The Netscher Connection Read online

  “Hmm. That makes sense.” Francine wiggled her fingers again. “Gimme gloves then.”

  Andor chuckled. He left the room, but came back almost immediately with a box of disposable gloves. He offered it to Francine first. “If anyone else wants to touch something, grab some gloves first.”

  I wasn’t planning on touching anything and tucked my hands under my arms for good measure.

  Francine took the phone, then looked at the television. “I will need to take all the devices.”

  “Do you need the hardware or can you download what’s on it and work with that?” Andor asked.

  “I suppose I can download everything.” She thought about this. “But I still think it would be best if I have the hardware. You never know if someone managed to add something to the devices that looks like it’s part of the design.”

  Andor nodded. “I won’t have problems pushing all of this to the front of the line. I’ll get them to process all the devices as soon as possible.”

  “How did you know the television was being used to livestream?” I asked.

  “I will answer in a sec.” She looked at Andor. “I have a question for you first. Why are we here? How did you know that this might be the same killer?”

  “I put out an alert for any rich, powerful or influential people who died of seemingly natural causes. I asked to be informed the moment such a death was reported. I also asked that no one touch the scene, unless the paramedics can revive the victim. If not, then everything must be preserved until I get here.”

  “Smart man.” Francine turned to me. “When we got here, the television was still on. The first responders said that the daughter was waiting outside for them. She refused to come back into the room and said that she ran out the moment she felt how cold he was. The two officers arrived at the same time as the paramedics and the one officer said he remembered about the alert. That’s why he told everyone to leave things untouched.

  “Since there’s no computer in this room and I didn’t see his smartphone, I assumed that the livestreaming was coming from the television.” She took her tablet from her oversized red handbag. “I checked the data transfer from the IP address, then connected to the television. Whoever was streaming noticed my presence and disconnected before I could trace him.”

  “Why are you so concerned?” I stared at the deep frown pulling her brows in and down.

  “This person is good. Like scary good.” She glanced at the television with wide eyes. “Good enough that I’m wondering if we’ve crossed paths in the cybersphere.”

  “Which means you really have your work cut out for you,” Colin said. “Can you trace this person?”

  Francine shook her head. “He was using a gazillion proxies. I would need to keep him online for a while to follow that thread and most likely won’t catch him then either. But fear not.” She lifted a manicured index finger in the air. “I’m still known in cyberspace as ‘that bitch who can destroy us all’. I’ll get him.”

  “Or her.” Andor’s zygomaticus major muscle lifted the left corner of his mouth.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a bona fide equal-opportunity, open-minded young man here.” Francine winked at him. “Don’t you worry your sexy little head about this psychopath’s gender. Just give me all the devices. I’ll perform devicetopsies and will find even the smallest breadcrumb left behind.”

  “Why are you talking like that?” My top lip rose in disgust. “What is a devicetopsy and why would you waste time with breadcrumbs?”

  “Autopsy on devices, girlfriend. And don’t you tell me that isn’t a word. I’m making it a word.” She waved her hand as if spreading something on the carpet. “And breadcrumbs. You know? Clues.”

  I turned my back on her. Intellectually I understood that people made jokes when dealing with challenging situations, but the prone body of Antal Udvaros was causing me great unease. My eyes narrowed as I looked at the colourful painting against the wall. I stepped closer to confirm my suspicions. “Is this an original Jackson Pollock?”

  “I doubt it.” Colin joined me and stepped closer to inspect the large rectangular painting. His body jerked and he leaned even closer to the artwork. For almost a minute he inspected the painting from numerous angles and distances.

  Andor and Manny were discussing the medical examiner’s preliminary opinion. Andor assured Manny that a full autopsy would be done and instructed the crime scene investigators to test the tumbler on the small table next to the sofa, all the bottles of alcohol found in the room as well as any food and dishes in the kitchen.

  I was only partly paying attention to the discussion about the dead man. The tension in Colin’s body concerned me.

  “What are you seeing, Frey?” Manny walked around the sofa and joined us. “Please tell me you see more than just paint splatters.”

  Colin glared over his shoulder before leaning closer to the signature in the corner. He straightened, his eyes wide. “This painting is worth around fifteen million dollars.”

  “Holy hell.” Manny took a step back. “For splatters?”

  “For an original Jackson Pollock.” Colin turned from the painting to face Manny, his smile mocking. “I know you know who Pollock is and how much his work is worth. We talked about it four months ago when Francine bought the spring coat that I said looked like a Pollock painting.”

  “Ooh, my favouritest coat.” The smile pulling at Francine’s lips always indicated she was either teasing or stirring up trouble. She blinked innocently at Manny. “You still told me how sexy I looked in that coat and then agreed to buy me a Pollock painting. And Prada shoes. And Jimmy Choo shoes.”

  “I agreed to no such thing.” Manny looked hard at the painting, then at Colin. “You’re sure this is real splatter?”

  Colin’s sigh was tired. “You are such an uncultured philistine.”

  “So? Is it?”

  Colin turned back to the painting. “This is an authentic Jackson Pollock. I will stake my reputation on it.”

