A Dubious Device: The Nanobot Terror (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 10)

by Gerald Kubicki

  “That could be the case,” Banyon admitted. “But we should get the IP addresses anyway. If the computers are in private homes, we would have a lead and maybe establish a pattern. If they are in a public place, we might be able to find security video and a picture of our killer.”

  She tilted her head in thought. “You might have something there. I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

  Chapter Ten

  C

  olton Banyon sat waiting for Haleigh Taylor to return. He soon found himself wondering about the mystery. He needed to solve the killings to clear his name and to end the scrutiny that he was currently enduring by the police. He was sure that Detective Taylor would not stop digging until she found something or was put on another tract. He knew that he couldn’t talk to Wolf while he was in the station house. It was just too risky. He would have to move the case along using his own skills.

  An hour later, Detective Haleigh Taylor came bursting through the door. She had a half grin on her pretty face. She quickly moved to a seat across from Banyon at the metal table. She opened her folder and spoke.

  “You were right, Colt. All the orders were placed through one computer,” she quickly told him.

  “So, can you identify the computer? Where is it located?” Banyon now felt that they were getting someplace.

  “Well, that’s the problem. The computer is located in the computer lab of Northwestern University in Chicago and they don’t have security cameras watching the computer lab,” Detective Taylor lamented.

  “Huh,” he replied. “How many people have access to the lab? Maybe that will narrow down the suspects.”

  “About a hundred thousand people have access to the computer labs. It is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”

  “It’s a big university,” Banyon agreed.

  “We are still at a dead end,” the Detective said sadly. “For all we know, someone could have walked in off of the street and used the computer. Security in the lab is more of an honor system.”

  “There must be a way to identify the computer and who used it,” Banyon quickly responded as he thought about discussing the computer with Wolf. But, he realized that Wolf could not help him yet.

  Banyon knew that locating the computer used to order the books was something that Wolf couldn’t perform. Even with all his abilities, Wolf could not track communications on the internet or on a phone either. It had to do with the energy fields. The electricity used to connect devices clouded his vision. The link to the computer lab would only be the start for Wolf. He would have to observe all the people who used them and see what sites they were visiting on the internet to find the right person. The process could take many days. There were over a hundred computers in the lab. He wasn’t so sure that this lead would pan out.

  “And it gets worse,” Haleigh Taylor uttered.

  “How?”

  “Thirty more books have been ordered from that same computer in the last week. They are currently in transit to the inmates, some were even sent to other states. Several have already been delivered.”

  “My God!” Banyon exclaimed. “At this rate, there won’t be anyone left on any Death Row in the country,” he uttered.

  “We are no better off than before,” she said with frustration as her arms went limp on the desk. “Only now we know that there will likely be more deaths. And what if the killer decides to change computers or authors?”

  “Don’t say we are nowhere,” Banyon said soothingly. “We do have something. We at least know the killer lives in or travels to the Chicago area. We can build our case from there,” he countered.

  “There are eight and half million people in metro Chicago alone. We are nowhere,” she lamented as she held her head in her hands.

  “Is there anything else new?” Banyon asked in search of a new direction.

  “Oh, there is another thing that is new. I almost forgot,” Detective Haleigh Taylor announced as she snapped her head up.

  “What?” Banyon was prepared for more bad news.

  “We have compared the signatures in the books found in the cells of the victims to your actual signature. They don’t match. It appears that you didn’t have anything to do with the murder of those people.”

  He absently replied with a wave of his hand. “I knew that,” he responded, “but now I’m wondering where all the books sent to the inmates came from.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Let me explain,” he started. “The books found in the cells are all softcover books, right? I mean there aren’t any hard covers found so far, right?”

  Detective Taylor pulled out a sheet of paper and scanned it. “You’re right, they all are soft cover books, so what?”

  Banyon filled her in on the book publishing industry. “Today softcovers are produced on demand, with some pretty high-tech machinery. There are no softcover book inventories kept in a warehouse. Everything is custom ordered. I can order some books and ship them anywhere or a retailer can order some and ship the books to their store. They do ship individual books but each book would then be shipped from the factory,” Banyon explained. “But we know that these books were ordered through my website and not the factory. That means that the killer has an inventory of my books to send out.”

  “How can we track the inventory?” Detective Taylor quickly asked with renewed enthusiasm.

  “Amazon, thru their division CreateSpace, prints all my books. There has to be an order placed recently to cover the books shipped to the inmates. Nobody else could print the books. They had to be ordered through CreateSpace,” Banyon continued.

  “And someone would have to place the order and ship it somewhere, I get it,” the detective said enthusiastically.

  “So, if they didn’t order the books through my account and I’m sure they didn’t, they had to buy the books through a retailer or make a special order,” Banyon added.

  “If we can get the order summary from the factory, we might find an order for fifty or so of your books,” Haleigh Taylor blurted out and smiled. “We can find out where the books were delivered from that printout. We are pretty sure that they went to Chicago. We finally have a lead in this case. I’m on it.” She got up to leave the room.

