive here. Colin had ignored all speed limits, despite my many complaints. The eleven kilometres should’ve taken us twenty minutes had Colin kept to the road rules. I’d resorted to folding my arms around my torso in a self-hug and mentally writing Mozart’s Symphony No.36 in C.
Colin huffed as he parked his SUV next to a familiar sixteen-year-old beige sedan. “How did Millard get here so fast?”
Colonel Manfred Millard was the only member of our team who was formally trained in law enforcement. Currently, he was still employed by Interpol with the understanding that he was running our team who worked directly under the president of France. He was standing next to his car, speaking to Daniel and Pink.
“He must’ve been close.” Vinnie narrowed his eyes as he looked at Manny’s sedan. “There’s no way the old man drove faster than fifty kilometres an hour.”
I relaxed my arms and took a deep breath. The expressions on Daniel’s and Manny’s faces warned me that this was going to be difficult. I pulled on my thick fleece gloves and got out of the car. The fresh air stung my cheeks and I pulled the zipper of my winter coat as high as it would go.
Winters in Strasbourg were never severe, but the last week had brought an unusual amount of snow as well as lower than usual temperatures. I pulled my scarf higher around my neck and joined Colin at the front of the SUV. Vinnie was already standing with Daniel, Pink and Manny as we walked over to Manny’s car.
“All I’m saying is that people are weird. Weird.” Vinnie crossed his arms, his bulky winter coat stretching over his shoulders.
“Why are people weird?” I hated missing parts of a conversation.
“Doc.” Manny stared at me for two seconds, then nodded before he looked at Colin. “Frey.”
“People are weird because a group of friends come here every single day to walk their dogs.” Vinnie threw an arm out and gestured towards the forest. “It’s minus twenty, half a metre of snow and my nose is running from the cold.”
“It’s minus one.” I sighed and kicked at the snow under my black boots. “The snow here isn’t even fiv
e centimetres deep.”
“The cover over there is about twelve centimetres.” Daniel pointed his thumb over his shoulder.
“Is that where the body is?” Colin asked.
“Yes.”
Working with neurotypical people was vexing. They seldom stayed on point in a conversation. I took a step closer to Vinnie. “Why were you complaining about the people walking their dogs?”
“I wasn’t complaining about the people.” Vinnie grinned. “Only the weather.”
“Ignore him, Doc.” Manny turned his back on Vinnie. “One of the dogs found our victim. That’s why these people are important.”
“Did they see anything else?” Colin asked. “Someone dumping the body, driving away?”
Daniel shook his head. “No, they said they got here for a walk after lunch when one of the dogs broke free of his leash and ran off the path. His owner found him barking like crazy at what he thought at first was a pile of clothes. But when he got closer, he saw it was a body.”
“Did anyone touch it?”
“I don’t know.” Daniel turned to his left. “Canet! Come here for a sec.”
An officer in his mid-thirties walked to us. He was wearing a police-issued winter jacket, hat and gloves. “Good day, everyone.”
Around me, the men nodded and Daniel shook his hand. “Do you know if anyone touched the body?”
“No. The woman whose dog found the body said she immediately saw he was dead.” Despite his heavy French accent, he spoke English with ease. He tapped on his temple and rolled his eyes. “Silly woman said she watches lots of cop shows and knew she shouldn’t touch the body. She phoned us.”
“That’s not silly.” Why would he say that?
“That isn’t.” He rolled his eyes again. “But then she said there’s enough DNA everywhere that she knows we’ll find the killer very quickly.”
“Hah!” Pink shook his head as he laughed. “She really said that?”
“C’est vrai.”
“Of course it’s true.” Pink nodded in completely fake agreement. “Because the killer always leaves his or her DNA behind for us to find. And the DNA results even reveals his or her motivation and tells us where the murder weapon is.”