CHAPTER 5
"How could that happen?" Frank asked, still looking stunned.
"We still don't know. The blood test result shows a tiny amount of an unidentified poison. The forensics has never seen it before. It would be easier to make a trial antidote if we can pinpoint which type of class the poison is," Mr. Hardy said. "It looks like Sidney had digested the poison without knowing it."
"So, what are you going to do now?"
"We're trying to find out what Sidney had done or the places that he had gone before his death," he replied.
"What about Chief Peterson? Is he all right now?" Frank asked quietly.
He heard his father took a deep breath. "It's been really hard for him," Mr. Hardy said slowly. "And finding out that his son was murdered is more than he could take at the moment. I've already told him to take some time off, but he wants to join the investigation, too."
Frank could understand why Chief Peterson wanted to be in the investigation, but he knew it would take a lot of strength not to get too personal on the case. He couldn't imagine what he would do if something happened to one of his family, especially someone like his brother. He shook the disturbing thoughts away.
"I hope the chief doesn't take matters into his own hands," Frank said seriously.
"Don't worry, I'm keeping a close eye on him," his father assured. "Now, how's the case with Mr. Unterhauser?" he asked, changing the subject.
"We seem to have a few potential suspects," Frank replied and began telling him the development of the case. Then he told his father what they were planning to do. "Does any of the names ring any bell?" he asked when he had finished explaining. "We're hoping to see if one of them has criminal records."
"Hmm, the name Jim Owen sounds familiar," Mr. Hardy told them. "I think I've done an investigation on him years ago, and he was sent to prison for a few years."
Frank and Joe glanced at each other knowingly. Bingo!
"Anyway, I think you can check in my database to clarify this," Mr. Hardy went on. "It's possible Jim has recognized you two and sent you the warning letter. That means you have to be careful from now on," he reminded them.
"We know, dad," Frank replied. They talked for a moment before hanging up the phone.
"I can't believe about Sidney's death," Joe commented seriously. The usual bright look on his face changed to somber. He could almost feel for Chief Peterson. After all, Joe had lost someone he really loved to a hideous act of the Assassin, a terrorist group they had encountered every once in a while.
Even without saying anything, Frank could tell Joe was thinking of Iola Morton. "Come on, Joe," he said, patting Joe's shoulder, "Let's tackle this case as quickly as we can so that we can go home and find out more about Sidney's death," he suggested, trying to shift the conversation from turning gloomy.
"I guess you're right," Joe replied grudgingly.
"Of course I'm right. I wouldn't be the smart one if I'm not," Frank quipped, reaching out for his laptop that he had placed under the bed. After getting the warning letter last night, he had decided to hide some of their important things in the room.
Joe rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "And I suppose I have to be smart enough to know that, huh? Don't get insulted if I don't know what you're talking about," he cracked.
Frank ignored his brother's wisecrack as he hooked the phone line to the laptop. He connected to the net, and went to the database site that his father always used. He was relieved when his father didn't change his password, yet. Mr. Hardy would change his password every couple of months for security reasons.
"So, who are we going to check first?" Joe asked as he looked on over Frank's shoulders.
"Jim," Frank replied simply as he typed in the name into the search box.
A few minutes later, a few names came up. "Looks like we have four Jim Owens here," Joe told him. "We have to check who is who."
"Here he is," Frank exclaimed a minute later, when he found the person he was looking for.
"Okay, he was sent to prison for five years for embezzling the Harrison National Banks accounts, and assault, but released early for good behavior," Joe read. "And dad was the one who investigated for the bank."
Frank pulled out Jim's résumé from a drawer and made some crosschecking. "Yup, it corresponds with the missing two years from his résumé," he said with a nod.
"So, now we know where he was during that time. Who's next?" Joe asked.
Frank quickly entered the name Jane Rosso. They were surprised that she also had a police record. "Okay, she was in jail for a few months for auto theft in New York, and Dad had investigated her case, too," Frank reported and checked the papers on his hand. Sure enough, the unaccounted one year in her résumé was the same one as the time she had been in jail.
Joe let out his breath. "Now, we have two people with police records," he commented.
They checked Neil, and Shane's name, but nothing came up. But when they entered the name Matteo, the screen was filled with full details for a guy named, Zachary Matteo.
"Whoa, this guy got to be the most popular man in the police records. I wonder if he got an award for that," Joe commented as he read the details on the screen.
"But the only problem is – he is dead now," Frank told him. "Someone's got to represent him to take the award," he added with a slight grin. Joe groaned at his brother's sense of humor.
"Look at all this – bribery, extortion, embezzlement...blah, blah, blah – you name it, he got it. He'd been prosecuted and been on trial before, but the verdict found he wasn't guilty," Joe said with a shake of his head. "I'm beginning to sympathize to those people who had been victimized by him."
"And Dad was also one of the witnesses in the trial," Frank reported when he saw the name of the witnesses who had been on the trial. He clicked another article on Matteo, which had caught his eyes. "And get this, the Matteo family was well-known for their rivalry with the Bianco family."
