Chapter 6: Chapter 5
Even though Kram didn't have much to work with on this case, it was too early for bed, so he got out a dry-erase marker and listed what they did know.
The victim Kisa Boonnak was an art critic.
There was powdered goldstone on her body, and she had written a rather harsh review of an artist who used goldstone in their work.
Hart ordered goldstone for one of his artists.
He seemed to tell the truth about the fake art and the goldstone, but he was definitely lying about someone else being in that house/ Why?
Kram circled the words Goldstone, Hart, and lying.
Tomorrow he would ask Love to dig up that report Hart said he filed. Kram checked the time 3 am a bit early for bed but it had been a long day. Once more he washed down his meds with cold coffee before climbing into bed.
The next few days passed in a blur of frustrating bureaucratic inactivity. The officer who filed Hart's report hadn't taken the matter seriously; the report notes were vague, and the description of the person was missing from the "file" which seemed too generous a term for two sheets of paper half-filled out in blue ink that was unreadable due to spilled coffee on half of it. Love had threatened half the department before finally, they received an emailed copy of a darkly Xeroxed sketch.
"I hate people! This is exactly why all our records should be digitized! I'm going to find out who is responsible for this and embed a virus in all their favorite porn videos! I swear to you I will do it! Love fumed from behind his wall of monitors.
"I sent an email to the sketch artist. I'm hoping they kept a copy! I thought things like art theft and fraud were supposed to be handled by DSI anyway?" He said in frustration.
"They are if the cases get sent to us. The whole third floor is dedicated to forgery and fraud, and other white-collar crimes." Said Noh leaning on the edge of the desk, a cup of coffee and a cigarette in hand.
The sharp tap of a clipboard against glass came from behind Noh, they all turned to see a sweaty group of officers carrying several cardboard file boxes waiting to be let in.
"Shit!" Noh stubbed out his cigarette, put down his coffee, and dashed to the door waving his badge past the reader to let them in.
"Gentleman? What is all this?" Noh motioned to the boxes.
"It's the files from the other case like your dead woman in the alley. The sergeant from that night told us to send them over, he seems to think they might be related. I dunno why, anyway, they're your problem now." The officer thrust the clipboard toward Noh who signed it. Giving it a cursory glance, the officer bowed and shuffled out glad to be done with what he clearly thought was a matter beneath him.
Noh turned back to the bullpen and raised his eyebrows at Kram.
"I believe these are for you."
"Me? I thought we were a team," said Kram.
"Oh, we are, which is why…"
Love cut him off. "Don't even think about assigning me to that! Just looking at all that paper gives me hives. If he finds something useful, I'll be happy to follow it up, my way."
"As I was saying before someone interrupted…. Xavier can help you go through it; Tan is working on a project for me, and I have a meeting to attend. The higher-ups want an update on our case. Love you can keep trying to find a better copy of that sketch."
Xavier and Kram divided the boxes, three each, and started the slow process of sifting through reports and evidence. Lunchtime came and went. Empty cups of coffee and empty lunch cartons took up one end of the table. The four o'clock sunlight was slanting mercilessly through the office windows when Xavier suddenly sat up straight.
"Look at this, I finally found the autopsy report!" He dropped it on the table between them, flipping the file open.
The pictures were eerily familiar, it could have been the very scene they had stood over less than a week ago except that the dead eyes in the photo belonged to that of a man. The medical examiner noted small cuts and scratches on his hands and flakes of gesso under his nails. These small wounds common on artist's hands, pointed to him being a painter or art student. The next set of photos were close-up shots of the now-familiar sparkle of blue, which had been left on his face, hands, and torso, just like it was on Kisa.
Xavier shook his head.
"No wonder they wanted to pass this off so quickly. This whole case was a disaster! They collected a lot of physical evidence from the scene, there are witness statements too, but no one even came forward to claim the body. It was only three months ago so his body should still be in cold storage if we need it."
Kram took the file to the board they had set up for the current crime scene and started building a parallel diagram of the first scene. Love could add it into their magic storage system later. Thirty minutes later he took a step back to examine the progress. Xavier let out a low whistle behind him.
"What have I told you about catcalling me at work Xavier?" Said Kram with a chuckle.
"Shut up, Kram. I was just thinking, do you remember those spot-the-difference puzzles everyone does as kids. That's what this reminds me of, these crimes were committed by the same person, I'm sure of it. Besides the wounds and goldstone, there is also where the victims were killed, how they were left, and the way he disposed of their belongings are also similar. I would bet he knows the art district well and waited to ambush them." Before Xavier could continue, Love cut in.
"Uh, guys you need to see this." Love looked from his wall of monitors to Xavier and Kram. excitement etched on his face.
"I think this case just got weirder and maybe a bit clearer." Love cocked an eyebrow.
Xavier and Kram exchanged glances and scurried across the room to see what Love was so happy about.
"The sketch artist keeps digital copies of all his work just in case, he just sent it over and…. Look. At. This!" With a wave of his hand, a sketch appeared on the liquid crystal board in front of them.
"Damn," was the only word that came to Kram.
Xavier just let out another low whistle. "Well, now we know how he was connected to the art world, I don't suppose there is a name in that file Love."
Love shook his head, "it seems that gallery owner Hart was right no one even bothered to try to find this guy. There aren't any prints for us to compare either. So, we know he is our dead guy, but we don't know much else."
"We know one more thing," Kram said. Love and Xavier looked at him.
"The goldstone and this dead guy both lead to Hart. We need to find out who else was in that house the day we went to get the goldstone sample. I'm sure someone else was there."
The sharp click of heels in the hall drew their attention, Mali badged through the door file in hand.
"I'm still working on a lot of the other evidence, but I got this back," she brandished a paper over her head.
"The goldstone on this body is similar but not exact to the one found on the woman. However, I am certain it comes from the same manufacturer. The quartz sand used in making it isn't the same, but the copper is. She smiled satisfied.
"Anyway, I hope that helps, I've got to get back to the lab." She winked at Xavier on her way out.
Kram held the paper and turned to look at Love.
"So now we are three for three? All roads lead to Hart. I'll call Noh, you find Hart and tail him. We need to know what he's doing, who he sees, and hopefully figure out who he was hiding. Hart is small. I don't think he could do this on his own." Said Kram.
"He might be small but with sufficient enough anger I think he could kill these two if he wanted. Mind you, I don't think he did it. Hart is smart, smarter than to leave a trail that leads right to him, and from the way he accosted us last time I don't think he would do something that would risk his business. I'm calling it first, Hart isn't our man, I'd bet on it." Said, Love.
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