Chapter 4
In fact, the notion that Harvey’s brother-in-law was ATF and Harvey had been found with drugs on him sent all kinds of alarm bells ringing in the reptile part of Dane’s brain, the part that had kept him alive all these years in spite of his need to put his life on the line to rid the world of scum.
“What’s ATF Guy’s name?”
“Agent Delbert Parrish. Know him?”
Dane shook his head. “You?”
“No, but I did some research. He goes by Del and he’ll be here within ten minutes, so you’ll need to work fast. He’s the heavy-handed sort.”
Shana said, “What does that mean?”
Dane answered for Cap. “It means he likes to throw his weight around.”
She rolled her eyes. “Great. Just your type. I was hoping we could work on a case for once where I didn’t have to worry about you getting tossed in jail.”
“Don’t worry about me, girlie.”
“Fine. Apologize to Cap for thinking he was cagey so we can get moving on this crime scene.”
“Apologize? Isn’t buying him lunch enough?”
“If you throw in a bottle of tequila,” Cap said, “We’re even.”
Dane snorted, but he nodded and went straight for the bathroom to where he figured the murder weapon had been disposed of.
“They find any residue in the sink?”
“No.” Cap followed him.
Shana stayed in the bedroom, where she snapped on a pair of plastic gloves and sorted through the trash.
“We’ve already been through everything,” Cap said. “But I wanted to show you something before Del gets here.” Cap reached up and pulled the medicine cabinet from the wall where it had ostensibly set into the tile.
“The motel manager said Harvey had some tools with him and he warned Harvey not to do any damage to the unit or he’d have to pay. That got me to thinking.”
“What the hell?” Dane said. “Find anything behind there?”
“A small sliver of a flash drive, like an oversized microchip. I have my guys working on it but it’s encrypted. And Harvey was an expert.”
“We have a clue and we don’t know what it is.” This case ran further afield from routine with every step they made. That got Dane’s blood up like he was a hound smelling a fox.
Cap nodded.
“Tell me how you figured out the medicine cabinet.”
“The grout around it was darker than the rest of it and still wet to the touch. Harvey apparently thought he needed to be tricky about hiding whatever he had from whoever eventually offed him.”
“Indicates our killer is a professional of some kind,” Dane said. He squeezed past Cap to leave the small bathroom.
“I suppose you want me to call in Acer?”
“It would be a big help,” Cap admitted.
“Consider it done. But I get the full report.”
Cap didn’t answer. Dane didn’t need to turn around to know that ATF agent Delbert Parrish had just walked through the door.
Dane turned to see the imposing Delbert Parrish bearing down on them with a smaller, disheveled man following a step behind.
Del went straight for Cap, mostly ignoring him and Shana.
The man was focused, but Dane could tell he’d taken everything in, seen everything in the room, and weighed the circumstances.
And heard at least the tail end of their conversation.
“You must be Captain Lynch. What do you have for me? Sounded like something interesting.” Del flicked his eyes to cover Dane and Shana in two blinks of his attention.
“Not much—”
“I want it. No matter how small.” He administered a tight smile like Nurse Ratchet handing out nasty medicine. Del wasn’t supposed to enjoy it, but he did. And he didn’t give a flip what anyone thought.
“Everything we have is back at headquarters with my lab people,” Cap said.
“Let’s go now.” Del turned to go back out the door.
Dane found it interesting that he didn’t bother to give the room more than his cursory look, didn’t check out the bathroom or inspect anything closely. He was very confident in Cap’s crime scene team. Or maybe he’d already been there.
“We’re having lunch now.” Dane said. “Why don’t you join us?”
Del smiled at him and looked at Shana
“Wish I could but I’m on a tight schedule. Uncle Sam’s payroll.” He said to Cap, “Call your people and tell them I’m coming by now to take the evidence. We’ll have our techs look at it back in Boston.” He left as abruptly as he’d come.
Dane waited a few beats before speaking.
“How much do you want to bet he already has men searching Harvey’s office and confiscating those computers?” He didn’t want to share his suspicion about Del yet. That would be showing off and it would piss Shana off. And he should wait until he had something more solid.
“Not even a dime,” Shana said.
Cap called his office while they walked back outside.
“Cap, tell your people to make a copy of everything before they turn it over.”
He gave Dane a single eyebrow raise, the kind he was famous for, the one that always made Dane smile inside like they’d been boyhood friends and he was just remembering some mischief they’d been in together.
Cap did as Dane suggested. Like he would probably have done even if Dane hadn’t mentioned it.
