Authors: R.W. Van Sant
The iFactor (17 page)
Chapter 36
The forensic team found nothing conclusive on either the balcony or the body. The entire exercise had proven futile. Matt spent several hours with an artist to try to get any details they could on the killer. In the end, the picture was a dark hazy ghost, about average size and shape for a human blur from the upper chest to top of his head.
Discouraged, Matt returned to his desk to study all the evidence four a fifth time. The communicator on his desk buzzed. “Detective Matthew Dales.”
“Hey Matt,” Perry’s voice came from the speaker.
“How are you doing?” He asked. “Quite a screw up we had, wasn’t it. Please tell me you found something?”
“You asked me to help you move furniture after work, remember.”
“Sorry” Matt said.” It’s been a frustrating day.”
“I understand. How bout we do it after shift end.” Matt wasn’t moving, or redecorating, so it didn’t take a detective to guess he was talking about the other matter.
“Can we make it quick?” Matt asked. “I have a date after work.”
“Okay then, how about I meet you afterward.”
“Sure, I’ll give you a call.”
“Please don’t take too long lover boy. I’ve got important things to do.”
“Got ya.” Matt couldn’t stand Jill up, or even delay picking her up, not after another dream came true. He was even more convinced that she was in danger. The killer had become brazen. He wanted Matt to see him, or at least his shadow. The game was a lot more dangerous. He would call Perry once he got Jill to a safe place. “It’ll be tonight.”
“Good, see you then.” He disconnected. Why did he even care about the man on the bench? He was most likely going to quit when the case was over. Hell, he wanted nothing more than to stand up at that very minute, walk right into the chief’s office, and resign. The killer had forced him into a game of cat and mouse that he never wanted to play. Matt wasn’t even sure who the cat in the game was, but he strongly suspected that it wasn’t him, and he didn’t like to think of Jill as the catnip.
He didn’t have more than a few minutes to study the case notes before he was called into the chief’s office. Matt answered the summons quickly. Even so, the chief didn’t look pleased. “What’s up?”
“Trace on your assailants showed nothing.” He said flatly.
“Don’t tell me we got another block on the ID?”
“No,” the chief looked stern. “What I’m saying is that according to the trace we ran, you were alone the entire time, from the moment that you left that woman, what was her name.“ He looked at his file pad. “Oh, yeah, Jill Cochetti, at her apartment.”
“I don’t understand.”
‘There was no one there Matt. The tracking system says you were all alone.”
“That’s not possible.” Matt said. “The forensics team found signs of a scuffle there.”
“It could have been from the people who had been there earlier; we are a fairly crowded city.”
“Is it possible to block a tracking signal?”
“I don’t know, Dales.” Vanderhaar’s tone grew impatient. Did they have their hands encased in lead? “No, I don’t think so.”
“So what then?”
“Matt, I want you to go back the psychiatrist. I made an appointment for you, today at five. “
“I can’t, I’ve got plans.”
“I can make it an order, Detective.” the chief declared.
“Are you pulling me from the case?”
“Let me tell you straight, Dales, between the unsubstantiated report of an attack and the wasting of several hours of my forensic team, chasing your phantom shadow today, I really should.” He slumped back. “But dammit, I need your hunches. This bastard is beating us. He’s found a way to beat the tracking system. I don’t know how, but he leaves no evidence. I need,” He lowered his voice. “A little psychic help.”
“Chief,” Matt protested. “I’m not psychic.”
“You’d better hope you’re wrong,” he said. “Cause right now, the only thing saving your job is the hope that you might get a hunch to lead us to this psychopath.”
“Yes, sir.” Matt replied. “Sir?”
“Yes, Dales.”
“After this case is over we need to talk. I may not have been ready to take on these duties.”
“I am aware of that.” Chief said. “But I need your help, so you will pull yourself together. Get one of your hunches and find me that killer or we might both be in a sleep tube back to Earth.”
