“The very bottom of the photo.” Daniel tilted his head, his expression softening with compassion as he looked at Caelan. “We don’t know that it is blood. That’s why we’ll go and check on him.”
With my index finger, I moved the image until I could study the bottom of the photo. The image was still enlarged and as I moved the image to the left, I jerked my hand away. What had looked like the grain on the wooden floor now appeared to be blood spatter. It wasn’t a fine mist as was often seen in cases of gunshots, but rather long streaks. Seen in cases of blunt-force trauma. I shuddered.
Colin inhaled sharply and leaned forward. “Can’t be.”
“Can’t be what, dude?” Vinnie stretched his neck to see Colin’s screen.
“Under the bed against the far wall.”
Everyone lifted their phones, fingers stretching the image. Phillip put his phone on the table. “That’s a painting.”
“A Roubaud.” Colin brought the phone closer to his face. “It’s too far and too dark to make out whether this is authentic or any other details, but this is undoubtedly Franz Roubaud’s The Battle of Elisavetpol, also known by the very long name of The defeat of the Persian troops at Elisavetpol on September 13, 1826. I would recognise the horses and soldiers anywhere.” He looked up. “It’s currently in a museum in Baku, Azerbaijan.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated and he swiped the screen. A micro-expression of disquiet pulled at the corners of his mouth. He looked at Caelan. “Do you have a photo of Jace?”
“Yes!” Caelan swiped the screen of his phone a few times then turned it for Daniel to see. “His hair is very red.”
“So it is.” Daniel’s smile wasn’t sincere. It didn’t lift his cheeks and crinkle the corners of his eyes. He looked at Phillip. “Could you please take Caelan to your office and get him to write down every small detail he knows about Jace’s life?”
Phillip’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then he nodded and got up. “Of course. The more data we have on this young man, the easier it will be for us to find him. Caelan?”
He looked at Phillip’s shoulder, then at Daniel’s, back to Phillip’s, then at mine. “Are they lying to me?”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t specialise in working with people on the spectrum. I only knew how I processed information. And how desperately I needed as much information as possible. “They are lying to you to protect you. I don’t know from what yet, but I will find out.”
“Jace is dead, isn’t he?” Caelan didn’t take his eyes off my shoulder. His breathing was erratic.
I looked at Daniel. “Is he?”
Daniel closed his eyes and nodded. “I’m so sorry, Caelan.”
“Russia and China are both bordered by fourteen countries! The Andes form the longest exposed mountain range at seven thousand kilometres!” He got up and looked at Phillip’s shoulder through the tears filling his eyes. “I’m ready to go to your office now. Greenland is the largest island in the world.”
Phillip’s eye and mouth muscles contracted in compassion as he held out his hand towards the door. “I’ll get Tim to bring you more milk and white cookies.”
They left the room and Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but paused when Caelan rushed back in. He stopped next to my chair and stared hard at my shoulder. “I trust you with my friend, Doctor Lenard. Take care of his body and his memory.”
I watched him rush out and exhaled slowly. Typical of people on the spectrum, Caelan didn’t exhibit emotion as openly as neurotypical people. Yet the overwhelming pain I’d seen on his face and heard in his voice affected me. I searched for Colin’s hand and gripped it tightly before I looked at Daniel. “What do you know?”
“When Caelan first mentioned his friend, I asked Pink to search for anything related to the young man. I’d hoped we’d find him in hospital at worst.” He shook his head. “Pink just sent me crime scene photos. The police found Jace’s body in the woods to the south of Strasbourg. Pink is organising for us to go there now. He’s also asked the team there to wait for us before they process the scene any further.”
“We need to get the old man and Franny to go with us.” Vinnie got up, his phone already pressed to his ear.
“I don’t want to go.” I closed my eyes, my hand tightening around Colin’s. “I don’t want to see Caelan’s dead friend.”
“You don’t have to go, love.” Colin lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles. “We’ll work it from here.”
I opened my eyes and turned to him. “I didn’t say I wasn’t going. Just that I don’t want to go.”
He smiled. “Gotcha.”
“The old man will meet us there.” Vinnie leaned against the door frame. “Franny is on her way to Phillip’s office. She’ll get that data from Caelan and start doing her computer magic. Dan, you wanna come with us or go with Pink?”
“I’ll meet you guys there.” Daniel got up slowly and shook his head. “The younger they are, the harder it is.”
Chapter TWO
“This is it.” Colin drove slowly towards the police vehicles and other cars parked at the entrance of the Neuhof forest. Strasbourg was the only European city with alluvial forests surrounding its outskirts. As one of Strasbourg’s three forests, Neuhof was considered a genuine natural monument and was awaiting approval for listing as a nature reserve.
Located south of the city, along the Rhine River, it covered an area of seven hundred and fifty-seven hectares. There were many paths for cycling, jogging, even horse riding. But it also had a reputation for prostitution and late-night illegal activities. I’d been here numerous times, but only during the day.
It was mostly the nature that drew people here during the day, myself included. Especially in the warmer months. This part of the season, some trees were bare while the evergreen trees provided a bit of colour. It had snowed last night, the fresh snow adding to the breathtaking beauty of the nature surrounding us, the ground now hidden beneath five centimetres of snow.
It had taken us sixteen minutes to drive here. Colin had ignored all speed limits, despite my many complaints. The eleven kilometres should’ve taken us twenty minutes had Colin kept to the road rules. I’d resorted to folding my arms around my torso in a self-hug and mentally writing Mozart’s Symphony No.36 in C.
Colin huffed as he parked his SUV next to a familiar sixteen-year-old beige sedan. “How did Millard get here so fast?”
Colonel Manfred Millard was the only member of our team who was formally trained in law enforcement. Currently, he was still employed by Interpol with the understanding that he was running our team who worked directly under the president of France. He was standing next to his car, speaking to Daniel and Pink.
“He must’ve been close.” Vinnie narrowed his eyes as he looked at Manny’s sedan. “There’s no way the old man drove faster than fifty kilometres an hour.”
I relaxed my arms and took a deep breath. The expressions on Daniel’s and Manny’s faces warned me that this was going to be difficult. I pulled on my thick fleece gloves and got out of the car. The fresh air stung my cheeks and I pulled the zipper of my winter coat as high as it would go.
Winters in Strasbourg were never severe, but the last week had brought an unusual amount of snow as well as lower than usual temperatures. I pulled my scarf higher around my neck and joined Colin at the front of the SUV. Vinnie was already standing with Daniel, Pink and Manny as we walked over to Manny’s car.
“All I’m saying is that people are weird. Weird.” Vinnie crossed his arms, his bulky winter coat stretching over his shoulders.
“Why are people weird?” I hated missing parts of a conversation.
“Doc.” Manny stared at me for two seconds, then nodded before he looked at Colin. “Frey.”
“People are weird because a group of friends come here every single day to walk their dogs.” Vinnie threw an arm out and gestured towards the forest. “It’s minus twenty, half a metre of snow and my nose is running from the cold.”
“It’s minus one.” I sighed and kicked at the snow under my black boots. “The snow here isn’t even five centimetres deep.”