  “Not so fast,” Banyon cautioned her. “The killer seems to be kind of smart. I doubt that they would have placed a special order.”

  “So what am I looking for?”

  “I’m pretty sure they bought the books from a bookstore in the Chicago area.” He told her. “And there could be surveillance tapes.”

  “Hmm,” the detective let out as she thought.

  “It’s worth a try,” Banyon pressed and opened his arms.

  “Okay, I wonder how many books stores are in the Chicago metro area?” Detective Taylor then asked out loud.

  “I’m pretty sure that they would have bought them at a Barnes & Noble retail store,” Banyon quickly replied.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “They stock my books in quantity,” he told her. “None of the other retailers do. They usually buy six at a time.”

  “Well, okay. How many Barnes & Noble book stores are there in Chicago, then?

  “About thirty.”

  “I’ll get on that immediately,” she said.

  Banyon added that the retailer could tell them the exact time and location that each of his books was purchased and therefore make it easier to review the in-store surveillance tapes. He was about to give her his Amazon account number, when he was interrupted as the door to the interrogation room flung open.

  A tall thin man of about thirty years old stood in the doorway. He wore a brown Stetson hat, a perfectly tailored brown suede suit jacket with a bolo tie, tight fitting blue jeans and cowboy boots. He carried a small brown satchel. A wide smile covered his face and broadened when he looked at Detective Haleigh Taylor. She noticed his gaze and fidgeted in her seat, using her hand to brush back her hair from her face.

  Banyon was as shocked as Detectiv
e Taylor seemed to be. He knew that Loni would have called Bart Longwood at Dewey & Beatem and he would have sent a lawyer from the local Las Vegas branch of the firm. But he didn’t expect a lawyer that looked like a cattle rancher. Banyon also knew that Bart was a world class illusionist. He could alter his appearance to look like almost anyone. Banyon had seen Bart in action before.

  “Hi, I’m Chase Sandborn,” he said with a definite southern drawl. “I’m Colton Banyon’s lawyer. Please stop talking to my client now, miss.”

  “Is that you, Bart?” Banyon asked in wonderment.

  Part Two

  The Link

  Chapter Eleven

  I

  n his most charming southern voice Chase Sanborn turned and addressed Detective Taylor. He ceremoniously removed his hat revealing blond slicked back hair before he spoke. “If’n you don’t mind, little missy, I’d like to spend some quality time alone with my client. I need to get up to speed on these here bogus charges levied against him.”

  “You needn’t bother, Mr. Sanborn, he is no longer under suspicion,” she shot back at him as she batted her eyes.

  “Guess’n we’ll be on our way then,” he replied happily. “And out of your pretty hair.”

  “Please call me Haleigh. You know my name” she said with a slight blush as she touched her head.

  “Not so fast, Chase,” Banyon blurted out. “The detective and I have uncovered a real mystery. I want to see where this is headed. Someone set me up and I want to find out who and why.”

  “I see,” Chase said as he winked at the pretty detective.

  Looking a little flustered, Detective Taylor closed her folder. “Well,” she announced. “I have some work to do. Why don’t you two boys hang around for a while? I’ll be back shortly.” She then got up and left the room, closing the door behind her.

  “She’s pretty, don’t you think?” It was the first thing that Chase Sanborn asked Banyon. He thumbed towards the door to be specific.

  “You’re not Bart in disguise, are you?” Banyon asked in confusion. Bart Longwood, the Managing Partner of Dewey & Beatem, like all of their employees, frequently used his special talents during a case. Bart was an illusionist and could pass himself off as someone else. He usually did it so that no one knew who he real was and could not identify him.

  “No, I’m not him,” Chase said. The southern drawl was gone. “Bart is on his way here and asked me to get you out of jail.”

  “Who are you?”

  “My name is actually Chase Sandborn. I’m a criminal lawyer for the Las Vegas office of Dewey & Beatem. I have been to this location many times. They know me here at the police department. I know that you work with Bart out of Chicago. I’m here to help.”

  “What else do you do?” Banyon was curious about the lawyer. “I mean, what is your special talent.”

  “Since you asked,” the lawyer replied happily. “I’m known as a security specialist. I can crack any security system made on earth — any safe as well. I’ve been doing it since I was knee high to a toad. The government even trained me when I was with the CIA. I got my law degree through them too.”

  “Are you a contract employee?” Banyon asked curiously. The Law firm of Dewey and Beatem required that whenever Banyon worked a case, he had to hire a contract employee from the firm to help him. The employee collected a percent of the revenue taken in once the case was concluded.

  “Of course,” he replied. “I could use the money. But right now, I’m only your lawyer,” he noted.

  “Well, stick around for a while, I may need you. I think that this might be an income producing mystery.”

  “Sure enough,” Chase replied in his drawl. “I got my eye on the little filly anyway,” he said as his eyes darted to the door. “Also, Bart said that you are paying me by the hour. I charge three hundred dollars per hour.”

  Banyon didn’t care about the money. “Do you have a cell phone? I want to call Loni and tell her that I’m alright.”

