The Killing Code (14 page)

Alan was so enjoying hearing about this
entrancing woman that he hadn’t even thought about his day or the case until now.

“OK, I’m working on a strange case at the moment.
I can’t really discuss details of an open investigation but since it’s kind of in your area of expertise, I’d like to ask you a question.”

“This sounds intriguing.”

“Frustrating is more apt so I’m hoping you can help. Do you know much about neuro-hormones?”

“I know the
basics but as I told you, I’m a psychologist, not a psychiatrist so I’m not a medical expert.”

“Well, I have to figure out what kind of effect these things can have on the brain and how they might tie in with computer programming.”

“That sounds a very odd combination. I know that neuro-hormones play a key role in brain function, thought processes, mood, heart rate, blood pressure – almost everything really. If this is important to your case though, you should talk to one of my old professors at Ohio State. If anyone can help you on that matter, it’s Professor Guthrie.”

“What’s his specialty?”

“He’s into all kinds of things but I know that he’s done some ground-breaking research on neuro-hormones in psychiatric medicine so I’m sure he would be your best bet.”

“That
’s great Holly. Do you have contact details for him?”

“I’m sure I’ve got something in my study notes at home.
I can have a look when we get back to my place.”

Alan looked at her wide-eyed.
“We?” he repeated.

“”Why not?
I already told you; I know what I like, and I don’t see why two consenting adults who obviously like each other, should have to tip-toe around dating protocols. I hope you feel the same way.”

Alan stammered slightly, “I do, I do…it’s just…well, it’s been a very long time for me.”

“It has for me too Alan. I’ve done nothing but study and work for several years now and I think we both deserve the chance to move on with our lives outside of work.”

“I can honestly say that I have never met anyone quite li
ke you before Holly. You are very special and I sometimes find it hard to understand how you can really be interested in me.”

“
Listen Alan…Alan Beach.” she teased. “I could give you a long psychological explanation as to why you feel that way but I prefer the simple approach. We’ve both been alone for too long. It’s having an effect on your self esteem and I hope you don’t mind me breaking with the traditional boy chases girl scenario but I know that I don’t want to be alone any more so can we just see where this goes and don’t worry too much about the details?”

“I think I can do that.” h
e said smiling as his hand reached across the table to hold hers.

They continued to enjoy their dinner and eventually, Holly asked tentatively about Alan’s wife.
He was hesitant at first but realized that her interest was genuine and caring so he opened up and told her the story and how it had affected him. He explained the compulsory therapy sessions and how Dr. Kellerman had helped him to see the folly in his self-destructive emotions but his misguided guilt wouldn’t let him move on. Holly listened with the wisdom of a trained psychologist but without the normally intrinsic detachment. Her empathy and warmth toward Alan were genuine and comforting but he started to worry that the conversation was becoming more professional than romantic so he stopped himself.

“I don’t mean any offence Holly but I’m worried that we might be creating a doctor/patient relationship here and that’s not what I want.”

“I understand why you might feel that way but I have a different opinion. Aside from physical attraction, an honest, caring relationship consists of trust, understanding, and tolerance. It should be give and take, and I think we should share our most intimate thoughts so we can really understand and trust each other. I’m not saying that as a psychologist but as someone who is genuinely interested in sharing with you.”

“I see what you’re saying but this is only our second date.
I don’t want to frighten you off with my emotional baggage.”

“That’s very sweet
Alan but the pace doesn’t frighten me if it doesn’t bother you.”

Alan’s reticence was overwhelmed
by Holly’s heartfelt openness and honesty, and he surrendered. They talked until they had finished their meals and wine then Alan settled the bill and they began the walk to Holly’s apartment. The couple strolled, arm in arm with such an easy familiarity that anyone observing would think they’d been together for months rather than a mere two days. At the front entrance of her building, Holly took her key out and opened the door then led Alan up the stairs to her first floor apartment. It was small but very cozy and inviting. Alan had forgotten what a woman’s touch could do to a home and he was instantly at ease in his surroundings.

“Would you like a coffee?” Holly asked.

