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“Yep,” says Leo. “We’ll need Wikander to confirm it for sure. I’m on it.”
“And can someone chase forensics and mystics for anything from the envelope Diana got last night?” says Storm.
“I’ll do it,” says Remi.
“Anything else?” says Storm.
Remi and Leo shake their heads. They grab their coffees to leave Storm’s office, Leo reaching for another donut. Monroe hesitates. He is shifting awkwardly on his feet in a way that makes Storm look at him.
Monroe hesitates for a moment, and then says, “Erm, has anyone seen my stunbommer?” He looks like it was actually painful to get the words out.
Remi and Leo shake their heads.
Storm frowns. “You haven’t found it yet? You’d better make a report to lost property.”
“It’s probably around here somewhere,” says Monroe hastily. “I’ll look for it.”
“Make the report anyway,” Storm says, all too aware of the damage a stunbommer can do it the wrong hands.
Monroe’s face goes red, and he quickly follows Leo out of the office. Remi hesitates at the door to shoot Storm a look that says she thinks he was too harsh. “He’ll find it,” she whispers, before pulling the door shut.
Storm switches on his computer. Diana’s gripes about Beatrice have been playing on his mind. He knows she will be downright smug if she knew he was doing this, but he does a search on Beatrice’s background anyway.
As he expected, he finds Beatrice is squeaky clean. She has no criminal record to speak of, and a long list of professional and charitable accolades to her name. Briefly married, then divor
ced but had kept her husband’s name. No children.
She had been born in England, spent a gap year in Otherworld before returning to England to study psychology at Oxford University. Then she’d practiced professionally in America for some years before returning to England eight years ago to build the charitable branch of her business with Raif Silverstone, which has flourished.
The only potential black mark against her was not on file, and he would not even know about it if she had not admitted it herself. She had not reported Raif when she found out about his questionable dealings in liberating the bonded water sprites, something she claimed she hadn’t been aware of. And even if she had been, any actions taken in Otherworld itself was outside of his jurisdiction.
Storm taps his fingers against his desk. The thought of officially reporting what Beatrice has confided in him galls him. He has no problem with anyone helping to free bonded water sprites, finding the practice of enslavement abhorrent. And he has no desire to damage the reputations of Beatrice’s charity or her donors. Yet the law may have been broken. And it is not his job to judge the ethics of it. Cops making their own judgments on which crimes to overlook leads to a slippery slope. It is his job to investigate, to follow the evidence.
Sighing, Storm grabs his phone to call a trusted friend who works in the Otherworld immigration bureau. Giving only the briefest of details and highlighting the need for discretion, Storm asks his friend to consider whether any further investigation is needed.
As he is hanging up the call, Remi knocks on his door. Through the glass Storm can see that Remi is bouncing a little on her heels, the way she does when she is excited. He gestures for her to come in.
She bounds in and thrusts her tablet at him. “We’ve got the call logs for Everett and Caprio’s calls the week of the murder. Everett’s are as expected. He spoke to Lynesse every day he was away, with the last call being the Thursday that they argued.”
She scrolls down the screen. “But see here? These are Caprio’s calls. He also called Lynesse nearly every day during the Ireland trip. Most interestingly, he called her six times on the day off the murder, all brief calls lasting less than a minute. Then this last call is at 10:00 pm, an hour before the murder window. Then nothing after that. Nothing at all. It’s almost as if he knew she was dead.”
She swipes the screen to bring up a different report. “And this came through. Forensics got a hit on the envelope that was sent to Diana. The card and coin were print-free, other than Diana’s, but there was a single thumb print on the envelope itself and it belongs to our new prime suspect, Kris Caprio!”
No wonder Remi is bouncing. She knows what this means. Storm grins. This is enough evidence to bring Kris Caprio in for official questioning.
Monroe, who had followed Remi into the office says, “Too bad Diana Bellona was wrong.” He is smiling a little, clearly excited the team are ahead of Diana on the wager.
“Diana wasn’t wrong,” interjects Remi quickly. “Not really. She said she saw the killer lurking by that window and she was right. We found Caprio’s print there. And anyway, maybe there is something off about that Grictor woman. It must be hard not to get wrapped up in a train of thought when your psychic instincts are screaming at you about something. Perhaps Diana caught onto something else. She’ll figure it out.”
Storm doesn’t disagree. Diana would benefit from some training to hone her instincts, if only she would listen. At least she’s finally admitted that she no longer thinks the killer was Beatrice.
“Let’s bring Caprio in,” says Storm. “Remi, you and Leo go pick him up.”
Monroe looks a little disappointed at this, but Storm isn’t ready to let the new guy onto the field yet. Not if he’s already lost his stunbommer. Monroe knows it too. Storm watches as Monroe takes a seat back at his desk and attacks his calls for chasing Caprio’s alibi with renewed vigor. There might be hope for the kid yet. A poorer agent would’ve used the new evidence as an excuse to give up.
Storm himself is filled with renewed energy. If he can wrap this case up today it’ll be a big win for the department, and allow the media to put the case to bed. He is still being inundated with calls from reporters. Even better, it means Diana can set her mind at rest and feel safe in her own home.
However, an hour later it becomes clear that Caprio has gone to ground. The team are unable to trace his whereabouts, and they find that his phone is switched off, preventing them from using it to find his location.
