Page 57 of Girl, Sought

‘Fraudulent?’

‘Look, I’m telling you the truth. On my mother’s grave. I’m not a murderer. I’m just a fraud, like everyone else in this game.’

Curiosity reared its head, but Ella wasn’t sure if such a confession was going to get her any closer to her unsub. For the past ten minutes, she’d been close to certain that Thorne had something to do with these homicides, but now, seeing that raw grief on his face, she wasn’t so sure.

‘Explain,’ Luca said.

‘You’re the FBI, right?’

‘Yes.’

‘I knew you guys would show up eventually, but not because of murder.’

‘Because of what, then?’

Thorne huffed, like the answer was obvious. ‘Come on. What’s worse than a murderer?’

Ella had heard this one. The answer usually took the form of a joke, but maybe not in this case.

Luca cocked a brow. ‘I don’t know.’

‘A tax evader,’ Ella said.

‘Bingo. The clients we work for, they pay us five, ten, fifteen grand for a day’s work. What piece of paper is worth that much money? You could buy a PHD for less.’

Luca asked, ‘So… then what?’

'Why would someone pay that much money for a certificate? I just go round people's houses, throwing almost random figures at ornaments, artwork, rare insects. Do you think these collectors are just after verification? No, they want a return on that investment.'

‘So?’

‘So I put an official figure on their stupid item. Hundred grand for Chinese vase, five million for an old crucifix. Half a mil for some 1985 Air Jordans, maybe.’

Luca scrubbed a hand across his face. Ella remained quiet, although she had a good idea where this was headed.

‘Okay, and?’

‘These collectors take the item, and like the generous souls they are, donate it to a museum or an art gallery or whatever. And of course, that donor then gets a tax break for the value of the item – which we assigned.’

Ella had seen this in action. She donated old clothes and books to a charity store a few times a year, then a few weeks later, they’d email her saying she could claim a tax allowance for about two dollars. Thorne’s deal was the same, just on a grand scale.

Luca said, ‘So that’s why you ran? Because you thought we’d catch onto your tax avoidance scheme?’

Thorne nodded hesitantly. ‘Yes, but we don’t avoid tax ourselves. Me and Vanessa and Sarah. We just help others to do so, and I knew it was only a matter of time before you found out.’

Ella paused and mentally took a step back to see the whole picture at a glance. Gabriel Thorne was a crooked appraiser who over-valued collectibles so rich people could pay less tax. For his efforts, he received four or five-figure payouts.

Not a bad scam, and none of it was shocking. People and corporations had been pulling this trick for decades in one form or another, and Ella figured the collecting world was ideal for it since value was determined by factors other than supply and demand. Thorne could pretty much stick whatever he number he wanted on any item as long as it was one-of-a-kind.

Yes, there was definite criminal activity here, but Ella wasn’t hunting some white-collar scammer. She was looking for a serial killer, and Thorne fled at the mention of them back at the storage units.

Luca must have been following the same train of thought, because he asked, ‘What about those trinkets I found in your drawers? Watches, broaches, necklaces.’

Thorne’s laugh was brittle. ‘Alright, I’m not going to lie to you. Those things are red hot.’

‘Hot? As in…?’

‘Stolen. Hot property. Lift ‘em and shift ‘em.’

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