CHAPTER EIGHTEEN #2
"Dr. Martinez," Miles said carefully, "we didn't come to see you because of drug manufacturing. We came because we're investigating a series of murders involving people who've been coated in gold leaf."
Martinez's confusion was genuine and immediate. To say he was baffled was an understatement. "Murders? What murders?"
Vic pulled out a folder containing crime scene photographs and spread them across the metal table.
"Four people have been killed over the past two weeks.
All of them were wealthy individuals involved in questionable business practices, and all of them were found coated in gold leaf applied with professional precision. "
Martinez stared at the photographs, his face going pale as he absorbed the images of Rebecca Thornfield, Patricia Vance, Nelson DeWalt, and David Goldberg. His hands began to tremble as he studied each photograph, and Miles could see genuine horror building in his expression.
"Jesus Christ," Martinez whispered. "This is... this is insane. Who would do something like this?"
"That's what we're trying to determine," Miles said, studying Martinez's face for any sign of deception or guilty knowledge.
"You have the technical expertise to create professional quality gold leaf. You just admitted it and told us how it’s done.
You've expressed strong resentment against wealth hoarders, and you had detailed knowledge of at least one victim's business practices. "
"But I didn't kill anyone," Martinez said emphatically, his voice rising with desperate sincerity.
It was almost at a squeak. "Yes, I think Patricia Vance and people like her are parasites who destroy communities for profit.
Okay, yes. Yes, I've been using my skills to manufacture drugs to pay my bills since I lost my academic position.
But murder? I would never, ever consider harming another human being, no matter how much I disagreed with their politics or business practices. "
Miles found himself believing Martinez's protestations. The man's shock at seeing the crime scene photographs seemed authentic. Also, his ready admission to drug crimes while vehemently denying involvement in murder suggested that he understood the relative severity of different criminal charges.
"Dr. Martinez," Vic said, "where did you obtain the gold you've been using in your experiments?"
"I…I purchased it from another former UC Berkeley employee," Martinez replied.
"When the university cleaned out the chemistry department storage areas after budget cuts, some materials went missing.
I had a decent idea of who took it…and so I called them up and told them I was continuing my research independently.
They offered to sell me various chemical supplies, including some gold samples that had been used in undergraduate metallurgy courses. "
"Can you provide us with this person's name and contact information?"
"Of course. But it was a very small amount of material—maybe four or five ounces total. Nothing like what would be required for..." He gestured toward the crime scene photographs. "For something like this."
Miles studied the images spread across the table, calculating the amount of gold that would be required to completely coat a human body. "You're right. This would require pounds of gold, not ounces. Someone with access to much larger quantities of precious metals."
"Do you know anyone who might have access to that much gold?" Vic asked. "Anyone in the academic community or the environmental activism circles you're involved with?"
Martinez stared at the photographs for several more moments, his academic mind apparently working through the logistics and technical requirements of the murders they were investigating.
"The precision of this work," he said slowly, "suggests an enormous investment of time, resources, and technical expertise. "
"What are you thinking?" Miles asked.
"Whoever did this isn't just someone with chemistry knowledge," Martinez continued.
"They have access to professional grade equipment, unlimited supplies of high-quality gold, and the kind of workspace where they could operate undisturbed for hours at a time.
This is the work of someone with serious financial backing and institutional support. "
Vic gathered the crime scene photographs and returned them to their folder.
Miles thought she looked both irritated and excited at the same time.
"Dr. Martinez, you'll be charged with manufacturing controlled substances, but based on your cooperation and your reaction to these murder investigations, we don't believe you're involved in the homicides we're investigating. But we’d appreciate it if you’d continue to be cooperative if we have further questions. "
Martinez nodded, his relief palpable despite the drug charges he was facing. "I hope you catch whoever's doing this. What they've done to these people is an abomination of everything chemistry and scientific knowledge should represent. It’s…well, it’s just messed up."
As they concluded the interview and arranged for Martinez's transfer to face drug charges, Miles again felt the crushing weight of investigative failure. Another dead end, and he didn’t think Hayes was going to be satisfied with an unrelated small-time drug manufacturer being caught.
The truth of the matter was that their real target remained as elusive as ever.
And his periodic table theory was proving inadequate for catching an active killer.
The analytical approach that served him well in laboratory settings was failing to produce actionable intelligence in the field.
As they left the interrogation room, Miles couldn't shake the feeling that they were missing something fundamental about their killer's methodology and motivation.
He felt like there was something right in front of their faces and his inability to see it was wearing on him.
Hayes would want an update soon, and Miles had no idea what he was going to tell him this time.
They'd eliminated several suspects and gained insights into the victims' business practices, but they still had no leads that might prevent a fifth murder. And with their twenty-four-hour clock ticking before they were pulled from the case entirely, Miles wasn’t sure he’d ever felt so helpless.