She listened, then punched off. “Sherlock was right on the money. The ME found traces of a tranquilizer called fentanyl in the Russian’s blood; it’s an anesthetic that acts immediately. Answers that question. Tell me, do you know if Inspector York carried personal protection?”
Nicholas thought for a moment. “Yes. A SIG Sauer P226. But she didn’t bring it with her to New York.”
Mike said, “Did she mention buying a .22? A Taurus PT-22, to be exact?”
“Not to me, no. Why?”
“We found a .22 in her apartment under the Russian’s body. The gun was bought off the street, illegally, a week ago. We think the killer put it under the body to cover his tracks, make it look like Elaine and Kochen killed one another.”
“This was a well-orchestrated crime scene, then.”
“Yes. We know the .22 was Elaine’s because she’d written herself a receipt, stashed it in her wallet. The ballistics match the bullet the ME took out of Elaine’s chest. The prints on the weapon are smudged, so the killer was wearing gloves. Her fingerprints are on the bullets.
“As for her cell phone, the only recent calls were back and forth between the staff at the Met and several calls to her mother in England. We have a warrant in for the full records, cell and home, but her complete cell records will take a few days because she was using an international phone. Lots of red tape.”
“The gun purchase receipt could have been planted, then, and her signature forged.”
“I suppose so,” but he knew she didn’t believe it. He really didn’t, either. But what did that prove?
He asked, “What about her laptop? Have you started the examination yet? Elaine was a compulsive journaler. Surely there’s some indication of what was happening in them.”
“There wasn’t a laptop, and we assumed the killer took it. Either he was covering all the bases, or there was something on it he wanted.”
Nicholas tapped his fingertips on the dash, tap, tap, tap, then said, “In addition to journaling, she kept most of her work in an online cloud because she disliked carrying a laptop everywhere. She’d devised a system where she could access her files on the fly from any computer, tablet, or smartphone. Once upon a time she shared her password to the account with me. With any luck, she hasn’t changed it. If she has, I have a few tricks up my sleeve that won’t leave a trace. I should be able to break into her account remotely.”
“You’re a hacker?”
“One of my many skills,” he said without expression, and Mike shot him a look that almost made him laugh. She wasn’t happy about that, but then again, he didn’t expect her to be. Working with the American FBI was going to be an experience, for both sides.
“Good to know, but I have some of the best computer minds in the Bureau on my staff. I want one of them to try to access Inspector York’s files. We wouldn’t want the case against her murderer to be thrown out on a technicality.” Even though her tone was pleasant, he heard the warning loud and clear.
Touché. He said easily, “Certainly. Of course. I understand completely,” and thought jurisdiction and justice be damned, this was Elaine. No way was he going to sit back and wait for some FBI hack to do the job for him.
14
The New York skyline peeked above the concrete barriers, cold and forbidding. Traffic was backing up, and Mike took out her flasher and put it on the dash. “Sorry for the noise, but we need to get uptown, fast.” The slower cars moved to the side of the road, and she gunned it.
He said, “If my uncle sent you to pick me up, can I assume you’re in the loop on the other small issue?”