"Bianco? Aren't they the same one that Dad had investigated before he retired?" Joe asked, racking his brain to remember the details his father had told him about the case. He remembered how proud his father was to solve the biggest case before he quit the force.
"That's the one," Frank said. "After Kurt Bianco was sent to prison, all of Bianco's operations were shutdown."
"Man, do you realize what this means?" Joe asked, flopping down on the bed.
"What?"
"Almost every suspect here is directly or indirectly connected to Dad," Joe pointed out.
"That means, we really have to watch our backs from now on," Frank said grimly.
***
After the brothers had their lunch, Frank decided to head to the library in Inzell to do some research, while Joe went back to Verin Island. They had agreed to divide their tasks. Joe would question the suspects, while Frank do the research.
Joe decided to have a talk to Shane again. He hadn't seen the man since this morning. He walked along the hallway toward Shane's office. He smiled at Jane who was sitting at her desk when he entered the personnel area.
"Hi," Joe said to her.
"Hi," she replied, looking slightly nervous. "Can I help you?" she asked him as she stopped typing on the keyboard.
"Is Shane in? I'd like to speak to him," Joe told her. He wondered if Jane was always this nervous. Was she nervous that he might found out about her criminal record? If she was, then she could have known that he was working undercover.
Jane shook her head. "Sorry, he's not here. He went to New York for an appointment. I'm not sure when he'll be back though," she replied.
Joe sighed. "Thanks, anyway." He was about to walk away before turning back to Jane. "Is Neil here, too?" he asked.
"No, he went with Mr. Unterhauser," she told him.
Joe raised his eyebrows in surprise. "They have known each other before they came here, haven't they?"
"You mean Mr. Sterling and Mr. Unterhauser?" Jane asked. When Joe nodded, she replied, "Yes, Mr. Sterling has been working for Mr. Unterhauser for years, especially in security."
"What do you think of Neil Sterling?" Joe asked her. "He looks like he never smile ever since he came to Earth," he remarked with a grin.
Jane couldn't help smiling. "He's a serious worker, I suppose. I don't think he'll win a personality contest, though," she said.
"I'll be surprised if he does," Joe agreed, with a laugh.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know a lot about him, or anyone else in this area," Jane told him, pulling out a few pieces of blank white paper from the desk drawer and placed it into the printer tray.
Joe beamed when his eyes caught something in the drawer. "Hey, I didn't know you listen to heavy metals," he commented as he pulled out a few CDs. "Metallica, Megadeth, Manowar…," he recognized the CDs immediately without looking at them. "Now, these are the classics. You sure have great taste in music, unlike my brother." Joe made a face, and inwardly shuddered at the thought of his brother's music collection.
Jane looked embarrassed as she took the CDs from him and placed them back into the drawer. "I know I don't look like someone who listens to heavy metals, but I happened to like them," she told him, a bit defensively.
Joe raised his hands, "Hey, I wasn't implying anything. I just thought it was cool to know someone who happens to have the same taste of music like I do," he told her. "Sorry, if I offended you or anything," he apologized.
"Don't worry about it," she assured him and continued typing on the keyboard.
"So, what do you think of Tara Matteo? She doesn't seem she likes Shane much," he asked, changing the subject.
"You're right about that. She's pretty upset about the island," Jane agreed. "She was planning to get the island before Mr. Unterhauser bought it."
"Yeah. It's such a small island. I don't see why it's such a big deal," Joe remarked casually.
"I don't either," Jane shrugged. "Some people you can't understand their motives. I've heard about the Matteo family. You never know, she might have some hidden agendas under her sleeves."
"For this piece of island?"
Jane shrugged. "It's just my opinion. Like I said, I don't know most of these people around here," she replied.
"Hmm, I think I'll go check on Jim. I'm interested to know what he's working on at the construction site," Joe said, suddenly remembering that he was undercover. He started walking back to the hallway. There was a brief panic look on Jane's face before it went away. "Is something wrong?" he asked her, puzzled by her sudden changed of manner.
"N-Nothing," she replied hastily, turning back to her computer, as if nothing was wrong.
Joe studied her carefully before shaking his head and walked away. When he finally found the emergency door that led to the stairway and the back exit of the building, he suddenly heard a noise around the corner of the hallway. It sounded like as if it came from Shane's office, since it was the only room around the corner. Didn't Jane tell him that Shane was having an appointment? Maybe Shane came back using the emergency door, and Jane has no way of knowing that he's back, he reasoned silently.
Instead of heading to the emergency exit, he continued walking and turned around the corner. At the same time, he saw someone came out of Shane's office. It was not Shane.
"Jim, is Shane in there?" Joe asked the man.
Jim looked startled. He slammed the door close behind him, and without warning, he ran straight toward Joe, nearly knocking him to the ground.
"Hey!" Joe exclaimed, trying to regain his balance. He was about to run after the man when a sudden thud on the back of his head sent him into blackness.