CHAPTER SEVEN
Miles followed Vic Stone back to her sedan in the parking garage, expecting her to start the engine and head to whatever location they'd be using as their base of operations.
He assumed it would be a field office or a state PD base of operations.
Instead, she popped the trunk and pulled out a black laptop bag, and settled in behind the wheel.
"Are we going to get moving soon?" Miles asked, checking his watch. The afternoon was advancing, and he assumed they'd want to dive into the investigation as quickly as possible.
Vic unzipped the bag and extracted a government-issued laptop, along with what appeared to be a mobile internet hotspot device. "Actually, no. When I'm traveling, I hate bouncing around field offices. Avoid it whenever I can. It makes me feel…I don’t know…chaotic. Unsettled."
Miles watched with growing curiosity as she powered up the laptop and began connecting to a secure network. He assumed she was logging onto the FBI’s mobile database. "Where exactly are we going to work then?"
"Right here," Vic said, adjusting her seat backward a bit with the laptop balanced on her knees. "I feel that it saves time and frustration to just do the research portion of things in the car. Makes me feel more mobile, ready to hit the road at a moment's notice."
Miles looked around the parking garage, taking in the concrete pillars, the low ceiling, and the distant sound of planes taking off overhead.
It wasn't exactly the professional environment he'd expected, but he had to admit there was a certain logic to Vic's approach.
And given her stellar reputation, he supposed she knew what she was talking about.
"That's...unorthodox," he said, opening the passenger door. "But I suppose it makes sense."
"Trust me, I've spent too many hours sitting in borrowed office spaces trying to get access to systems that don't want to cooperate with visiting agents," Vic said, her fingers already moving across the keyboard.
"This way, I've got everything I need and I'm not dependent on anyone else's infrastructure. "
Miles retrieved his own laptop from his bag and settled into the passenger seat.
The sedan's interior was spacious enough to accommodate their impromptu mobile office, though he had to adjust his position to find a comfortable angle for typing.
Through the windshield, he could see other travelers loading luggage and departing for the city, oblivious to the federal investigation being conducted just a few spaces away.
"What are you accessing?" Miles asked as Vic's screen filled with what looked like FBI database interfaces.
"Bureau records, financial databases, public filing systems," she replied without looking up. "I want to cross-reference our three victims and see what connections we can find beyond the obvious wealth factor."
Miles opened up his own bag and removed his laptop.
Vic provided him with the password for her hotspot device and he connected to the internet.
While Vic had access to sophisticated federal databases, he could contribute by searching through publicly available information that might reveal patterns the official records missed.
He’d always been a firm believer in the idea that pretty much anything buried in a federal database could be found online if you knew where to look and dug deep enough.
"I'm going to do some basic research on wealthy San Franciscans," he said. "Look for online articles, social media accounts, anything that might give us insight into potential targets or connections between our victims."
"Good thinking," Vic said, her attention focused on the screen. "Sometimes the most useful information comes from sources people don't think to protect."
Miles began his search methodically, starting with news articles about San Francisco's financial elite and working his way through various business publications and society pages.
The city's wealth was concentrated among a relatively small group of people, many of whom appeared regularly in local media coverage of charity events, business deals, and political activities.
He opened multiple browser tabs, creating a web of information that connected real estate developers, investment bankers, tech executives, and political figures.
Social media profiles provided additional insights into their lifestyles, business relationships, and public statements that might reveal the kind of controversial activities that could make them targets.
"Finding anything interesting?" Vic asked after several minutes of concentrated typing and scanning.
"Lots of connections," Miles replied, scrolling through a LinkedIn profile. "San Francisco's wealthy community is smaller and more interconnected than I expected. The same names keep appearing in different business deals and social events."
"That's what I'm seeing, too," Vic said. "These people all move in the same circles, invest in each other's projects, sit on the same boards. If our killer is targeting them for specific business practices, there's probably significant overlap in their activities."
Miles continued his research, diving deeper into the social media presence of individuals who seemed to have connections to their victims. Instagram accounts revealed expensive lifestyles and business relationships, while Facebook feeds provided insights into their public statements and political positions.
After about fifteen minutes of searching, something caught his attention, snagging it more firmly than anything else had.
It was a business article from several months earlier, mentioning a controversial real estate development that had generated significant public opposition.
