Page 47 of Girl, Empty
Ella turned to her partner.‘Come on, Mia.This is for Cyber Division.Our unsub’s a cyber terrorist.We’re not equipped to deal with it.’
‘So that’s it?You want to throw in the towel?’
She didn’t, but she wasn’t above admitting her limitations, as much as it pained her.‘He’s hacked phones, bypassed high-tech security, broke into a damn bank vault.I don’t know about you, but I don’t know what a Trojan or a zero-day exploit is, either.’
‘A Trojan?It was when the Greeks gave the Trojans a wooden horse, but the Greeks hid inside it.’
‘That story always bothered me.Why would the Trojans accept a gift from their enemy?’
‘I don’t know, and it’s probably a myth anyway, but our guy isn’t a myth.We’re dealing with a real person here.This isn’t some computer virus that’s somehow grown legs.Our unsub is flesh and blood, and he isn’t hiding in some wooden horse.He’s present at every scene.And if he’s there, that means we can catch him.’
‘But we rely on technology for everything.This guy can manipulate it to levels that even a security expert couldn’t believe.Where does that leave us?’
‘Hey, if you wanna go home, go home.Edis will understand, especially with everything else going on.But I’m staying, because the day we admit defeat over a few lines of code is the day I don’t wanna be around anymore.’
Ella thought back to yesterday.She’d promised the director she’d get this done.It was to be her final parting gift to him.How could she break the news that she didn’t want any part of this case?‘I keep saying it, but something’s gotten into you.’
‘And I could say the same about you,’ Ripley snapped.‘Dark, our last killer was pulling out eyeballs and decapitating people, and you’re scared of some basement dweller?What happened to you?’
‘I just don’t understand it and that… infuriates me.’
‘You don’t need to understand it.I don’t know how my remote control works but I still know how to use it.’
Ella huffed.‘Funny.You didn’t used to.’
‘I told you.Things are different now.So I advise us to stop worrying about the technology side of things and start seeing this guy for what he is.’
‘What’s that?’
‘You know exactly the kind of person our killer is.Dungeons & Dragons.Still lives with his mom.Never-seen-a-tit, video-game playing virgin who lives behind a computer screen.We caught the most famous killer in America, now you’re going to let some guy who probably looks like Milhouse spook you?’
A grin tugged at Ella’s lips.She’d seen a few impressive illusions in the past few days, but none of it could touch Ripley’s personal brand of magic.She could take a faceless, homicidal shape and drag him down to the gutter where he belonged.‘Milhouse?’she laughed.
Ripley wrapped her arms around herself.The wind was blowing the strands out of her bun.‘Yeah.From the Simpsons.By the way, we’ve got two leads to chase, so stop being a gimp.’
‘Two?’
‘That Sinclair guy that Lorraine told us about, and Riggs found something weird on the victim’s phone.Before Grayson headed out to that vault, he drafted an email to someone named Reid, but he never sent it.’
The game begun to feel winnable again.‘Reid?Anyone by that name in Grayson’s address book?’
‘Not from what Riggs could see, but we’ll keep digging.Oh, and we’re still waiting on the CCTV from the bank.It should be here any minute.’
It was enough.Two new names and potentially some footage of their killer in action.All it took was a little bit of luck to turn a case around, and they had three avenues to explore.
Stop looking at the hacking side of this.Focus on the behavioral side.
‘Alright, Mia.I like this new you.’
‘Me too.Now let’s get back to work.’
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
In her office, Ella had watched the CCTV footage from First National Bank six times and learned nothing except that their killer definitely used one of those sensory jammer things David Lorraine had told her about.
It showed Thomas Grayson walking to his death.Then black screen after black screen until there were no bodies on screen.There were no cameras in the bank vault, so the only sign of life came at 08:36 when Mark Miller and another bank worker stumbled into shot.
‘Same pattern,’ Ripley said.‘Lobby camera blacks out, then the security door, then the elevator, then the area outside the vault.’