“Yes Sir,” the thought of having to go back into those caskets, filled him with trepidation. “I will do my best.”
“I’m sure you will.” chief said. “And you will be at that appointment tonight.”
“Yes Sir.”
“When this is over, we’ll get you an easy job, less stressful. One more thing.”
“Sir?”
“The woman, Cochetti. You’ve been spending a lot of time with her.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Is it serious?”
“Yes Sir, I think it is.”
“Matt, I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you Ken.”
“Do not let it distract you. This is way too important.”
“Yes Sir.”
“You may go.”
“Yes Sir.” The reprimanded detective crept out of the office. He would have to arrange to meet with Jill before the appointment and secure her somewhere safe.
The forensic team found nothing conclusive on either the balcony or the body. The entire exercise had proven futile. Matt spent several hours with an artist to try to get any details they could on the killer. In the end, the picture was a dark hazy ghost, about average size and shape for a human blur from the upper chest to top of his head.
Discouraged, Matt returned to his desk to study all the evidence four a fifth time. The communicator on his desk buzzed. “Detective Matthew Dales.”
“Hey Matt,” Perry’s voice came from the speaker.
“How are you doing?” He asked. “Quite a screw up we had, wasn’t it. Please tell me you found something?”
“You asked me to help you move furniture after work, remember.”
“Sorry” Matt said.” It’s been a frustrating day.”
“I understand. How bout we do it after shift end.” Matt wasn’t moving, or redecorating, so it didn’t take a detective to guess he was talking about the other matter.
“Can we make it quick?” Matt asked. “I have a date after work.”
“Okay then, how about I meet you afterward.”
“Sure, I’ll give you a call.”
“Please don’t take too long lover boy. I’ve got important things to do.”
“Got ya.” Matt couldn’t stand Jill up, or even delay picking her up, not after another dream came true. He was even more convinced that she was in danger. The killer had become brazen. He wanted Matt to see him, or at least his shadow. The game was a lot more dangerous. He would call Perry once he got Jill to a safe place. “It’ll be tonight.”
“Good, see you then.” He disconnected. Why did he even care about the man on the bench? He was most likely going to quit when the case was over. Hell, he wanted nothing more than to stand up at that very minute, walk right into the chief’s office, and resign. The killer had forced him into a game of cat and mouse that he never wanted to play. Matt wasn’t even sure who the cat in the game was, but he strongly suspected that it wasn’t him, and he didn’t like to think of Jill as the catnip.
He didn’t have more than a few minutes to study the case notes before he was called into the chief’s office. Matt answered the summons quickly. Even so, the chief didn’t look pleased. “What’s up?”
“Trace on your assailants showed nothing.” He said flatly.
“Don’t tell me we got another block on the ID?”
“No,” the chief looked stern. “What I’m saying is that according to the trace we ran, you were alone the entire time, from the moment that you left that woman, what was her name.“ He looked at his file pad. “Oh, yeah, Jill Cochetti, at her apartment.”
“I don’t understand.”
‘There was no one there Matt. The tracking system says you were all alone.”
“That’s not possible.” Matt said. “The forensics team found signs of a scuffle there.”
“It could have been from the people who had been there earlier; we are a fairly crowded city.”
“Is it possible to block a tracking signal?”
“I don’t know, Dales.” Vanderhaar’s tone grew impatient. Did they have their hands encased in lead? “No, I don’t think so.”
“So what then?”
“Matt, I want you to go back the psychiatrist. I made an appointment for you, today at five. “
“I can’t, I’ve got plans.”
“I can make it an order, Detective.” the chief declared.
“Are you pulling me from the case?”
“Let me tell you straight, Dales, between the unsubstantiated report of an attack and the wasting of several hours of my forensic team, chasing your phantom shadow today, I really should.” He slumped back. “But dammit, I need your hunches. This bastard is beating us. He’s found a way to beat the tracking system. I don’t know how, but he leaves no evidence. I need,” He lowered his voice. “A little psychic help.”
