Chapter Eight #3
“Well, that answers that. Copy me on those recordings, and all reports going forward in your current investigation. I’ve got your back on this. Jack, carry on. Dallas? Go get ’em.”
He flickered away.
A smile tugged at Whitney’s mouth. “I believe it’s Jacob Wyst who poked the bear. For Christ’s sake, sit down a minute, Dallas. I’m going to have the single stingy cup of mid-afternoon coffee my wife allows. You’ll join me in that while you read me in on the second homicide.”
She did prefer standing, but understood what he was doing. He wanted this to be a talk between cops more than a report from a lieutenant to her commander.
She sat. “They’re dirty. The company, Wyst, and unless he’s demented and pays no attention to what goes on in his company, Banner. There have to be others inside who know. Wyst’s more of a businessman, a schmoozer, a PR guy than a scientist or tech.”
“All right.” Whitney got the coffee, handed Eve hers, took a seat. “What have you got?”
“Money, a lot of it. Lump-sum payments to Chu—the three million—and now two million to Dent, at the same time. Which the expert consultant found in another account in the Caymans. He’ll find more when he has time to look.
“We hit Wyst with that, and he got pissy. The company compensates excellence, and blah blah. But he’s scared, Commander. Scared shitless because he’s not a fool. He not only sees the connection, he knows its source.”
“But he’d rather put the pressure on to give you the boot than give you the reason.”
“He’s protecting his lifestyle. His office is like a palace.
Hell, his assistant’s office ranks up there.
He—they—ride on billions—trillions, I guess—and are able to brush off criticism of how with payoffs, with hyping the other side.
The good works. But the good works come with a price for the people who benefit. ”
She sipped the coffee, found herself unsurprised Whitney now stocked Roarke’s brand.
“They did something thirteen years ago. Something big, something that, when it comes out—because I’ll find it—would crack the foundation.
Wyst won’t risk that. He’s scared, but he thinks his money insulates him.
He’ll add to his personal security, but the thing is, Commander, if this guy wants to kill him, he’ll be dead. ”
“Because?”
“He’s smart.” She fought the urge to get up, pace. “He’s focused and he’s had some time to plan it out. He knows these people. And he’s strong, likely on something that boosts him. He’s enraged.”
She stifled the urge to move again.
Whitney sighed. “Get up, walk it off.”
“Thanks.” She got up, paced. “Family. The family photo on the first crime scene, undamaged, turned facedown. The family photos on the second, undamaged, turned to face the wall. So he has enough control to take that deliberate action, but enough fury to beat another human being, with his bare hands, into a bloody bag of broken bones.”
As she paced, Whitney savored his coffee, listened.
“Family matters. His, theirs, in general? He killed Chu when he knew, because he’d hacked the ’link, his wife wouldn’t be home. He killed Dent when his longtime cohab was out of town.”
“Very target specific.”
“Focused, and in a way, protective. Of family and loved ones. Maybe they did something to his. Maybe it ties in with those years ago, maybe it’s more recent.
But he worked for them. He could still work for them, and in that way have access to what gives him the strength and endurance he needs to kill this way. ”
“You’re looking for an event at the payoff time.”
“Have to, but it’s like looking for the one needle in a big hill of them.”
“Which makes more sense than a haystack.”
“Right? And it may not show, may not pop. I want to talk to Banner’s ex-wife. It looks like he tossed her for a younger—a lot younger—woman. She may not feel a keen sense of loyalty. But she’s incommunicado for a few days.”
She made herself sit again. “And I’m about to sic Nadine on Banner-Wyst.”
Whitney lifted his eyebrows. “Going for the groin shot?”
“Sometimes you gotta. They’re trying to block the investigation into two homicides, risking more, because he’s not done. That’s the wrong move. Cooperate, or make it seem like cooperation, better move. Wyst, he’s built himself by being smooth, but he couldn’t pull off the smooth with us.”
“Fear jags the edges.”
“Yes, sir, it does. And his are seriously jagged right now.”
“And Banner?”
“I can’t wait to talk to the ex—days away. And if she’s loyal, she’d clue him in. I need to try to get to him directly. If he won’t agree to talk to us, that tells us something, too. Either way, I’ll get a sense.”
“And your senses generally pay off. All right, Lieutenant. Good work, keep it up.”
“Thank you for the coffee, and the support.”
“Understand further, that support includes the expert consultant.”
“I do. He does.”
She rose, and did what she rarely did to her superior. She offered a hand. “It’s a privilege to serve under you, Commander Whitney, and under Chief Tibble.”
He got to his feet to take her hand to shake. “That goes both ways, Lieutenant.”