“Not really thanks.”

“Have a seat on the sofa and I’ll bring us some wine.”

Alan sat on the comfortable old sofa and leaned into its soft cushions, glancing around the room at Holly’s family photographs and other effects. He watched as she returned with a bottle and two glasses, which she set on the coffee table then sat down beside him. They looked into each other’s eyes and neither could wait any longer; the wine went unpoured. They kissed gently at first then deeply as their passion grew and desire took over until Alan’s cell phone suddenly interrupted. He retrieved it from his pocket, looking apologetically at Holly.

“I’m sorry but I have to
get this.” he said sheepishly as he opened the phone. “Your timing is impeccable Lieutenant. What’s up?”

“Sorry to interrupt your date
Beach but the Divisional Commander must have some serious juice with the Capitol Police. The footage from the entrance of the Capitol Building just came in on the wire. It’s compressed so the quality ain’t brilliant but the high definition DVD should arrive tomorrow. Just thought you should know.”

“Um…I t
hink I’ll wait until tomorrow boss.” Alan said as Holly got up and grabbed his free hand.

“I see; things are going well then…”

Alan cut Walker off as Holly pulled him playfully toward the bedroom, her smiling eyes full of mischief. Walker looked at his disconnected phone, smiled and said aloud, “It’s about time Beach…it’s about time.”

Chapter 8

Larry Phillips stood tinkering with the gain adjustment on the back of one of his technical monitors, when the heavy glass door of the crime lab opened and he heard the sound of someone whistling a happy tune. This was rather an unfamiliar sound in the crime lab and Larry leaned back to identify the source. Even stranger than the sound itself, was the sight of who was creating it. Larry knew Beach to be a polite, considerate but somewhat somber man of high intelligence, with a sad and difficult past. Seeing Alan whistling a happy tune just didn’t fit with him at all.

“Um…is that you
Alan?” he called out as he emerged from behind the monitors.

“Hi Larry.
How are you today?” Alan inquired cheerfully.

Larry’s cocked his head slightly to one side
and replied tentatively, “I’m fine thanks. How are you?”

“I’m good Larry; really good.
Can I have a look at the footage from the Capitol Building please?”

Larry had to shake himself away from his confusion to answer.
“Sure, it’s loaded on the console. You know what to do.”

“You’re the man Larry,
thanks.”

Larry was flummoxed.
He had always enjoyed working with Alan but even after solving some of his most difficult cases, the detective had never been close to this cheerful before. Larry stood a few feet from his colleague to observe his face for a moment as Alan handled the controls on the console while humming the same tune he was whistling when he came in. As realization suddenly began to flood in, Larry’s face cracked into a broad smile.

“You got laid!” he blurted out before he could stop himself.
“I mean… er…sorry Alan, I just meant…”

Alan chuckled at Larry’s embarrassment
as he cut him off. “No problem Larry. Not the most romantic turn of phrase I’ve heard but I can forgive it under the circumstances. Am I really that obvious?”

“I’ve known you a few ye
ars now and I’ve never heard you whistle or hum before. You’re a really good guy but not what I would call a happy guy – not that anyone could blame you.”

“
I guess you’re right; I haven’t exactly been a bundle of joy. Sorry about that.”

“Hey, no complaints here man; at least you’re always nice to me and trea
t me as an equal. Most detectives seem to think I’m just some techno-geek put here to be at their beck and call. I’m pretty sure none of them would even know my name if it wasn’t for my ID tag.”

“I’m sorry to hear that
Larry. I enjoy working with you and find your knowledge and skills indispensible.” Alan soothed, easily empathizing with Larry’s situation.

“Thanks
- I appreciate it. Anyway, I’m really happy for you. So who is she? Oh sorry, I don’t mean to pry.” Larry fumbled.

“It’s OK.
She’s a psychologist I met at a restaurant in town. We just hit it off. It’s hard even for me to believe after all these years alone but there you have it.”

“Well, I think i
t’s great Al - just great!”

“
Me too. Anyway, let’s see if we can find the man in the hat, shall we?”