“Chief,” Matt protested. “I’m not psychic.”
“You’d better hope you’re wrong,” he said. “Cause right now, the only thing saving your job is the hope that you might get a hunch to lead us to this psychopath.”
“Yes, sir.” Matt replied. “Sir?”
“Yes, Dales.”
“After this case is over we need to talk. I may not have been ready to take on these duties.”
“I am aware of that.” Chief said. “But I need your help, so you will pull yourself together. Get one of your hunches and find me that killer or we might both be in a sleep tube back to Earth.”
“Yes Sir,” the thought of having to go back into those caskets, filled him with trepidation. “I will do my best.”
“I’m sure you will.” chief said. “And you will be at that appointment tonight.”
“Yes Sir.”
“When this is over, we’ll get you an easy job, less stressful. One more thing.”
“Sir?”
“The woman, Cochetti. You’ve been spending a lot of time with her.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Is it serious?”
“Yes Sir, I think it is.”
“Matt, I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you Ken.”
“Do not let it distract you. This is way too important.”
“Yes Sir.”
“You may go.”
“Yes Sir.” The reprimanded detective crept out of the office. He would have to arrange to meet with Jill before the appointment and secure her somewhere safe.
Chapter 37
Matt confronted Perry before they went into the daily meeting.
“Perry?”
“Yes, detective.”
“The chief scheduled me a mandatory meeting with my shrink. I’ll need your help moving stuff afterward.”
“Yeah, sure. I have something coming out of the oven in a little while. I’ll bring it with.”
“Sounds good.” Perry was one of the few people that he really trusted. He thought about telling him that the city tracking system sometimes failed to record the presence of people at all, like the two who attacked him.
Was it possible that some of the colonists had faulty palm units?
It made sense; nothing ever worked perfectly, defects happened in all product lines. Why not palm chips? A person with such a chip could wander the city with impunity. They would also not have access to buildings, money or anything else a person would need to survive. How would they live, was it possible that someone could live on the fringes in a colony like Sirius?
Another thought occurred to him.
Was it possible to make palm chips that could be turned off?
He could see how it could be useful for the government or certain corporate entities to have people that could move around untracked. The men who attacked him certainly didn’t look like people who survived from hiding, begging and stealing. The Trust? If such an organization did exist, the killer could be one of them.
Matt whispered, “I need you to look into whether it is possible to turn off a chip’s tracking feature, or if it’s possible to for that to be faulty.”
“I don’t think so, but I’ll look.”
“The two who attacked me, they system was up, but it said I was alone.”
“Yeah, will do. Catch up with you afterward. Meet me here.”
“Perry,” Matt said. “The chief thinks I’m hallucinating. Nevertheless, they were there. , I need to know why they didn’t register.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Inside, Rishards and Doctor Taylor sat around the table and viewed the data scrolling down the screen; the chief was not in attendance.
“It’s impossible,” Taylor announced. “Five murders and not one molecule of analyzable data.”
“I’d like to bring up something, an idea.” Matt spoke quietly. “But it’s out of left field.”
“At this point,” Rishards said. “I’ll listen to anything.”
“I was thinking about Sherlock Holmes.”
“The fictional character?” Perry announced.
“When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains must be true.”
“Makes sense,” Perry agreed.
“I see where this is going.” Taylor announced.
“You’re saying we’re getting too caught up in trying to figure out how they are doing the impossible?” She slumped back into her seat.
“Yeah,” Matt said. “If it’s impossible, then it cannot be done.”
“And seeing as how it has been done five times, then it cannot be impossible.” Perry mused aloud.
“So what would the killer have to know or be able to find out in order to commit these murders during the ‘black-out’ periods,” Rishards said.
“How would they know when and where they could do these killings without witnesses?” Taylor added. “Some of the killings took time.”
“The killer’s timing would have to be perfect.” Perry said.
