“The press is easily distracted. They’ll move on to something new in a few days.”
“How’s Ms. Wilson taking all of this?”
“Not well. She’s not talking to me. She won’t believe Patrick’s guilt until it comes from his own mouth. Chef’s agreed to bring her down once he’s cleared for visitors, but I suspect that Alex will still blame me.”
“Give her time. It’s a lot to take in. She lost family, and she’ll lose more in the end.” He took a sip of his coffee. “I’m not happy that you were there, chief.”
“I’m not happy I was there either. I almost died in a fire and nearly got my head cut off.” She stalled, trying to remember the story she’d told him. Zephyr had called her to the tunnels alone in an attempt to bribe her. When Lila had refused to pay him off, he’d tried to kill her. She’d shot him in self-defense with his own gun, a gun he’d loaded with bullets without her knowledge.
She hoped Dr. Booth was too busy to do a proper autopsy.
“Did you find Zephyr?” she asked.
“Yes, Dr. Booth and I found him inside the tunnel right by the door, exactly as you said. We’ve recorded his death as a heart attack, and we haven’t included it in our official account.”
“Who was he really?”
“Nicodemus Poulin, according to the DNA results. He lived in an apartment in East New Bristol.”
Lila pulled out her palm. “Give me the address. I’ll head over and start digging into his computer—”
“We already raided his apartment two days ago, chief. We found nothing. Zilch. He wiped the memory of every computer and gadget he had before he went to see you. Even his palm.”
“That’s not possible.”
But Lila knew Shaw told the truth. It made her failure sting a little less, for she’d fallen asleep shortly after returning from the hospital, far too tired to locate the article that night.
She’d paid deeply for that rest. The quick nap she’d promised herself had turned into fourteen hours, for Isabel had been too timid to wake her. During the night, she’d had another dream of the ancient battle queen, prodding her to visit the New Bristol oracle. This time, the woman hadn’t asked nearly so pleasantly, and Lila’s skull had ached for the next twelve hours. She’d lived on coffee ever since, too wary of falling asleep lest the dream come again, too scared of the article’s release to abandon her search.
Unfortunately, she’d failed to locate it. The server and the story had disappeared while she slept. Now that she knew Reaper’s electronics had been wiped, it made more sense.
It also explained why she hadn’t seen the story in the press.
“I don’t understand. Why would he wipe everything?”
“Who knows?” Shaw replied. “I know how you’re feeling, chief. We both wanted a clearer picture of what Zephyr was up to, but it looks like there’s nothing to find. You’re free to rifle through his computers. Maybe you can figure out a way to recover his files. I’ll have my men deliver them to your office if you wish.”
“I wish.”
“Good.”
“No. Not good. I needed him alive. I needed him—”
“We’ve been through this, Chief Randolph. It’s not going to help.”
“The man had a partner, and we both know it. He didn’t go from a two-bit hacker to a man who influences a chairwoman overnight. His tech didn’t just wipe itself, either.”
“I’m not disagreeing, but Zephyr is dead. We don’t have a complete list of his contacts yet. We have nothing except the gaping hole in our security plugged.”
“This case isn’t over.”
“What do you want me to tell you, chief? Our programmers are reviewing the patch you delivered for the BIRD. Since it breaks Zephyr’s trap but doesn’t delete it, his partner might assume he hasn’t been caught. We might still have a chance to catch him. In the meantime, we’ll just have to work backward from Wilson’s bank accounts and figure out what he was up to that way. If he had a partner, we’ll find him.”
“I could help.”
“We don’t need that sort of help from you right now. My men can handle it,” he said. “We could use another kind of help, though. Chairwoman Wilson and her son will be ready for trial soon. We’re just waiting for the New Bristol High Council to convene. Since you sit on that council—”
Lila shuddered. “They’re my best friend’s family. I’m recusing myself, chief. The rest of the families will have to deal with it. I’ve hurt Alex enough.”