The following morning, Gunnar went for a long run, showered then had breakfast alone. Emmett arrived and grabbed a coffee from the kitchen before heading for the office and Gunnar went to join him.
“Where’s Bryn?” Emmett asked as he got settled.
“I’m letting him sleep. All those truth readings yesterday took it out of him. He doesn’t complain but he was exhausted.”
“Yeah, he didn’t say much when you came back. He gets bad headaches, doesn’t he?”
“What he can do is miraculous, but it comes at a cost. He’ll be fine later. Grumpy but fine.”
“How did it go? Oh, I have the report through. You must have been up late doing that.”
“I hate paperwork. If I don’t do it straight away it builds up.”
“My ideal cop. So, of the pool of potential jurors, five had been tampered with. Two threatened and three paid off. Wow.”
“Yeah. Not great.”
“So what’s the case?” Emmett hammered at his keyboard. “Oh, I see. Mafia money guy. He could bring down a lot of nasty people.”
“Yes, Emmett, he could. A lot of powerful people who don’t have much in the way of moral compasses.”
“Suspected of working for Salvatore Russo, aka ‘The Hammer’. He’s never been convicted of a crime despite being suspected of racketeering, extortion, money laundering, illegal gambling, bribery, tax evasion, cargo theft and contract killing. Wow, what a charmer. Lots of financial stuff there, how did they bring in his accountant?”
“Some Dutch forensic auditor spotted obscure anomalies in the books of a company that looked legit but turned out to be a front for one of Russo’s European operations. After that there was a domino effect. She’s in a coma after a hit and run.”
“A calculator can be a dangerous weapon. Poor woman.”
“Yeah. So this case is important. Bryn has made sure it starts off on the right foot, though it’ll be delayed now while action is taken to call new jurors.”
“Is there any way that Russo will know who tossed a wrench in his gears?”
“In theory, no. In practice? His web is extensive. I came across the aftermath of his activities in my previous job more often than I would have liked. He’s ruthless. Bryn’s a target anyway because he’s an augur, but he’s bound to make enemies the more work he does.”
“My sparkling personality makes me popular.” Bryn slunk into the room, coffee in one hand, Pop-Tart in the other. “What time is it?”
“Time we started work,” Gunnar said. “Emmett, did you reach the cashier from Walmart?”
“Yeah. She’ll meet you at the Honey Dew’s coffee place near the Walmart parking lot at eleven. Her shift starts at midday.”
“Okay, what else do we have today?”
“An interesting one. Your FBI friend Agent Bell made a request. I’ve sent you the details already but, in short, he has a witness to a murder he’d like Bryn to read.”
“Dubious witness?” Bryn munched his Pop-Tart. “Fuck, why is the filling in these things the temperature of molten lava?”
“Because you have to let the steam out, genius.” Gunnar shook his head. “Carry on, Emmett.”
“The witness is a nineteen-year-old kid. Address is a homeless hostel. He’d just finished…servicing…a client. The guy had left and the witness was saved because he was still on his knees and concealed by a dumpster. He’s in shock and his mind seems to have blocked out what he saw. Cops found him behind the dumpster, rocking and crying.”
“Christ on a stick, this world sucks,” Bryn muttered.
“So why’s the case with the feds and not Boston PD?” Gunnar asked.
“The murder has hallmarks of several other active cases. Once they got linked, Bell picked up the cases.”
“Possible serial killer then?” Gunnar frowned.
“Yeah.”