“And the victims,” Matt asked. “Do we have any way of determining how the victims were chosen? Did they have anything in common?”
“We haven’t found any.” Rishards said.
“Maybe the victims were chosen at random, in the wrong place at the right time.” Perry said. “Is it possible that they were targeted simply because they were in an isolated place at the time of a black-out?”
“The killer would have to be patrolling remote areas, looking for victims.” Matt thought aloud, “If they were very observant, and mapped out the patrol patterns of the police, as well as the flow of human traffic within the colony, they might be able to pick locations and times when they would have the time to kill with impunity.”
“Perhaps,” Rishards allowed. “But how could they know about the black-outs?”
“Let’s leave that alone for a moment.” Matt suggested.
“But how can we just ignore--” Rishards started.
“Because,” Matt cut her off sharply. “He does. One way or another, the killer knows. It doesn’t matter how. We need to simplify this equation. We don’t need to know why Y is Y, if we just accept it; it gives us one less variable to deal with.”
“I was just saying it’s an important fact.” Rishards said dully.
“I’m sorry.” Matt told her. “We’re all a little short.”
“Okay” Taylor agreed. “Y is Y. What about A? Why did the killer choose a different way to kill each victim?”
“Creativity?” Perry offered.
“Time?” Rishards added.
“Maybe both.” Matt added. “Doc, is it possible for a killer of this type to plan multiple ways of killing? I mean really give it thought, plan them out in advance.”
“Please use my correct title,” she admonished. “Yes, I suppose it is. More difficult, but I think it could be possible.”
“Then all that would be necessary is for a person to stumble into the wrong place, at the right time. The killer would know how much time they have and choose their methods to match time and place.”
“But how could they know how much time they have?” Rishards protested.
“I don’t know. Maybe you’re right, maybe there are segments of the population that can feel the black-outs, people who for some reason are sensitive to the flares. If they can feel them then maybe the intensity of the flare can determine how long they have.” Matt was getting frustrated with her inability to grasp the concept. “But is there any doubt that somehow the killer knows?”
Everyone in the room sat silently, and a couple heads bobbed in the affirmative.
“Then we are asking the wrong questions.” Perry offered.
“We don’t need to find a link in victims, it’s random. Location and time is based on best time and place during a black-out, method is predetermined by the killer based on how long the blackout will last.” Matt summarized. “Assuming all this to be true, what are the new questions?”
Matt confronted Perry before they went into the daily meeting.
“Perry?”
“Yes, detective.”
“The chief scheduled me a mandatory meeting with my shrink. I’ll need your help moving stuff afterward.”
“Yeah, sure. I have something coming out of the oven in a little while. I’ll bring it with.”
“Sounds good.” Perry was one of the few people that he really trusted. He thought about telling him that the city tracking system sometimes failed to record the presence of people at all, like the two who attacked him.
Was it possible that some of the colonists had faulty palm units?
It made sense; nothing ever worked perfectly, defects happened in all product lines. Why not palm chips? A person with such a chip could wander the city with impunity. They would also not have access to buildings, money or anything else a person would need to survive. How would they live, was it possible that someone could live on the fringes in a colony like Sirius?
Another thought occurred to him.
Was it possible to make palm chips that could be turned off?
He could see how it could be useful for the government or certain corporate entities to have people that could move around untracked. The men who attacked him certainly didn’t look like people who survived from hiding, begging and stealing. The Trust? If such an organization did exist, the killer could be one of them.
Matt whispered, “I need you to look into whether it is possible to turn off a chip’s tracking feature, or if it’s possible to for that to be faulty.”
“I don’t think so, but I’ll look.”
“The two who attacked me, they system was up, but it said I was alone.”
“Yeah, will do. Catch up with you afterward. Meet me here.”
“Perry,” Matt said. “The chief thinks I’m hallucinating. Nevertheless, they were there. , I need to know why they didn’t register.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Inside, Rishards and Doctor Taylor sat around the table and viewed the data scrolling down the screen; the chief was not in attendance.
