Page 11 of Girl, Empty
‘Who stabs themselves to death?And where’s the murder weapon?’
‘Could have ditched it out of the window.Or hidden it before he died.Maybe he thought he could frame someone for murder.’
‘You’re reaching, Mia.’
‘Fair point.’Ripley moved on to the next set of documents.‘Morrison & Associates.Never heard of them.’
Edis said, ‘They’re a forensic accounting firm.One of the biggest in the country, and Indianapolis is their headquarters.’
Ella continued flipping through the crime scene photos and found more of the same.Close-ups of Michael Rankin’s body, close-ups of the blood trail – and not much else.She leafed through the police report again and found that Michael Rankin was the only victim.
‘Sir, this might sound like a weird question, but why is this a Bureau matter?There’s only one victim, and it’s not an ultra-violent crime.’
‘I’m glad you asked, and the reason is twofold.Number one, Michael Rankin was working with our Financial Crimes Section on a case of money laundering, so he’s got connections to the Bureau.’
‘Okay,’ said Ripley.‘And number two?’
‘Look at the photos.’
‘I have, and I agree with Dark.This is not federal responsibility.’
Ella scanned the documents again and frowned.Something was missing.She flipped back through the police report, the crime scene inventory, the initial investigator's notes.In a modern office building, especially one housing a major forensic accounting firm, there should be eyes everywhere, even at midnight.‘Wait.Where’s the CCTV?A place like this should be teeming with security.’
Ripley caught on immediately and began rifling through her own folder.‘Yeah.There's nothing here about security cameras.No stills, no footage logs, nothing.’
‘That’s why this is a federal investigation,’ Edis said, ‘because the cameras show nothing.’
‘Nothing?’Ripley looked up from her folder.‘What do you mean, nothing?’
‘I mean they show nothing.Black screens.Static.For thirty minutes.It all just went dark, and when they came back on, Michael Rankin was dead.’
Ella’s pulse began to race.‘Surely that’s not possible.A place this size must have redundancies, separate power sources.The killer would need to know-’
‘Exactly how the building was designed,’ Edis interrupted.‘Every vulnerability, access point, failsafe, you name it.And he’d need the technical capability to exploit all of them simultaneously.’
‘Wow.’
‘And that’s not all.The building has three security measures between the lobby and the fortieth floor, which means that no one should have been able to get in or out of this building without something registering on the system.Police have checked it and… nothing.The only way in or out of that fortieth floor office was through a window, so unless our perp has wings, you ladies have some work to do.’
A tingle spread from Ella’s lower back up to her skull.It was that sudden electricity, or what she’d come to think of as a hook.Someone had walked into a fortress of a building, bypassed multiple security systems, killed a man and vanished like smoke – all without appearing on any cameras.
She felt the pull to know how, but the feeling was instantly tainted with guilt.
Her case – the one that mattered – was Ben’s death.This wasn’t his killer and this case wasn’t justice.She looked from the folder to Edis, and her answer caught in her throat.
But when had defying Edis ever gotten her anywhere?And since this was her retirement gift, she had to do the job.
‘We’re on it, sir.’
Edis clasped his hands together in prayer.‘Agent Ripley.Will you do this last request for me?’
‘The last one?Ever?’
‘I’m afraid so.’
Ripley smiled.‘I’ve never said no to you before, Will, and I’m not going to start now.Consider this my parting gift.’
‘I don’t know what I’d do without you.There’s a flight to Indiana in an hour.You can leave your flowers here.I’ll water them while you’re gone.’
