Chapter 7
Jane sat with SSA Grimshaw in her boss’s office and brought her up to speed.
Her boss frowned. “We still don’t have an exact list of everything missing from the most recent target let alone the Coatneys two weeks prior to that.”
“No. At first, I thought this was about murder and a grab at millions. The Duvalls’ personal bank accounts have been drained. And they lost ten million in Bitcoin. That’s not easy to do unless the Duvalls just handed over the keys to their crypto accounts.”
“Or were persuaded by being tortured then killed.”
“Or that. Yeah.” The killer enjoyed blood-letting a little too much.
“I know we’re still waiting on information to come back from the banks and exchanges.” The Coatneys’ standing finances remained a mystery. Grimshaw checked her notes. “But we do know the first victims are floating zeros. All the accounts we’ve subpoenaed are empty. CMAs, reserves, Bitcoin, zip.”
Jane nodded. “My bet is we’ll eventually find the same with the Coatneys and the Strands. The killer tortured the passwords out of the family during the robberies. But after talking with Lisa upstairs, I think our thieves are after more than just money.”
“What exactly?”
“I don’t know. Private data our victims had that might or might not relate to the Collective.” She’d already explained yesterday what she’d found in the notebook that she’d handed off to one of their experts for analysis. “I’m looking into it.”
“I haven’t heard anything about a Collective in any of the other cases we have open. We know the Duvalls had a government contract, but the Coatneys didn’t. The Strands might. They were in tech as well. Run that down.”
“I’m already on it.”
“With as much as the three dead families held, we’re talking millions of dollars we might need to track down.”
“I know. Forensics is working on it. I wish we didn’t have to wait on the subpoenas.” They’d already been issued, but the institutions being questioned needed time to gather data. Jane would much rather question subjects than banks. All the money talk gave her a headache.
Grimshaw too, apparently, as she rubbed her eyes. “We’re still no closer to finding the missing pets?”
“No.” Jane frowned. “You know what’s also weird? Karen Duvall had nearly half a million in jewelry that remained untouched. I really hope I’m wrong about the killer being after more than money.”
Grimshaw scowled. “With our luck, he’s stolen sensitive data that’s vital to national security. Who knows how bad this is going to get?”
“Well, the notebook I found at the Strand house mentions the Collective and connects all three families. That’s where I’m focusing the investigation.”
“Good. Learn all you can and keep me updated. I’ll let Haversham know. We’re getting a lot of questions from above.”
Jane swallowed her frustration. She loved solving crimes, but these big cases brought too much attention, which led to too many detectives muddying up the crime scenes.
Grimshaw studied her. “Get out of here. Don’t worry. I’ll keep them off your back as long as I can. But Jane, get us something to work with. I agree that this killer isn’t going to stop until we stop him. The poor victims he brutalized are a testament to that. Find him. And fast.”
“I’ll do my best.” Jane left and stopped at her desk to pull her service weapon. She tucked it into her waist holster and grabbed her jacket and wallet. Not wanting to take a purse, she put the wallet in her pocket. No Birken for me.
Jenn, seated at her desk, leaned over and smiled. “Hey, thanks for that info your CI gave me. We managed to track down a suspect last seen with one of my vics. The suspect’s affiliated.”
A gang. No surprise there.
“Good. You’re rounding him up?”
“Yep. Just as soon as I nail down a few more details, we’re hitting them hard.” Jenn paused. “I hope we find the girl’s sister alive.”
And not too mentally or spiritually damaged. “Your girl Lisa made my brain nearly explode with all the crypto talk.”
Jenn grinned. “She’s good like that. Get her talking about Love at First Sight and it’s a much better conversation.”
“What?”
“Never mind. Go read a book or something, nerd.”
“I hate to break it to you, but reading a book isn’t something to be ashamed of.”
“Ha. Whatever.”
Jane had a feeling the Love at First Sight mention belonged to something on television. She liked the medium but didn’t often watch it.
Not unless she shared screentime with family. It had become an odd tradition, to make fun of unrealistic cop shows and military dramas with Team Ten when the guys were Stateside. Watching without them never felt right.
Besides, Jane preferred books to a screen.
And she preferred working to goofing off.
That in mind, she headed to the east precinct to talk to the computer forensic specialist she’d been working with on the Duvall murders.
She met Curt Norton in an office filled with computer towers and binders upon binders upon boxes. He looked a good ten years younger than her, with sandy-brown hair and an All-American vibe that made him appear wholesome behind his wireframe glasses.
He stood to greet her with a smile, a few inches taller than her own five-eleven. Norton was the epitome of tall and lanky. A keyboard cowboy. “Hello, Jane. Nice to see you again.”
