Chapter 23
Aaron Treadman kept a surprisingly neat apartment. Protein powder, creatine on the counter. Not much else out in the open.
Vaughn thought about the man’s naked body at the morgue. Muscular—Aaron took care of himself.
“I’ll check the bedroom,” Darnell said. “Clear the kitchen.”
Dale waited in the apartment entrance, looking nervous. Looking like he needed a cigarette.
Vaughn wasn’t sure what they were searching for. The keycard, maybe? A tie-down strap? Anything to link Aaron to the gas.
The man’s phone would be nice.
Whatever had drawn Aaron to that farm in the middle of nowhere, the man had been in no rush to get there. There were no dirty dishes in the sink. No half-eaten sandwich or protein bars.
“What are you guys looking for?” Dale asked.
“Just stay outside,” Darnell hollered.
Dale put his hands up, took another step back. He had a cigarette out now, twirled it in his fingers. Put it in his mouth, removed it.
On the kitchen table, Vaughn found an open laptop. He pulled a latex glove out of his pocket and clicked one of the buttons beneath the trackpad. The laptop wasn’t password protected, and an image appeared on the screen.
“Bedroom’s clean,” Darnell announced. “Find anything in there?”
Vaughn squinted at the image.
“Vaughn?”
“Yeah, I got something.”
Darnell came over, breathing heavily. Leaned in.
“Shit.”
Aaron had left his email open.
They both stared at what looked like a crudely made ad. Vaughn had seen dozens like it in his own email. A scam, most likely.
We are recruiting participants for a new game show to be aired on a major streaming network.
The game involves simple puzzles that teammates need to complete both together and individually.
Show to be aired sometime in the fourth quarter 2025.
Prizes will be awarded in the form of cryptocurrency.
Minimum payout: 1 Bitcoin (actual value to be determined by market price).
There was a contact number at the bottom.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Darnell said, pulling back. “You believe that, and I’ve got a bridge in San Francisco to sell you.”
Vaughn reread the ad, then took out his phone and dialed the number. The line had been disconnected.
“People actually fall for this shit?”
Vaughn shrugged.
“No job, no money. As cheesy as the ad looks, if you got nothing to lose …”
“What email is it from?”
Vaughn clicked a button with the glove.
“Looks generic. If whoever sent this actually lured ten people out to the barn, I doubt they’re going to sign up for this email using their actual name.”
“You never know.” Darnell gestured at the screen dismissively. “A lot of really stupid people out there.”
“What do you want to do?”
Vaughn knew what he wanted to do. Take the laptop back to the PPD. Get Bowes and Caine to go through it. Only, they had no right to remove it from Aaron’s apartment.
Darnell scratched his head. Thought for a moment, then said, “Why did Delaney say Aaron got fired?”
“Accused of stealing a laptop.”
Darnell raised an eyebrow.
“Some student’s, right?”
“Faculty, I think.”
“Yeah, you’re right. And guess what? I don’t see any receipts for a laptop in the apartment, do you?”
Vaughn grinned a little. Looked around dramatically.
“I do not.”
“Then this might be the very laptop in question, which makes it evidence. Pack it up.”
Vaughn didn’t need to be asked twice.
He slipped the glove on now, and worried that if he closed the laptop lid completely, he might be required to log in when it opened again, he kept it in its current state.
“What are you doin’? I—I said you could come in, but you can’t take stuff out.”
“You a lawyer now, Dale?” Darnell asked.
“No, but—”
“We have reasonable suspicion that this laptop is stolen.”
“Stolen?”
“Stolen,” Vaughn confirmed.
“O-okay. What if he—what if Aaron asks where it went?”
“He won’t.” Darnell’s eyes darkened and he produced a business card. “But if anyone else comes by asking questions about Aaron, I want you to give me a call.”
Dale reluctantly took the card.
“Thanks for your help, Dale. You can have that smoke now.”
Delaney was waiting for them back at the station.
“What’s that?” he asked, hooking a chin toward the laptop that Vaughn still clutched in his hand.
On the entire ride over, he’d been moving the cursor every few seconds to make sure it didn’t go into hibernation mode.
Probably unnecessary, since it was sitting on Aaron’s table for a whole day without being used. But you could never be too careful.
“Aaron Treadman’s laptop.”
Delaney’s eyes widened.
“Know how to make sure it doesn’t power down?” Vaughn asked.
“Sure.”
Vaughn set the device on his desk, minimized the browser. He passed Delaney a glove and the officer navigated through the settings.
“So far I’ve identified five of the victims,” Delaney informed them. He passed the computer back.
“You have addresses for them?” Vaughn flopped into his chair and brought up the ad again.
“A couple. The others are—what’s that?”
Delaney was looking over his shoulder. Darnell, who had yet to say a word to the officer, retreated to make a pot of coffee.
“Found it on his computer—an ad. Not exactly Squid Game, but close.”
Vaughn waited for Delaney to finish reading.
“Scam.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. But Aaron had no job. If he was desperate enough . . .”
“You know what, give me a second.”
While Delaney got on his phone, Darnell returned with two cups of coffee, not bothering to ask Delaney if he wanted one.
Vaughn took a sip. Grimaced. It was thin and oily.
“I knew it.” Delaney beamed. “Heard some of the other officers yapping this morning in the bullpen. Someone called in last night—their husband went to film some game show and never came home.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, just confirmed it.”
“So you bring up Squid Game in the barn then this morning you hear them talking about a missing person who went to a game show and don’t connect the dots?” Darnell said.
The pride on Delaney’s face sloughed off.
“I didn’t connect them until now. I was looking into addresses and—”
“What the fuck are you doing here, Delaney?” Darnell asked aggressively.
Delaney stiffened.
“I came looking for you guys to tell you the—”
“No, what the fuck are you doing here now?”
Delaney looked to Vaughn for support. Vaughn averted his eyes.
“Go! Get the fuck out of here! We have ten dead people in a barn, Delaney. Find the person who called about their husband.”
Shaking his head, Delaney moved to the door.
Darnell shouted after him.
“And while you’re at it, put out an APB on Aaron’s car!”