They both focused on the large LED display as Alan put the machine into fast-forward to save time.
They couldn’t be sure how long before the assassination the man had entered so they had to watch the footage from the beginning of the day and be patient but alert. Eventually, they spotted him. Only twenty minutes before the event, a small man in an overcoat, hat and gloves moved toward the security checkpoint. He removed some objects from his pocket to pass through the metal detector and retrieved them on the other side. Once clear of that check, an officer stood in front of him and spoke a few words then the small man opened his overcoat wide for the officer to inspect and a moment later, followed instructions to remove his hat.

“Bang!
Now we’ve got you!” Larry burst out enthusiastically.

“Let’s see how good the quality of this footage is.” Alan said as he zoomed into the man’s face.

Fortunately, the US Capitol Police had spared no expense in their security measures at the Capitol Building. The footage was shot in 1080p High Definition video through a Carl Zeiss lens. Even zooming in to four times normal, there was virtually no loss of quality and they had a very clear image of the man’s face. His skin was unnaturally pale with sharp facial features and wire framed glasses that covered small, cold, soulless eyes, seemingly as dark as coal. Despite Alan’s desperate desire to see the man’s face, the mere sight of this characterless visage gave him a cold chill and his mood dropped.

“Can you print this and also send it to my phone please Larry.”

Larry too, was a little subdued by the sight but he leaned over the control panel and clicked a couple of buttons. “It’s on its way to your phone now and I’ll have a high quality print for you in one minute.”

“Thanks Larry.
Is there any way you can run it through the FBI’s facial recognition software?”

“I’ve got a contact in their t
ech department who might be able to help.”

“Good; let’s see if anyone knows this guy.”

Alan walked out of the crime lab significantly less ebullient than he’d entered despite this small success. He wasn’t exactly sure why the man’s face had such a disquieting effect on him but his mood was diminished. Arriving at his desk, he sat and glared at the printed image, burning the face into his mind.

“Beach!
Get in here!” came the familiar shout from Lieutenant Walker.

Alan went to Walker’s office and sat down.
Walker had been looking forward to good news about Alan’s date with Holly but all he saw in his detective’s face was a vacant look of preoccupation.

“Don’t tell me you screwed it up!” he lamented.

“No, I got the picture here boss.” Alan handed the printed image to Walker.

Without even glancing at the pictur
e, Walker admonished, “Not that dopey – I’m talking about your date!”

Alan’s face lit up a little as the warm memories came spilling back into his mind.

“Oh that.” he smiled

“Yeah, that.
What’s the story? Did you break the drought?”

Alan’s humor returned.
“That’s a bit personal, isn’t it?” he teased.

“So call HR and make a complaint
- after you tell me.”

“OK, OK - d
oes Mrs. Walker know about your penchant for gossip?”

“Beach
.” his voice feigned threat.

Alan told him about Holly and how naturally they seemed to fit and Walker stopped him before he went into any
real detail. “Well, I’m just glad to hear you’re back in the game so I don’t have to see your depressing mug moping around here. Mary wants to do the dinner on Sunday night. That OK for you?”

“I’ll have to see if Holly can get the night off and I’ll let you know.”

“OK, so let’s have a look at this guy.” Walker said, holding the picture up. He examined the image, emotionlessly for a moment before speaking.

“Creepy little
feller, ain’t he. At least he won’t be hard to recognize. What are you going to do now?”

“Larry
Phillips says he has a friend in the FBI Tech Department so he’s going to see if he can run it through their facial recognition software. Other than that, there’s not much else I can do with it. I do have another line of investigation to follow though. I’m heading out to Ohio State University campus soon to follow up.”

“
I told you you’d come up with something. Let me know how it goes.”

“Will do; a
nd I’ll call Holly about Sunday.”

Alan went to his desk and called the number Holly had given him for Professor Guthrie at the university.

The phone rang a few times before the professor answered, “Guthrie.”

“Professor
Guthrie, this is Detective Beach from the Columbus Police. I’m a friend of Holly Stuart and she suggested I call you.”