Outside Dane stood with Shana on the cracked concrete walk watching Del drive off with his sidekick—a strange man who Del hadn’t bothered introducing. They waited while Cap made his call.
“You have a hunch about Delbert or is it the usual anti-ATF attitude?” Shana asked him.
“Unless Penny called her brother in and he has enough sway in his department to get himself transferred to the Boston office, I’m definitely suspicious of how he got himself here. Especially this fast. The ATF isn’t known for their speed.”
“What makes you think he doesn’t work for the Boston office?” Shana said.
“What makes you think I don’t know the name of every goddamn federal agent within a hundred-mile radius of Vineyard Haven?”
Cap finished his call.
“We got a copy. I told my man not to mention the copy to Del. Even if he asks.”
Shana said, “What makes you so suspicious of Del?”
“Even though he’s Penny’s brother, I can’t imagine an ATF guy from another office coming all the way here within a day to—”
She put up a hand. “I get the picture.”
“Did Penny mention her brother to you?” Dane asked.
“No. And you’d think she would have if she’d called him.”
“Based on the drugs up Harvey’s butt I’d bet my shack that the ME finds the cause of death is an overdose administered by a needle.” Dane rolled his shoulders, but the tension stuck. “This murder had nothing to do with any affair Harvey was having or not having.”
“It makes no sense,” Cap said, “that a killer who is sophisticated enough to search a place and kill a man without leaving a clue, would then blow it by leaving behind the drugs.”
“Pun intended?” Dane smirked. “He’s purposely pointing a finger, you’re right. But not at himself.”
“You think it’s Del, don’t you?” Shana blew out a breath.
“It’s my hunch.”
Shana didn’t challenge him. He had a good win percentage with his hunches.
“I think you’re making a hell of a leap,” Cap said. “As usual.”
“I’d suggest we put money on it, but I know you wouldn’t take me up on it.”
Cap smiled. “It’s against the rules.”
“What rules? You just don’t want to lose your money. Especially not to me.”
Cap snorted. “God knows you already have more money than a small army could use. But in this case, it’s because I think you have only a shadow of a case.”
“Let’s go prove it,” Shana said.
“Sure, if by that you mean let’s have lunch.
” Dane wanted a chance to think through the implications of Delbert Parrish’s involvement.
Up until the ATF man showed up, he’d been running the case for a fee to please Shana.
But if there was the slightest chance that there was a corrupt cop involved, that changed things.
“No, I mean let’s go find a clue.” Shana folded her arms across her chest.
“Where do you suggest we look?”
“How about his condo in Boston?”
“I have a better, more local idea,” Dane said. “How about a safety deposit box?”
“Why would he have a safety deposit box?” Cap said, opening his car door. “The man was in the IT business. He’d have kept everything on his computers and we’re getting the warrant to search his business and home now.”
“Penny didn’t let you have access?” Shana said. Dane put an arm around her and steered her to his Jeep before she had a chance to make a choice.
“We didn’t ask. She was a person of interest.” Cap shrugged.
“We’ll ask. She’ll let us in,” Shana said.
“It won’t matter without Acer to crack the encryption code Harvey must have set up on his computer if it’s anything like the Microdrive,” Dane said. “Chances are he won’t be able to get here until tonight.”
“That’ll be too late,” Cap said. “My money is on ATF getting to Harvey’s computer sooner and claiming their superior tech expertise to give them the right.”
“Lunch it is,” Dane said. “I’ll arrange to get to Boston this afternoon. I’ll get the computers and backup drives and bring them back here for Acer when he arrives.” He turned to Shana. “Where’s Harvey’s office?”
“He has a home office.” She gave him the address of the Lake’s condo. It was in a tony neighborhood overlooking the Charles River in Boston. Dane knew the building. “What are you charging our client?”
“The maximum fee.” She almost purred, flashing her Cheshire cat smile. She knew exactly how successful Harvey Lake had been. For some reason, her avarice always jolted him with a shot of excitement. The kind of excitement that was very inconvenient in public.
Based on the once over she gave him, he had a feeling she knew all about this effect. That only made it worse, but he reined it in on a wave of regret and got his head back to business. His other body parts would follow soon enough.
“Let’s go to the bank on the way to lunch.”
“What bank?” Shana said. “Even if by some wild chance Harvey did have a safety deposit box, we have no idea which bank—”
Dane flipped a business card from his pocket and handed it to Cap where he stood between their cars.
“What’s this?”
“Evidence from the crime scene. A business card from a bank.”