  “Here you go, buddy.” The lawyer gave Banyon his cell phone. It was covered in brown leather. Banyon gave him a questioning look.

  “It’s kind of my trademark,” he answered the unspoken question. “Everything is brown and leather.”

  Banyon dialed Loni’s cell phone number. She answered in three rings. “Loni, it’s Colt,” he said.

  “Thank God, I was so worried,” she gushed. “Are you still under arrest? Did they send a lawyer?”

  “No, I’ve been cleared, but I’m helping the police to solve this case. The lawyer is with me. Want to come to the station and pick me up?”

  “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” she said and hung up the phone.

  Banyon handed the cell phone back to the lawyer. “Go to the front and get my personal belonging, would you.”

  “I’ll bring you back a cup of coffee too,” Chase Sanborn replied and headed for the door.

  “When you get back, we can discuss the case,” Banyon yelled after him.

  Chapter Twelve

  D

  etective Haleigh Taylor headed for her small messy desk in a back cubicle of the police station. She moved at a fast pace as she crossed the building. As she entered her cube area she threw the folder she carried at the tiny picture which sat on her desk top. Papers from the folder slid out and tumbled to the floor, making a big mess. She was both furious and excited at the same time. She displayed both traits on her pretty face, something that only women were capable of exhibiting at the same time.

  “God dammit,” she muttered to herself. She had finally managed to land a murder case and now it was all going down the tubes. Her prime suspect was off the hook, she had next to no leads, and the suspect turned out to be a secret government agent who was taking over her case. He was making suggestions which she should have thought of herself. On top of that, the case was turning out to become a serial killing spree. That meant someone up stairs would soon move in and takeover the lead on the mystery.

  On the other hand, Chase Sanborn had showed up. She knew that he was real smart and capable. It made her feel good to just be in the same room as him. He always treated her like a lady and listened to her opinions. She wondered if he could help her solve this case before it got out of hand.

  She plopped down at her desk. After producing a huge sigh she bent over and began to pick up the papers on the floor. She couldn’t reach them all and had to drop down on her hands and knees to grab some papers that had slipped under her desk. She had to lean forward on her elbows to reach the last pieces, putting her in a rather provocative position. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. When she turned her head she noticed a pair of black running shoes walking straight up behind her. She gave out a small yelp.

  “Are you praying or are you acting out a crime scene?” The male voice asked jovially. She quickly jumped up to her feet. She showed him the papers she had retrieved. A red blush covered her face.

  “You just wanted to look at my ass,” she challenged, half-seriously. “Don’t ever sneak up on me again or I will shot you.”

  “Sorry,” he muttered. “I just thought that it was a perfect time to bring you an update on your case,” Officer Gary Madison replied.

  Officer Madison was a rookie and was only on the job for a little over a month. He was assigned to her by the captain to help with the grunt work involved in solving the murder case that she was working. She had no idea if he was competent and she had been doing most of the research herself.

  Okay, let’s have an update,” she said as she returned to her seat.

  Chapter Thirteen

  E

  xactly fifteen minutes after Banyon had called her, Loni blew into to the interrogation room like someone was chasing her. Banyon and Chase quickly stood up and Chase removed his hat. She was dressed in a short skirt which showed off her beautiful legs and a matching silky top. The color was sky blue. She wore high heels and jewelry, something she almost never did. Banyon quickly understood that she had dressed to go to court. H
e even noticed signs of makeup on her pretty face.

  She rushed into Banyon’s arms and hugged him like he was going away on a long trip. “I’m so glad you’re not under arrest,” she said with relief. “I didn’t want to have to break you out,” she joked.

  “Me too,” he said with a smile.

  She then turned to look at the lawyer. “Who’s this guy?”

  “Loni, let me introduce you to Chase Sandborn,” Banyon told her with a hand gesture. “He is from the local Las Vegas office of Dewey & Beatem. He is my lawyer.” She looked at all the brown leather and the way he carried himself. She then shook her head knowingly as a smile appeared on her face.

  “Howdy, ma’am,” the lawyer drawled.

  A smile quickly broadened on her face. “He’s really Bart, isn’t he? You can’t fool me, Bart.” She called out. She knew Bart too.

  “No ma’am, I’m really a local lawyer. I was sent by Bart to insure that your husband gets freed.”

  “We’re not mar…,” Banyon started, but was quickly jabbed in the ribs by Loni. Her look told him to be quiet.

  “Good thing we are married, honey,” she said sweetly. “Or they wouldn’t have let me in to see you.”

  Chase Sandborn now studied Loni from head to toe while she stared back at him defiantly, challenging him to blow the whistle and say that they were not married. “You’re a lucky man Colt.”

  Wondering if the lawyer was a womanizer, Banyon replied. “Yes, I am.” He then slid his arm protectively around the delighted Loni.

  Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Detective Haleigh Taylor entered. She seemed startled to see Loni in the room, but gave only a quick nod as a reaction. She immediately took a seat and waved the two men into the other chairs. Banyon let Loni take his place. He stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. Detective Taylor seemed too preoccupied to exchange pleasantries.