The project was designed to replace low-income housing with luxury condominiums, and the article listed several prominent investors who had backed the deal.
"Hey, I think I found something," Miles said, his excitement building as he read through the article. "There's a real estate development deal that connects three of our victims."
Vic looked up from her laptop. "What kind of connection?"
"According to this article, both DeWalt and Thornfield invested in a development project with Vance's firm. The deal was controversial because it would displace low-income families."
"That's the kind of connection we're looking for," Vic said, her fingers moving quickly across her keyboard. "Let me see what I can find in the public records about this development."
Miles continued reading through the online coverage of the development deal, noting the names of other investors and the specific objections raised by community groups. The project had generated significant media attention and appeared to have stalled due to legal challenges.
"Here we go," Vic said after a few minutes of database searching. "Patricia Vance was spearheading the development herself through her company. The project was delayed due to a claim of fraud filed by an attorney named Marcus Holloway."
"Marcus Holloway," Miles repeated, making a note of the name. "What else can you find about him?"
Vic's fingers flew across the keyboard as she accessed multiple databases simultaneously.
"Holloway was representing several of the families fighting the deal.
According to the court filings, he claimed that Vance's company had misrepresented the environmental impact assessments and had failed to properly notify residents about the displacement timeline. "
Miles searched for additional information about Holloway online, finding several news articles and press releases related to the case.
The attorney appeared to be genuinely committed to representing the affected families, and his public statements suggested he saw the development as emblematic of larger problems with San Francisco's housing crisis.
"Found something else," Miles said, reading from a news article on his screen. "In a statement to the media a few months ago, Holloway called the deal 'greed that suffocates the innocent.'"
Vic looked up sharply. "Greed that suffocates the innocent. Given that our victims were literally suffocated under gold coating, that's either a remarkable coincidence or our first real lead."
"The language is definitely suggestive," Miles agreed. "And if Holloway was representing families being displaced by a project that all three victims were involved in, he'd have intimate knowledge of their business practices and personal information."
"Plus he'd have motive," Vic added. "If he genuinely believed these people were destroying lives for profit, that could provide the psychological justification for targeting them."
Miles continued searching for information about Holloway, finding his law firm's website and several professional profiles.
The attorney appeared to specialize in housing rights and had a history of taking on cases involving tenant displacement and predatory real estate practices.
As he learned more, Miles could feel the case taking shape, starting to surge forward.
"He's got the right background," Miles observed. "Housing rights attorney with a track record of fighting developers. If our killer is motivated by a sense of justice for the economically disadvantaged, Holloway fits the profile."
"But does he have the technical knowledge to pull off these murders?" Vic asked. "The gold leaf application I saw on the victim this morning requires sophisticated chemistry and metallurgy skills."
"That's something we'll need to investigate," Miles said. "But remember, if my periodic table theory is correct, we're probably dealing with multiple perpetrators working together. Holloway could be providing the target selection and motivation, while someone else handles the technical execution."
Vic saved her database searches and closed several application windows.
"Either way, Holloway is definitely worth talking to.
If he's not involved in the murders, he's still someone who has detailed knowledge about the victims' business practices and the specific ways they've harmed people.
" Placing her laptop bag into the back seat again, Vic said, “You ready to get moving?”
Miles nodded. Whether Holloway was a suspect or simply a valuable source of information, he clearly had insights into the victims' activities that could help them understand the killer's selection criteria and motivation.
"Should we call ahead?" he asked, hating how na?ve and uninformed he sounded.
"No," Vic said, pulling out of the parking space. "I prefer surprise visits for initial interviews. You learn more when people don't have time to prepare their answers."
Miles buckled his seatbelt as they exited the parking garage and merged into San Francisco traffic. Their improvised mobile office had produced exactly the kind of lead they needed—a connection between all three victims and someone with both motive and opportunity to target them.
As they drove deeper into the hills and mazes of the city, Miles reflected on how quickly their investigation had gained momentum.
His periodic table theory had provided the analytical framework, while Vic's field experience had guided them toward practical investigative steps.
Together, they'd identified a promising lead in less than an hour of focused research.
The breakthrough he'd been seeking for three years was finally within reach, and Marcus Holloway might be the key to understanding the first piece of a larger puzzle that might very well stretch across the country.