“
Ah, Holly – she was a wonderful student. How is she?”

“She’s very well
thanks but I’m not calling about her. I’m hoping for your expert advice on a matter related to a homicide investigation.”

“
That sounds intriguing but Holly would have told you that my specialty is not in criminal psychiatry.”

“
I’m aware of your specialty Professor and that’s why I was hoping I could come and see you to speak in person. Do you have any time today?”

“Certainly
; I’m marking papers all day so you can come whenever you like up until six o’clock.”

“
Perhaps I could buy you lunch. Is there somewhere decent to eat there?”

“Actually, the faculty cafeteria is quite good.
We can meet there at noon if you like.”

“That sounds fine
professor. Oh – how will I know you?”

“D
on’t worry; I’m quite sure I will know you. After more than thirty years as a psychiatrist, I should have no problem picking a police detective out of a crowd of university faculty members.”

“That makes sense.
Thank you professor – I’ll see you soon.”

Alan
hung up and then dialed Holly’s number.

“Hi Alan.
Were you able to see Professor Guthrie?”

“Hi Holly
. I’m meeting him for lunch today but that’s not why I’m calling. My lieutenant’s wife has invited us to dinner at their home on Sunday night. I’m sorry but it’s kind of like a ‘meet the parents’ thing. If you’re not comfortable with it, I understand.”

“Nonsense!
I think it’s very sweet that she is so concerned about you. I’m sure I can get someone to take my shift that night. Everyone loves Sunday overtime pay.”

“Great!
I’ll let them know and I’ll pick you up at six o’clock Sunday.”

“So I have to wait until then to see you agai
n?” Holly said, feigning indignation.

Alan was slight
ly caught off guard. “No...no - not at all. I was just talking about Sunday night.”

Holly felt the mild panic
and awkwardness in Alan’s voice and said, “I’m just teasing Alan. You really should learn to stop being so serious.”

“You got me there.
What time do you finish tonight?”

“My shift ends at ten thirty.
Do you want to have a drink afterwards?”

“Sounds good to me
; I’ll pick you up at the restaurant.”

“See you then - and
give my regards to Professor Guthrie.”

“I will.
See you tonight.”

Alan made himself a coffee and sat at his desk looking at Blue Sky Biotech’s web site
. He knew it wouldn’t reveal anything about the technology on which Professor Gelling and his team were working but he wanted to find out as much as he could about the company. Tom Finch had mentioned that they had been acquired by the giant conglomerate, Devlin Industries, some time ago so he also visited their website. There was a brief corporate profile, which while very professionally written and presented, seemed to explain virtually nothing about the company or its activities and holdings. It read more like a public relations shield than a corporate profile. There was nothing to be found about Alex Devlin himself on the site so Alan began searching his name on his web browser. There seemed to be an endless number of links to various different Alex Devlins around the world so he refined his search to display only Alex Devlin associated with Devlin Industries. There were several newspaper sites with articles and gossip about the powerful billionaire but none of them provided anything of interest to Alan so he continued picking through the links at random, hoping to find something relevant.

After more than an hour of frustration, he finally found something interesting.
It was an obscure web site that seemed to insinuate, without actually pointing any fingers of accusation, that Devlin Industries was developing potentially unhealthy strangleholds on certain markets such as healthcare and food, among others. Ownership and contribution to the site was claimed by no one and its existence piqued Alan’s curiosity. He called Larry’s extension on his phone.

“Larry, do you know how to trace ownership of a web site?”

“I can try but the sources of some sites are very well hidden because the owners want to maintain anonymity for a variety of reasons.”

“
I bet whoever owns this site has good reason to do just that. Anyway, see what you can do please. I’ll email the link to you now.”

“
I’m on it Al.” Larry said enthusiastically and hung up.

Alan felt a slight pang of hunger
and looked at his watch. It was perfect timing so he pulled on his jacket and went to his car to drive to the university campus for his meeting. At the entrance to the enormous campus he was confronted with a large, confusing array of options and had no idea where to go so he asked a security guard for directions.