Page 65 of Gentleman Sadist

Duncan chuckled. “Children... Anyway, I did a little digging too. Tristan is an alias.”

“We figured as much,” Benjamin stated. “Couldn’t find him in any of the databases.”

“I did, under another name. Can’t be sure if it’s real though. The information I gathered, his name is Charles Greenblat, from Sussex, New York. He’s thirty-six. Has an ex-wife and three kids. He has a considerable rap sheet, including but not limited to identification fraud, tax evasion, and impersonating an officer.”

Benjamin whistled. “Wow.”

“Did you happen to find a photograph of this Charles?” Robert prodded. If Duncan found a picture of the guy, it might save him from having to show Will. Sure, it might be the chicken shit way out, but if yesterday was any indication, Will would place the blame on himself more so than on Tristan or Charles, or whatever his real name was.

“No,” Duncan said. “The guy is pretty slick. He must have some hacking skills. Because all of the police files on him have his booking photos deleted. Even his parole officer doesn’t have a picture of him.”

“Well, now we know who broke into the security systems,” Benjamin grumbled. “Anything else?”

"Yeah," Duncan said. "I have info on the other employees of Da Vinci Couriers. I've sent the files to your email, but Lou, he's clean. Pretty much a Johnny Come Lately. He started with the Couriers about a year ago. He's overdue to retire, but his wife, it appears, has late-stage Alzheimer's and is in a facility. I suspect that's why he works for the company, to pay the bills."

“Anyone else?” Robert pressed.

"No," Duncan replied. "But I did come across a few curious things. The paintings and items stolen since the heist began, they're not all from Da Vinci cargo. Sure, the vast majority are, but some of them were shipped straight to the museum using an international business."

“So, how would Da Vinci have gotten their hands on the museum property?” AJ asked, scrunching up her face in concentration or confusion, Robert couldn’t tell.

“Easy,” Robert said. “We have the yellow copies of transfers without signatures. If those match the missing pieces, then we can safely assume at some point they saw the artwork and decided to nab them as well.

“Damn,” AJ whispered. “They’re good.”

“They got sloppy though,” Robert stated. “We have a photograph now.” He held up the picture so each of them could see the blond-haired guy smirking at the camera. “This is our perp along with those in the background. Lou is the next person we are going to speak with.”

“He doesn’t look thirty-six,” Scotty signed while AJ spoke for him. “More like our age, twenty-five or twenty-six.”

“Now that you mention it,” Duncan said, “Charles might be another alias.”

“Chalk it up to him being a sly mother fucker,” Benjamin said. “He knows what he’s doing. In the meantime, I’ll put in a call to Sussex’s police department and see if we can get a little bit more information on this Charles fella.”

“Great, give us the rest of the day,” AJ said. “We’re on a mission as well and our team will be back in a couple of hours. I might be able to convince a couple of them to help us too.”

Robert opened his mouth to disagree, but Duncan stopped him. “They’re a good group of kids. They have a fencer and a natural hack as well. Plus, they have connections to the black market and cartels. If AJ and Scotty can’t untie the knot, their kids can. Bonus, they’re all backed by the government and have security clearances to boot.”

Benjamin snorted. "I wish I had the clearance I do now when I was a kid."

“You’d probably jizz yourself if you knew how high some of their clearances went,” AJ teased. “Anyway, if that’s all you need from us, we should get going.”

Duncan nodded. "Thanks, guys. I owe you. Put it on my tab."

AJ laughed. “You couldn’t pay a tab from us. Later, old people.”

Benjamin slid his gaze to Robert and scoffed. “Old people? I-I feel offended and proud all at the same time.”

Duncan chuckled. “She’s a cheeky git, but she means no disrespect. She’s been with the CIA since she was sixteen and Scotty was seventeen.”

“Hacker program?” Benjamin quirked a brow.

“Bingo,” Duncan answered. “Anyway, the case is in capable hands, and I will keep digging as well. If I find anything, I’ll send it on to you both.”

“Thanks, Damian,” Robert said. “We appreciate it.”

“No problem. Feels good getting my feet wet again.” Duncan smirked. “Who knew I’d miss this.”

After finishing up the call, Robert checked the time and sighed. If he left now, he'd be to Will's within the hour, and they could have dinner together before he dropped the bomb on his lover. Robert gathered up his things and slapped Benjamin on the back before heading out. This wouldn't be easy, showing Will the photo of the guy outside the museum seconds before they stole a three and half million dollars, or over twenty-three million Chinese Yuan painting.

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