“Curt. Thanks for taking the time to meet with me.”
“No problem at all.” He blushed, and she had to refrain from giving him an Aw, how cute. “Come on in.”
He’d cleared a spot for her by his desk. The only item in the office not occupied by files and computer equipment.
The sight made her wonder about her friend Diego, a hacker she’d worked with on a special task force last winter. The last she knew, he’d been working in Colorado.
Quite the character, Diego’s ill-spent youth had seen him given a choice of jailtime or assisting the FBI in fighting crime. Smart guy that he was, he’d chosen the FBI. He continued to send her the odd text or email to check in, still wanting to get “the gang” back together.
Of their four-person team, Gina Holtz showed no interest in moving out of cybercrimes.
Gunther Rapp had returned to his covert life in special ops.
She doubted she’d be seeing him anytime soon.
Sad, because she’d started to appreciate him at the very end of the task force.
Plus, she had to admit, deep down in her miserly little heart, he’d been easy on the eyes.
“So what do you have for me?” Jane asked.
Curt pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose, his eyes bright. “After waiting on all those subpoenas to dig through the Duvalls’ digital records, I found gold.” He typed something and turned his monitor so she could see.
“What am I looking at?” She leaned closer to digital spreadsheets detailing what looked like financial gains, a database with scores of numbers and code, and in a small frame under that, a photo of the happy family all together, along with their dog.
“First of all, some good news. We found the dog.”
“Alive?”
“Yep.”
Shocked but pleased, Jane felt a thrill when Curt added, “Bubbles was found at a park, believe it or not. Duvall’s sister picked him up two days ago.”
“Interesting.” Jane tried to figure out what that meant.
“Now, see all these numbers here?” He pointed to the spreadsheets. “That’s all the money that’s missing from their many, many accounts. Well, what I could get access to.”
“What can’t you see?”
“The business accounts of the Duvalls, including the government contract.”
“They manufacture furniture.”
“So they say.”
That took her aback.
Curt continued, “I know they sell some pretty nice couches and tables, but I can tell you Fort Bragg didn’t get the furniture they report on paper.”
“Interesting.”
“In any case, a lot of the financials are still being handled by our expert down the hall. She’d have been here, but she’s bogged down in a case and was called up for testimony at trial.”
Jane stared at the spreadsheets. “One of our cyber specialists was telling me about blockchains and cold wallets.”
Curt smiled. “Great stuff. That’s also what I wanted to tell you. Dave Duvall, Jim Duvall’s brother, knew a lot more about their assets than he first let on. Apparently, the safe was missing a few things.”
“Yeah, I figured that.”
“He mentioned the emergency cash and some hard drives. But he came in today to let us know about a missing notebook.”
The one she’d found behind the painting came to mind. “Is ‘notebook’ technospeak for something digital? Or are we talking about an actual paper notebook?”
“The paper kind. According to Dave, the notebook has the whereabouts of the cold wallet Jim kept in a separate facility for safekeeping.”
“Awesome. So we can track—”
“Hold that thought, because Jim had given said cold wallet to Dave a few days ago, worried about security at that facility.”
Jane’s pulse raced. “Dave has the cold wallet?”
“No. I do.” Curt’s face fell as he withdrew a security folder and dumped out what looked like a melted credit card.
“Unfortunately, someone else stole it from Dave’s house—meaning they knew he had it.
They took the time to melt it then left it on his kitchen counter. That’s what brought him in today.”
“He’s here?”
Curt nodded. “And freaked the heck out that the killer knows where he lives.”
“I need to talk to him.”
“Figured you would. We have him in an interview room.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Detective Ryan’s with him. Hold on.” Curt made a quick call. “Detective Ryan will meet you at the third door down the hall.”
“Thanks, Curt.” Jane stood but paused. “So all the money that’s missing. How much are we talking?”
“At last count? Twenty-two million.”
“Wow.”
“I know.” He sighed. “We really need our expert on this. Every time Betty digs deeper, she finds gold. She was getting somewhere with the family’s lawyer, too.”
“Great job on this. Too bad we can’t see what was in the cold wallet.”
“Not with what they did to it. But you can have the melted remains. Figured you’d want it anyway. The chain of custody form is ready for you.”
“Thanks, Curt. I owe you one.”
He blushed again.
She joined Detective Ryan, who stood outside the interview room door. He’d been running the investigation from the beginning and gave off a no-nonsense vibe she appreciated.
The older guy resembled a tank, built like a square with broad shoulders and massive thighs. He had to be nearing retirement but obviously hadn’t let age stop him from hitting the gym.
His dark eyes crinkled into a smile when he spotted her. “Agent Cannon. Have I got a treat for you.”