“It’s impossible,” Taylor announced. “Five murders and not one molecule of analyzable data.”
“I’d like to bring up something, an idea.” Matt spoke quietly. “But it’s out of left field.”
“At this point,” Rishards said. “I’ll listen to anything.”
“I was thinking about Sherlock Holmes.”
“The fictional character?” Perry announced.
“When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains must be true.”
“Makes sense,” Perry agreed.
“I see where this is going.” Taylor announced.
“You’re saying we’re getting too caught up in trying to figure out how they are doing the impossible?” She slumped back into her seat.
“Yeah,” Matt said. “If it’s impossible, then it cannot be done.”
“And seeing as how it has been done five times, then it cannot be impossible.” Perry mused aloud.
“So what would the killer have to know or be able to find out in order to commit these murders during the ‘black-out’ periods,” Rishards said.
“How would they know when and where they could do these killings without witnesses?” Taylor added. “Some of the killings took time.”
“The killer’s timing would have to be perfect.” Perry said.
“And the victims,” Matt asked. “Do we have any way of determining how the victims were chosen? Did they have anything in common?”
“We haven’t found any.” Rishards said.
“Maybe the victims were chosen at random, in the wrong place at the right time.” Perry said. “Is it possible that they were targeted simply because they were in an isolated place at the time of a black-out?”
“The killer would have to be patrolling remote areas, looking for victims.” Matt thought aloud, “If they were very observant, and mapped out the patrol patterns of the police, as well as the flow of human traffic within the colony, they might be able to pick locations and times when they would have the time to kill with impunity.”
“Perhaps,” Rishards allowed. “But how could they know about the black-outs?”
“Let’s leave that alone for a moment.” Matt suggested.
“But how can we just ignore--” Rishards started.
“Because,” Matt cut her off sharply. “He does. One way or another, the killer knows. It doesn’t matter how. We need to simplify this equation. We don’t need to know why Y is Y, if we just accept it; it gives us one less variable to deal with.”
“I was just saying it’s an important fact.” Rishards said dully.
“I’m sorry.” Matt told her. “We’re all a little short.”
“Okay” Taylor agreed. “Y is Y. What about A? Why did the killer choose a different way to kill each victim?”
“Creativity?” Perry offered.
“Time?” Rishards added.
“Maybe both.” Matt added. “Doc, is it possible for a killer of this type to plan multiple ways of killing? I mean really give it thought, plan them out in advance.”
“Please use my correct title,” she admonished. “Yes, I suppose it is. More difficult, but I think it could be possible.”
“Then all that would be necessary is for a person to stumble into the wrong place, at the right time. The killer would know how much time they have and choose their methods to match time and place.”
“But how could they know how much time they have?” Rishards protested.
“I don’t know. Maybe you’re right, maybe there are segments of the population that can feel the black-outs, people who for some reason are sensitive to the flares. If they can feel them then maybe the intensity of the flare can determine how long they have.” Matt was getting frustrated with her inability to grasp the concept. “But is there any doubt that somehow the killer knows?”
Everyone in the room sat silently, and a couple heads bobbed in the affirmative.
“Then we are asking the wrong questions.” Perry offered.
“We don’t need to find a link in victims, it’s random. Location and time is based on best time and place during a black-out, method is predetermined by the killer based on how long the blackout will last.” Matt summarized. “Assuming all this to be true, what are the new questions?”
“Who keeps a file cabinet of murder plans?” Perry asked. “Is there any way to find out about the black-outs apart from being told by the colonial government? I mean there are other signs, such as producing radio static.”
“Now that is a good question.” Matt sat up. “Can you look into that? It’s still just window dressing.”
“Sure thing,” Perry volunteered. “Just as soon as we get out of here.”
“Is it possible to run a search of anyone who might have been wandering around the murder locations days or even weeks prior to the events?” Matt asked.
