Page 66 of Flash Freeze

Paulson let out a low whistle. “That leaves a workforce of about 1,200 laborers, specialists, drivers, production operators—the works.”

“Then the rest of us spend the morning running deep dives,” Athena instructed. “Agent Paulson, generate a list and divvy out the names, please. Agents, start with people who had a legitimate reason to enter the office building. I want personal histories, family backgrounds, education, religion, philosophies, anything that intersects with the EPA, OSHA, Jeff Nolan, or a grudge against management. We know the killer used a weapon brought from outside the office, so focus harder on mechanics, maintenance workers, and people who worked on the pipes. There’s plenty of them, I’m sure. It’s unlikely, but maybe the unsub thought the office was empty, happened upon Nolan, and whacked him in the head so he wouldn’t be reported.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Shoops replied.

“Y’all have fun,” Agent Ice called from the door as he and Hernandez headed out.

“Are you going to cross Whitmore and Kerrington off your list?” Bach asked. Their photos and sticky notes featured prominently on the whiteboard.

Athena scowled. “I don’t want to on principle. But neither are viable suspects anymore.” She drew a single line through each name yet left their photos in place when she took Booker’s and Walsh’s down.

She studied the board, tapping her chin with the butt of the marker. “Nexus, who are you?”

Hours passed. Ice and Hernandez returned with a bag filled with burritos from a food truck in service. Athena secretly loved Mexican food truck fare but never ate it at work. Her minions were all excellent detectives and would spot the indulgent glow as she bit into the decadent guilty pleasure. Today she took one and said, “Thank you.”

“All three had solid alibis between ten and eleven, as a dozen employees saw each doing their jobs out on the line,” Ice said before taking his first spicy bite.

“Lunch to the rescue,” Campbell exclaimed, grabbing a wrapped burrito from the bag. “My eyes are glazing over. These are the most boring set of workers.”

“Here you go, Agent Shoops,” Bach said as he placed two burritos on her desk and pulled up a chair. “Do you like Tex-Mex?”

“As long as it’s not too hot,” she said, giving the lanky detective an appreciative look. She glanced at Travis. “Is this from the Taco Loco truck that’s usually at Jester Park?”

“Yep.”

Returning her gaze to Bach, she answered, “These are so good.”

Athena agreed in silence. After a few bites, Shoops’ hesitant stare caught her attention. She set down her half-eaten common delicacy and raised a brow. “What is it, Agent Shoops? I do eat, you know.”

Karen blushed. “No, I mean, yes, of course you do. That’s not it. I don’t want to disturb you, but just before Travis and Samuel returned bearing lunch …” She swallowed and pushed up her glasses. Athena wanted to order her to an optical shop to have them adjusted, so they’d fit her face properly.

Instead, she prompted, “Agent Shoops, you seem to be capable of finding important details and making astounding connections, yet incapable of articulating yourself in my presence. I’m not the Pope. I’m not even Director Smith, so out with it. What did you find?”

“Sorry,” she muttered, twirling her fingers in her lap. Athena might not be able to see them from her vantage point, but she knew that’s what she was doing.

“It’s just that I found something strange that doesn’t seem to make sense when doing my employee background runs. It’s one of the janitors, Isaac Mora, the one seen doing the generator maintenance and who supposedly cleaned the office just before Inspector Nolan shooed everyone away.”

“Go on,” Athena prompted. She’d read his interview, and the wrench from his locker didn’t have Nolan’s blood or DNA on it. Had she overlooked him as a suspect because she was so focused on the distasteful billionaire? And why would a random janitor want to kill an EPA inspector?

Karen’s face scrunched up like a child’s who was about to confess to eating the last cookie. “He’s smart. Mora was salutatorian of his class at James Bowie High School in Austin in 2011 and was accepted to MIT on scholarship that fall. He studied chemical engineering for two-and-a-half years before getting expelled for unauthorized lab access and chemical misuse. The dean wrote a note in his file indicating that he was conducting secret experiments using university supplies and equipment. Also, he’d broken in after hours. It was his second reprimand, and he behaved disrespectfully at his academic hearing, telling off all the professors.”

“Then he’s working a job far below his potential,” Paulson commented, pivoting his chair around.

“And then?” Athena exchanged a glance with Paulson, perceiving his piqued interest.

Karen bit her lip before continuing. “He tried his own start-up company, but it failed in under six months due to a lack of investors. Then his employment record jumps around between chemical companies and research facilities for three years. Termination reasons cited: brilliant but impossible to work with. Arrogant. Poor team dynamics. Then he totally switched gears and worked as a freelance private detective for a year.”

Athena furrowed her brows at that one. “A chemical engineer geek stalking unfaithful spouses with a camera?”

“I don’t know,” Karen replied. “He was self-employed during that time, so he could have been doing anything. Then he completely fell off the grid in 2020, emerging again when he was hired in November 2021 by Gulf Allied Chemicals as part of their janitorial staff.”

“Good work, Karen,” Bach praised in what appeared to be astonishment. Athena lifted her chin with pride in her junior agent. “That’s highly suspicious,” Bach continued, “though we don’t know what it has to do with Nolan.”

“Not yet,” Athena declared. “Paulson, start pulling up everything you can on Mora’s online activity for the past twelve years. No, go back fourteen, to when he was at MIT. Maybe we’ll discover what he was trying to cook up that got him expelled. I want social media, emails, account names, login history, messaging history, IP addresses, contacts, cloud storage, boards, forums, chat rooms—everything from the time he was a student through today. I’ll take care of the warrants and subpoenas.”

“I’ll get right on it, but I’ll need some provider information from the subpoenas to do a thorough search.”

“I’ll inform Mr. Smith we need a rush on this.” Athena shifted to the rest of the room. “Shoops, stay on your end. Make a list of friends and family. Try to get a handle on Mora’s state of mind. Ice and Hernandez, bring him in. Howard and Campbell, I want a meticulous search of Mora’s residence, and bring back all his electronics.”