Chapter Six
Gunnar stared at Warden across the conference room table. “You want us to fit an investigation based on not very much—no offense, Bryn—in between all this other stuff?” He gestured at the array of folders spread across the table.
Warden blinked. “Yes. You have a problem with that? You’re a detective. Detect.”
Bryn made a strange sound somewhere between snorting and choking.
Gunnar glared at him. “You have something to add, mister?”
“Nope.”
“Wise decision.”
Warden got to his feet. “Assess the case. I’ll provide administrative support so you won’t have to do the grunt work. It’ll be good for Bryn to do something other than read people.”
And there’s the kill switch. Fuck. “Fine. Don’t expect miracles.”
“You’ve already got one of those working with you, Gunnar. This’ll be a breeze.” Warden went to the door. “You have my number if you need me. I’ll be off-site for the rest of the day.”
“Is there steam coming out of my ears?” Gunnar asked, staring at the now closed door.
“Your hair has come loose, I can’t tell.”
Gunnar growled and redid his messy bun. “That man is not good for my wellbeing.”
“You’re not going to go all feng shui on me and start rearranging the furniture, are you?”
“You’re awfully calm about this shit-ton of work.”
Bryn shrugged. “Don’t have much choice, do I? No point in getting over-excited.”
“I’m surprised you’re not bouncing off the walls considering you had Twinkies for breakfast.”
“I had some of that granola stuff you made, too, and besides, I need to rebuild my sugar capacity. I wasn’t allowed junk food in training.”
“Hmm, there’s a reason for that. Where the heck do we start with this lot?” There was a tentative knock at the door. “What?” Gunnar yelled.
A bespectacled blond poked his head around the door. “Detective Ericson?”
“The big grumpy one,” Bryn said.
“I’m, uh, Emmett. I’m your new admin.” Emmett didn’t venture into the room.
“You intending to work from the corridor, Emmett? Get your butt in here,” Gunnar said in a softer voice.
“Yes, sir!” Emmett scurried in. He had on a diamond-patterned sweater-vest over a shirt and tie. Beige chinos and polished brown brogues completed the outfit.
“Don’t call him that, he likes it a bit too much.” Bryn smirked. Emmett paled.
Gunnar glared at Bryn. “How long have you been working here, Emmett?”
“Three months…Detective.”
“Call me Gunnar. Well, that’s three months longer than us so, I guess you know your way around the computer systems.”
“Oh yes.” Emmett put his laptop on the table. “Are we working here? Warden told me you have an office on the top floor.”
“Yeah, I guess we should move. We’ll probably get thrown out of here.” Gunnar gathered all the folders then led a small procession to the apartment office.
Gunnar and Emmett took the two desks. Bryn dragged in a black furry beanbag.
“Where did that thing come from?” Gunnar asked. “It looks like some kind of dead animal.”
“My room. It’s comfortable.” He positioned it against the wall then flopped onto it. “So where do we start?”
Gunnar shook his head. “Emmett, I want you to make a list. This will be a bit of a brain dump then afterward you can tell me how much of it you can manage, okay?”
“Okay.” Emmett already had his fingers poised above his keyboard.
“Right then, we’ll need any security camera footage from Walmart, all parts of the store and the parking lot.
A list of all vehicles parked in the lot and their owners.
Flags on any of those people with a record.
Facial recognition from the camera footage once we have it and another list of people identified from that which will need to be cross-referenced with vehicle owners. ”
“You want camera footage from the surrounding area as well?” Emmett asked, tapping away.
“We’ll need to narrow down the list before we attempt to track vehicles, but yes. Get the footage anyway. I don’t want any of it getting wiped before we have our hands on it.”
“On it.”
“I want a list of unsolved murders from the Boston and surrounding areas. Lists of suspects, details of investigating precincts, FBI field offices.”
“Might need Warden to get me some extra processing power,” Emmett muttered. “You don’t need to worry about that, though, I’ll sort it out.”
Gunnar was impressed. Emmett was clearly in his element. “Bryn, is there anything you can give us that will help narrow the search parameters?”
“White male.”
Gunnar threw a pencil at him. “Seriously? Is that it?”
“It was a brief flash. I saw a man’s hand, holding a knife. It was his left hand. There was blood on the knife, on his hand and sleeve. Traditional pale-blue, long-sleeved, cotton shirt, double button on the cuff. There were no scars or tattoos on the back of his hand.”
“That’s good. Very good. Were you seeing memory or the future?”
“Memory, I guess. I can’t be one hundred percent sure but that’s my default setting, if you like. I have to consciously switch to look for the future and I don’t think I did that.”
“What about this person’s surroundings, could you make anything out?” Emmett asked. “Sorry!”
“Don’t apologize. That would have been my next question and you’re part of this team now, so don’t hold back,” Gunnar said.
Emmett’s cheeks reddened. “Okay, thanks.”
Bryn closed his eyes. “It’s dark. There’s some sort of plastic or rubber sheeting on the floor, splattered with blood, fresh and dried.
Brick walls. Not much light, can’t see the source, but it’s flickering.
It’s cold. Not freezing, but chilly and…
damp. There’s a white marking on one wall.
