"Or maybe just resents them for having the wealth to buy platinum jewelry in the first place," Miles said."Kane's disciples always have some personal grievance they've twisted into a philosophical justification.They’re unpredictable, sure, but there are also a few ways that they’re pretty paint-by-number."
Kim was typing again, the sound tiny from the laptop screen; it was almost like the scuttling from insect legs."I'm searching for employee records.If Ashford was incorporated, there should be business filings that list key personnel."
"Start with master jewelers," Miles said."Anyone with the technical skill to do electroplating work.We're looking for someone who would know how to work with platinum at a sophisticated level."
"On it."
Vic stood and joined Miles at the whiteboard."So, our working theory is that the killer worked at Ashford.Lost their job when the business collapsed.Developed a hatred for wealthy people who wear platinum jewelry.Started targeting them."
"It fits Kane's pattern," Miles said."Personal trauma combined with elemental symbolism.Platinum is incorruptible, but the people who wear it are corrupt.Or so this killer believes.”
"Why wait two years though?"Vic asked."Ashford shut down two years ago.Why start killing now?"
"He could have been planning.Learning the craft, perfecting the technique.Or maybe something triggered him recently.An anniversary of the business closing, running into a former client, something that reignited the anger."
A few seconds later, Agent Kim called out from her laptop screen."I've got something, guys—business filings for Ashford Fine Jewelers list three master jewelers who were working there when it shut down: Thomas Brennan, Daniel Hartley, and Rebecca Voss."
Miles wrote the names on the whiteboard quickly in a sloppy, slanted scrawl."Awesome.Start pulling background on all three.Criminal records, current employment, financial status.Anything that might indicate resentment or instability."
"Already on it," Kim said.
Vic was looking at her phone, stirred by the reveal."I'm texting Linhart.We need to know if the ME found a wedding band on Williams's body.If he wasn't wearing it when he died, the killer might have taken it."
Miles thought about that.The platinum Rolex sitting on the bathroom counter.The jewelry arranged at Rothschild's scene.If the killer had also taken Williams's platinum wedding band, that was another piece of evidence they needed to account for.The question would be, of course, why take the wedding ring and nothing else from either victim?
“Okay, here we go,” Kim called out.“Looks likeBrennan moved to New Jersey after Ashford closed.Voss relocated to California last year.But Hartley’s still in NYC from the looks of it.”
"It doesn't mean he's our guy," Vic said."But it's worth checking out."
"Daniel Hartley, age forty-seven,” Kim said.Mile sand Vic huddled around the laptop, listening in as Kim did what she did best.“He worked at Ashford for fifteen years before it shut down.He was one of their senior craftsmen.”
"Do you have a listing for a current employment?"Vic asked.
Kim scrolled through her search results."Nothing recent.The last W-2 on file is from three years ago, after Ashford closed.He worked briefly at a medical device laboratory but that ended after six months.Since then, nothing.He could have moved, and there’s just no record of it."
"So, he's been unemployed for over two years," Miles said."That's a long time to go without work in a specialized field."
"Maybe he's doing cash jobs," Vic suggested."Under the table repair work, private commissions."
"Or maybe he's been doing something else entirely," Miles said.He looked at the whiteboard, at Hartley's name written beside the other two former Ashford employees."Kim, can you find a current address for him?"
"Give me a minute."
Miles walked back to his desk and looked at the photographs from both crime scenes.The precision of the platinum coating, the careful staging of the bodies, the symbolic use of the jewelry.This was someone who understood the craft, who had the technical knowledge and the patience to execute these murders flawlessly.In other words, maybe someone who specialized in the field.
"Got it," Kim announced from DC."Daniel Hartley.His address is listed as being in Brooklyn.Want me to send it to your phone?"
"Please," Miles said.
As he waited, he felt the investigation narrowing, focusing.They had a name, a connection, a motive that made sense within Kane's twisted framework.It wasn't proof but it was a hell of a lot more than they'd had an hour ago.
The sound of a phone buzzing caught their attention; this time it was Vic’s.She checked it, read a message, and then said: "Linhart just confirmed that there was no wedding band on Williams's body.Tan line on his ring finger shows he wore one regularly, but it wasn't there when they found him."
"So, the killer took it," Miles said.
"Why take some pieces but leave others staged?"Vic asked.
"Maybe the watch was more visible.More obvious as a status symbol.The wedding band was personal, hidden.The killer took it as a trophy.Or, as we already mentioned maybe Williams just left it elsewhere when he was about to willingly and eagerly cheat on his wife.”