  “Then we’ll take all the artwork with us.” Manny looked at Andor. “Your Captain Palya wanted us to work from his office, so he’s going to have to deal with the art being there as well.”

  Andor laughed. “He’s going to be so pissed off.”

  “You look happy about it.” I didn’t understand.

  “Let’s just say he’s not a big art fan.” Andor looked at Colin. “Forgive my ignorance, but is it possible that this painting was also looted by Nazis?”

  “It’s highly unlikely.” Colin stared at the painting for a few seconds, then shook his head. “No, this is from his drip period. He created his most famous paintings during this period and it was from 1947. After the Second World War ended.”

  While Colin talked more about the many mental health issues Jackson Pollock battled as well as his alcoholism, I looked around the room again. I avoided the sofa and the body on it, trying to register as many small details as possible.

  I liked that the room was not cluttered with numerous ornaments. There was no evidence of a struggle or a search. The magazines on the coffee table didn’t look disturbed, the furniture didn’t appear to have been moved. A light caught my eye and I walked closer to a wooden cabinet that held a display of high-end liqueurs, whiskeys and brandies.

  “That’s a signal booster.” Francine joined me and looked at the small black device with two antennae raised on its side.

  “For wifi?” I asked.

  She leaned closer, then straightened. “Hmm-mm. This is one of the best brands when it comes to boosting wifi signals so you have good reception throughout a house.”

  “It would make sense to have a booster in a house this size,” Andor said. “I have one in my two-bedroom flat and can only imagine how weak the signal would be if it had to travel through these walls or floors.”

  “How strong is the security on these boosters?”

  “The same as any other device.” Francine shrugged. “All these devices come with a preset passwor
d. If you don’t change the password and don’t update the software, your chance of being hacked becomes much bigger.” She nodded at the television. “Even that can be easily hacked if the owners don’t have proper password protection.”

  Andor looked closer at the wifi booster, then nodded. “This is a very high-end brand. Most Hungarians can’t afford the device and the membership fee.”

  “There’s a membership fee?” Francine frowned. “That’s strange. Usually you just plug one of these babies in and voila! You have a stronger wifi signal.”

  “Well, yes.” Andor looked at the booster. “It does that. But if you want all the extras, it will set you back around sixty euros per month.”

  “For what?” Francine’s tone rose a pitch in outrage.

  “For the monthly software updates, the increased security, the proactive customer service. These guys will contact you before you even know there’s something wrong with your internet.” He pointed at the device. “Buying this gives you top-notch internet security and virus detection.”

  “Huh.” Francine took a step back. “That means that this device gives the company access to your computer, your data, your browsing history, the works.”

  I knew Francine would inspect the booster for any malware as well, so I didn’t mention it. I glanced around the room one more time and took a step closer to the door. The oppression of the scene was getting too much for me. Already I’d spent too much time in the same room as the dead person.

  Without another word, I left the room. I walked through the downstairs bedroom and bathroom, but avoided the kitchen when I heard soft crying. I wasn’t yet ready to deal with the emotional turmoil of the woman who’d found her father’s body.

  On the first floor were three large bedrooms, all with ensuite bathrooms. The top floor was one large room that was roughly divided into two parts. A fully equipped home gym took up one half of the room, a wooden bar and pool table the other half. There were no bottles in the bar, just a thin layer of dust on the glass shelves. The pool cues and table looked well-used though.

  I made a note of the art on the walls, but there was nothing else of interest. At least, nothing that I thought was pertinent at the moment. When I reached the ground floor, Colin and the others were standing outside, talking. I was grateful to leave the house.

  “Oh, goodie, you’re here!” Francine shook her index finger at Manny. “Tell this man why I’m not going to the police station.”

  I took a step back. A few times Francine had tried to involve me in an argument she’d had with Manny. Each time I’d refused to be drawn in. This was no different. “No.”

  “You’re the worst bestest bestie ever.” She turned back to Manny. “It’s a police station, handsome. Why on earth would I want to be using my skills in a place where there are people who would just love to lock me up and throw away the key?”

  “I’m tempted to lock you up.” Manny’s lips thinned when Francine’s eyes widened.

  Immediately, she fluttered her eyelids and attempted to look flustered. She was not successful. “Don’t talk sexy like that to me in public. Those things are for the bedroom.”

  Manny turned his back on her and looked at Vinnie. “You also going to give me hell?”

  “What’s going on?” I quietly asked Colin.

  Colin chuckled. “Andor has been speaking with Captain Palya, who insists that we go the station as soon as possible. He’s also insisting that everyone works from his office.”

  “It’s not an office in the traditional sense.” In my mind an office needed a desk and that room only had a conference table.

  “Hmm.” Colin nodded towards Vinnie and Francine arguing with Manny. “They’re being difficult about working from the police station.”

  It took less than five seconds to determine that neither Vinnie nor Francine showed genuine signs of anxiety. This annoyed me. I took a step closer. “Why are you wasting time? If this is your attempt to make a point that you don’t want to be associated with law enforcement, it’s inane. You’ve been working with GIPN, Interpol, Europol and the French police for the last five years. We have a lot of research to do, a lot of data to gather so that we can stop the person who is killing these people.”