” He opened his eyes. “I could sketch it. Also, I need coffee in the worst way.”
“Good idea. How do you like your coffee, Emmett?”
“I can go make it,” Emmett offered.
“No, you have work to do. Bryn can do it.”
Bryn struggled to his feet, grumbling. “Strong and black for Gunnar, same for me but with three sugars, how about you, Emmett?”
“Cream, one sugar please.”
Bryn ambled out of the room and Emmett glanced across at Gunnar. “I had no idea. I mean, Warden told me what he could do, but I can’t imagine what it’s like to live with that stuff in his head.”
“He’s learned to deal with it, but if he ever does anything that worries you, tell me. Part of my job is to make sure he’s okay but I can’t have eyes on him all the time.”
“Noted. So, from what Bryn has told us I can put together a list of locations in Boston that might fit these parameters. Once I have his drawing of the symbol, I can look into that too. I’ll get a map of the greater Boston area to go on the wall and sort out some pin boards and other stuff for this office.
I don’t see a printer in here so I’ll get one of those too. ”
“I think you’re going to be a great asset, Emmett. Remember to take breaks and feel free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen, okay?”
“This stuff is what I’m good at. I can also prioritize the other cases in all those files, look after your diaries, appointments, all that kind of stuff.
I can produce background research, deal with other law enforcement agencies, book travel, hotels…
Anything you need. I think I should also arrange for someone to come in here and clean the apartment, do laundry and maybe prepare some meals for the freezer. ”
“You can do that?”
“Warden said my job is to make your lives easier, to make time for you both to work. Organizing people makes me happy.” He beamed and shoved his glasses up his nose.
“What are your working hours?” Gunnar asked.
“I’ll work the hours you do and, before you say anything, that’s in the job description. Think of me like a concierge in a high-end hotel. If you want it, I can get it. You wouldn’t believe what kind of connections a network of law enforcement admins has across the city.”
“I’m beginning to get a picture.”
Bryn arrived with a tray of coffee, which he dished out. “I guess that until we get the footage we need, we should pick up another case.” He returned to his beanbag.
“If you give me half an hour with the folders,” Emmett said, “I can find something close by, or maybe where the cops or whoever can come here.”
“Good idea,” Gunnar agreed, “but how about we go through the folders together and you make notes because Bryn and I need to have a picture of the kind of stuff we have lined up.”
“That would be great,” Emmett said. “Give me a minute to set up a basic spreadsheet. I can fancy it up later.” He took a giant swig of coffee then bent over his keyboard. Gunnar shook his head, not understanding Emmett’s enthusiasm but relieved that he and Bryn had some help.
Emmett took the pile of folders, divided them into three then handed them out. “Who wants to go first?”
“Me.” Bryn peered at the sheaf of papers in his first folder. “Potential miscarriage of justice, New York. Not too far away.”
Emmett went next. “Interesting. Brothers both claiming the other killed their father. They are monozygotic twins so DNA evidence is useless. That’s in Salem.”
“This one is in Boston,” Gunnar said. “Several suspects for an inside job on an armed robbery. It’s an armored vehicle hold-up. Someone provided route details but there are several possible culprits.”
The list grew as they took turns. It included juror validation, a kidnapping where a family member was suspected, possible false alibis, murder, rape, fraud… The cases stretched from coast to coast.
“Wow, this is depressing,” Emmett declared. “So much misery.”
“But all things we can resolve. Well, Bryn can.”
“Hey, this is a team effort,” Bryn protested. “No way could I do this on my own.”
“I think we should go with the juror check. I can get them here because it’s a Boston PD case,” Emmett said. “The trial is about to start so they’ll all be at the courthouse anyway. I should be able to get an adjournment and have them bussed here.”
“How many are there?” Gunnar asked.
“Five. Will that be too many for you in one go, Bryn?” Emmett’s brown furrowed.
“Not if it’s a simple truth reading for each of them,” Bryn said.
“Okay, well I’m going to need some time here getting everything set up,” Emmett said. “It might be quicker if you guys went back to Walmart to view their security footage.”
“In other words, you want us out from under your feet,” Gunnar said.
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream… I mean, that’s not what—”
“Relax, Emmett. We’d be like spare parts sitting here. It’s a good idea. We can take the bike over there. Can you call the manager so they’re ready for us? I’d rather not have to explain what we’re doing. Maybe say we’re trying to identify a fugitive or something.”
“Sure, leave it with me.” Emmett beamed.
“If you can extract your ass from that beanbag, Bryn, how about we go do some work?”
Bryn held out a hand. Gunnar yanked him up.
“Does that not…the skin-to-skin contact?” Emmett said, wide-eyed.
“No secrets between us,” Gunnar said.
“All he thinks about is chasing rabbits anyway, Emmett. Wolf stuff.” Bryn affected innocence.
“The fuck I do.”
Emmett didn’t seem sure how to react.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to us.” Gunnar gave him an encouraging smile. “You can set an example to Bryn on how to behave in a professional manner in the workplace.”
Bryn pretended to wind his middle finger up and Emmett snorted with laughter. Gunnar sighed. “Might take a while, though.”