“Possible, but getting the warrant won’t be easy. “Rishards remarked.
“I bet it’s a lot easier to get today, than it would have been yesterday.” Taylor added.
“Doctor?” Rishards returned.
“You will learn that those with the authority move much quicker and more decisively, when it is their families in danger.” The doctor replied.
“That’s cynical.” Rishards told her.
“But most likely true.” Matt said. “Request the warrant and let’s see what happens.”
“Okay,” Rishards stood up. “Chief says you have good hunches, we’ll try this. I just had a thought. What if our killer was operating on a hunch?”
“What?” the thought stunned him.
“You said that hunches were just your brain processing unconscious clues into something the mind can use.”
“Yeah?”
“What if all of this is right.” She continued. “What if the person has some way of detecting a black-out, they see the traffic, have a few good ways to kill someone publically and just have really good hunches about when and how to do it?”
“That theory could also explain why they targeted the good detective here.” The doctor mused. “I mean, even I have heard about your extraordinary hunches, Dales. If Rishards theories were correct then you would be the only opponent worth defeating.
“A psychic murderer?” Perry earned a dark look from Rishards.
“I’m not psychic.” Matt said. Still, he couldn’t help but think what if the killer had dreams such as his. His blood ran cold. “Is it possible to get a list of anyone who has demonstrated that kind of potential?”
“Maybe, we can search the medical records. They might show up as psychological symptoms.” Rishards added. “Okay, let’s get on all this. Matt, do let us know if you have a hunch.”
“This time tomorrow?” The doctor asked.
“If we haven’t caught them by then.” Perry said.
“In that case I really hope we don’t have to meet.” Matt said as the others left the room. “I really hope not.”
“Amen.” Rishards walked out, leaving Matt alone watching the door. He turned off the displays and stared at the blank screen.
“Now that is a good question.” Matt sat up. “Can you look into that? It’s still just window dressing.”
“Sure thing,” Perry volunteered. “Just as soon as we get out of here.”
“Is it possible to run a search of anyone who might have been wandering around the murder locations days or even weeks prior to the events?” Matt asked.
“Possible, but getting the warrant won’t be easy. “Rishards remarked.
“I bet it’s a lot easier to get today, than it would have been yesterday.” Taylor added.
“Doctor?” Rishards returned.
“You will learn that those with the authority move much quicker and more decisively, when it is their families in danger.” The doctor replied.
“That’s cynical.” Rishards told her.
“But most likely true.” Matt said. “Request the warrant and let’s see what happens.”
“Okay,” Rishards stood up. “Chief says you have good hunches, we’ll try this. I just had a thought. What if our killer was operating on a hunch?”
“What?” the thought stunned him.
“You said that hunches were just your brain processing unconscious clues into something the mind can use.”
“Yeah?”
“What if all of this is right.” She continued. “What if the person has some way of detecting a black-out, they see the traffic, have a few good ways to kill someone publically and just have really good hunches about when and how to do it?”
“That theory could also explain why they targeted the good detective here.” The doctor mused. “I mean, even I have heard about your extraordinary hunches, Dales. If Rishards theories were correct then you would be the only opponent worth defeating.
“A psychic murderer?” Perry earned a dark look from Rishards.
“I’m not psychic.” Matt said. Still, he couldn’t help but think what if the killer had dreams such as his. His blood ran cold. “Is it possible to get a list of anyone who has demonstrated that kind of potential?”
“Maybe, we can search the medical records. They might show up as psychological symptoms.” Rishards added. “Okay, let’s get on all this. Matt, do let us know if you have a hunch.”
“This time tomorrow?” The doctor asked.
“If we haven’t caught them by then.” Perry said.
“In that case I really hope we don’t have to meet.” Matt said as the others left the room. “I really hope not.”
“Amen.” Rishards walked out, leaving Matt alone watching the door. He turned off the displays and stared at the blank screen.
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