Vaughn had been loading up a TOR browser during his conversation with his partner, but now he glanced at Darnell.
“I’m not.”?
At least, he didn’t think he was.
?Chapter46
Vaughn didn’t findanything relevant on the dark web. Two snuff films, at least one of which was likely a fake, but no game shows. But this wasn’t his domain. Vaughn had just reached out to Bowes to ask him to do a deeper dive when Horowitz called.
“I’m here with Perry’s car.”
“Good. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Horowitz must have also called Delaney because he was already outside.
“Found that ad you were looking for,” Horowitz said.
He passed Vaughn a piece of paper. With gloved hands, he unfolded it.
The ad was pretty much the way that Perry described it. Simple, to the point.
Vaughn still couldn’t believe that someone—twelve someones—had fallen for the scam. The ad mentioned a streaming service, but didn’t include a name. No logos, nothing that made it appear even remotely legitimate. But money was a powerful motivator.
The most powerful motivator.
The number at the bottom was different from the one that had made the 911 call. Their unsub was using burner phones. Vaughn didn’t think that tracing the number would lead anywhere, but he relayed the phone number to Bowes via text just in case.
“Hey, can I see that?”
Vaughn gave the ad to Darnell.
Next up, Perry’s wallet.
The photo of the man on the New Jersey license was definitely the same person holed up in the interview room. Perry’s face was a little fuller, and the man’s eyes were less racooned in the picture, but it was him.
Finally, the phone. It was locked.
“Anything else in the car?”
Horowitz shook his head.
“Nothing related to either of the cases. No building materials, no receipts from hardware stores.”
“Alright, let’s go see if Perry will let us into the phone.”
The man didn’t hesitate in giving up the six digit pin.
“Did... did something happen to the other guy?” Perry asked hesitantly. He’d been so dazed earlier that he was only now piecing things together.
The fact that Delaney had accused him of murder. That all of this definitely wasn’t just about a game show.
“Yeah, he’s dead,” Delaney said flatly.
“He’sdead?”
“Delaney...”
“Dead?” Perry repeated.
