Page 18 of Girl, Empty
‘Please do.’Ella stepped into a marble lobby that reminded her of one of those buildings in Saudi Arabia that was all surface and no substance.By the look of it, the place had been evacuated.A second later, a young cop in a black uniform emerged from a side door, kicking away a wet floor sign withAlpine Freshwritten on the side.
‘FBI?I’m Detective Riggs, Indiana State PD.’He extended a hand.‘I’d say call me Jeremiah, but Riggs is easier.’
Ella matched his grip.‘Thanks for meeting us.I’m Agent Ella Dark and this is Agent Mia Ripley.You’re in charge of this investigation?’
‘For my sins.I’ve only been here since this morning, but this damn thing is hurting my head already.’
Detective Riggs was a spit-and-polish city cop, Ella thought.His black hair was trimmed to regulation length, and he had that smooth-as-butter jaw that only someone blessed with high cheekbones could pull off without looking like a child.The man was a looker, but that beauty only made her miss Luca that little bit more.
‘We’ve seen the police report and the crime scene photos.Can you give us a run-through of exactly what happened?’
Riggs gestured around to nothing in particular.‘So, the victim was discovered by the security guard here at about half past midnight.They were the only two people in the building.’
‘Apparently not,’ Ella said.‘What prompted the security guard to go looking for Michael Rankin?’
‘Power outage.He said lights started flickering, security cameras started blacking out.That was just after midnight.Terrence – the security guard – said he checked it out, then went up to the top floor to see if Michael was alright.Then he found him dead.’
‘Is the security guard here?’Ella asked.
‘He’s at the station.I can take you to see him after you’ve been here.’
‘Excellent.Do we have a security expert?Someone who knows this system inside out?’
Riggs jabbed his thumb into his chest.‘You’re looking at him.Computer science PHD reporting for duty.I’ve spent the past eight hours getting to grips with this whole mess, and I’m pretty sure I know exactly how every single panel in this damn building works.’
Ella blinked.People could surprise you, she thought.Here she'd been sizing up Riggs as another pretty-boy city cop, and he turned out he had a computer science doctorate.The Bureau had taught her to read people quickly, but every now and then someone slipped past her initial assessment and reminded her that assumptions were just lazy thinking in disguise.
‘Computer science PhD?You don't look like any IT guy I've ever met.'
‘Mom wanted me to become a doctor so I compromised.’
Ella caught a glimpse of the kid he'd probably been before the badge.‘Have you been through the security logs, cameras, everything?’
‘Everything.And according to every single entry and exit log I’ve been through, no one came into this building during the time frame when Rankin was killed.No one left either, except for the victim himself.'
‘Except for Rankin?’
Riggs pulled out a tablet and scrolled through what looked like a spreadsheet of timestamps.'Rankin's keycard shows him leaving the building at 00:10.Security guard said he went to get his blood pressure medication from his car.Then the same keycard shows him re-entering at 00:15.That’s the last time he was seen alive.Then Terrence found his body fifteen minutes later, and the only logs were in Rankin’s name.’
‘Could someone have piggybacked inside?’Ripley asked.
‘No.The weights in the lift would have trigger the alarm, and Terrence said he didn’t see anyone else.’
Ella chewed on that.Twenty-minute window.Empty building except for two men.One ends up dead in a room nobody else entered.Physics said impossible.The body said otherwise.
'Want to see his route?I've been tracing his steps all morning.'
‘Please.’
Riggs led them to the elevator.‘I’m having to use the security guard’s keycard to get in and out, and I’ve disabled some of the security measures via the main hub.And before you ask, it took my entire tech team and the CEO to do it.It’s not something you can just do at the flick of a switch.’
There went Ella’s next theory.Someone – possibly the security guard – just disabling the security measures before killing Rankin.Riggs was right.This case was definitely the headache type.
Riggs swiped his card at the panel.They stepped inside and the elevator hummed upward.‘First checkpoint is at floor twenty.This thing weighs you.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah.Look.’The elevator stopped and they stepped out into a cubicle.‘Weight sensors in the floor.If you're carrying an extra person or even a heavy bag that's not in your profile, it won't open.’