  It was silent in the garden. Even the officers who were guarding the gate had stopped talking. Francine and Vinnie looked chagrined and Manny’s eyebrows were raised. He smirked. “You heard Doc. Let’s get to the station so we can get to work.”

  Chapter ELEVEN

  “What are you complaining about? Chantelle is a perfectly fine name.” Vinnie’s nostrils flared as he looked away from Francine and shook his ID badge at Andor. “I’m Rick. Rick! Do I looked like a Rick to you?”

  “Take that up with Captain Palya.” Andor didn’t even try to hide his amusement. “He’s the one who issued your security clearance and ID badges.”

  “But Rick!” The utter disgust on Vinnie’s face made everyone laugh. Except me. I didn’t understand Vinnie’s objection to the alias Captain Palya had given him. “Tell them I’m not a Rick, Jen-girl.”

  I didn’t respond. This was a pointless discussion.

  “Oh, keep your panties on.” Francine put the lanyard over her head and lifted her hair so it settled against her neck. “No good hacker was ever called Chantelle.”

  “Which makes it a perfect cover.” Colin shook his head, took my hand and walked towards Captain Palya’s office. It had only taken seven minutes for both Vinnie and Francine to be issued their temporary badges and pass through security to enter the non-public area of the police station.

  “Says Henry Vaughan.” Francine shook her index finger at the ID badge hanging around Colin’s neck. “You always have cool names.”

  “Henry Vaughan was a poet, author, translator and physician. He had a twin who was a philosopher and alchemist.” An uncommon sadness entered Colin’s expression. He shook his head and forced his lips into a smile. “Henry was the one with the cool name. I’m just borrowing it.”

  “At least you’re not Rick.” Vinnie’s huff turned into a growling sound when Andor chuckled. “Laugh it up, dude. I’ll find a way to get back at you.”

  Andor raised both hands. “Hey, I didn’t issue the badges. I’m not to blame.”

  Their arguing continued all the way to Captain Palya’s conference room-office. Manny had given Vinnie only one glare and then marched ahead of us. He opened the door and jerked before he entered the room. “What the hell happened here?”

  “She did.” Captain Palya’s booming voice greeted me as I walked into the office. He was shaking his index finger at Olivia.

  The conference room was nothing like the space we had left yesterday. The dividing walls had been removed to create a space that could easily house fifty people. The conference table had not been moved and Captain Palya’s computer and papers were still taking up the far end of the table.

  It was the rest of the conference room that delighted me. I felt absolutely no anxiety when Francine, Colin and Andor also entered the room. Vinnie followed them in, then leaned against the wall next to the door, looking around the room—no doubt analysing the security. There was a lot of open space and the natural light coming from the large windows was an added bonus.

  “I didn’t really do that much. I only created work stations.” Olivia was standing on the other side of the room next to an extremely large electronic whiteboard. Two months ago, Francine had spent an hour explaining all its many uses when she’d tried to get Manny to buy one for our team room. He’d told her he would think about it.

  The sound Francine made when she saw the whiteboard could only be described as a squeal. “Ooh. I want one. I’ve been wanting one since forever. But certain people wouldn’t give it to me. Ooh! Now I can work on it.”

  “It’s great.” Olivia turned it on. An orange triangle moved clockwise on a dark blue background for three seconds before the screen changed and revealed numerous newspaper article clippings neatly arranged in three rows. �
�We got one of these for each of our conference rooms last year. It takes a bit of learning to know and use all its functions, but it’s really magical when I need to brainstorm. I’ve requisitioned one a few times for my office when a large sheet of paper was not big or good enough for the different elements of a case.”

  “These stupid things should come with a pilot’s licence.” Captain Palya sat down in his chair and shuffled a few papers around. “So far I’m the only one outside of the IT department who knows how to work it. Three other officers tried and failed miserably when they went through the training.”

  “It’s not that hard.” Olivia tapped on the board. It appeared to react in a similar manner as the touch screen of a computer. “It took me about ten minutes to put my findings on the system and to organise them so it’s easy to sort through.”

  “What findings?” Even though the technology interested me, any new data would be much more important.

  “Francine and I were searching the internet for articles on Grandpa Szabo and Grandpa Koltai when you guys phoned.” She turned to the board. “So when Francine left to join you at the crime scene, I continued searching as many databases as I could, looking for anything and everything that mentioned people by those names. I found quite a few articles. Unfortunately, none of it gives us actionable information, but I reckon that there might be some little clue in there that might send us in the right direction.”

  I was impressed. Olivia’s logical thinking would be an asset to our investigation. I walked closer to the board and looked at the top left article. “When was this published?”

  “That’s what’s really cool.” Olivia’s voice rose a pitch in excitement. “I found this online library that had scanned and uploaded all the newspapers as far back as 1900. I don’t need to go to the archives now. Unfortunately, the articles are all in Hungarian, so it doesn’t really help me, but—”

  “We’ll translate.” Andor walked past me, closer to the board.