18.
"Do you have this card?" Payton immediately asked, causing Schell to look at him. "Did he give you one?"
"Yes," she replied, and glanced at Horatio. "It's in my handbag, in the car."
"I'll be right back," he said to her and vanished out of the office.
Payton looked at the tech, "Bag and tag that one separately and get on that thing and see if there are any records tied to that company," he said nodding at the computer. The tech moved to obey as Payton fished for his cell phone. Schell moved away, beginning to pace and thinking hard. She was rubbing her arms slowly, looking confused.
"Carl," Payton said as the detective answered the captain's call. "Forget questioning Thorpe at home, bring him to the precinct, we're going to have a little chat with him for a while. Yeah, we got us a good solid lead here."
Horatio suddenly appeared in the doorway again, holding her handbag in one hand and a pair of latex gloves in the other. He handed the bag to her, giving her a reassuring smile and promptly snapped the gloves on. Silently, still shaken, she took her wallet out of the bag, and extracted a dog-eared business card, handing it to him.
"You're going to be fine, Schell…" he said to her quietly, "You may have just provided them with a major break in this case." He nodded at Payton as he flipped the card over and read the back. Randall Thorpe had written his name and a second contact number with a note asking her to call about a special commission. A decidedly feral smile appeared on his lips as he turned around and picked up the business phone receiver.
Still looking uncertain, she watched as he dialed the first number on the card she had given him, which he held carefully by its edges. Careful not to make any physical contact with the phone (other then his latex-gloved hands), he listened to the answering machine and shot a glance at Payton, who was watching him.
"Answering machine identifies Thorpe as the owner," he said, cutting the line before he could leave a message.
"Carl's going to bring him down to the precinct, want to watch?" he asked. Horatio, beckoning to the tech for a envelope, looked at the Captain.
"I can't be allowed in the room, Captain, you know that." Horatio said, but he wasn't hiding the predatory smile on his face. He slipped Schell's card into the envelope and handed it to the tech.
"Didn't say in the room, Lieutenant…" Payton grinned, "I said watch."
Horatio looked at Schell, "We need to go down there anyway," he said to her. She looked at him, saying nothing and nodded. Horatio could see, far back in her eyes, the beginning of a storm. Tucking his chin in, he smiled as he cast a glance at Payton.
"Might as well follow you…" Payton said as Horatio let Schell walk ahead of him out of the office. "We'll take the time to get those fingerprints taken while you're there too, Miss Demereau, and I might add that your cooperation has been extremely helpful."
"Thank you," she murmured, tucking a strand of hair away.
Payton smiled at her as a tech, coming from outside called out for him. "Hey boss? I think we got an ID for our other vic."
"I'll go check this out and meet you down at the PD." Payton said, to which Horatio nodded.
"Are you all right?" he asked Schell softly as they stepped outside. She looked at him, her eyes dark with turmoil.
"What would Randall have to do with this? What has he done to me?" She whispered, searching his face. "My god, I've been working three years on commissioned pieces for him and now this?"
"It might be an excellent idea for you to get a hold of a good lawyer. One who specializes in fraud. They can take a great deal of the worry off of you. It's part of their job, believe it or not." Horatio suggested. "Plus they can help you through this process when this case gets wrapped up and goes to trial."
She looked at him steadily a moment, then sighed, still looking troubled, she glanced around the lot, hearing the roar of the upper West Seattle freeway. "Too much to think about…" she said quietly. He smiled gently.
"I can understand that," he said and opened the car door for her.
It took a while for the Seattle Police Department to get around to fingerprinting Schell. Both of them needed required visitor badges to get anywhere in the building, then they had to wait for a technician to do the work. By that time Schell was worn out. Horatio, sticking with her throughout the process, managed to track down some coffee and some aspirin, seeing the pinched corners of her mouth and deducing that her head was killing her. He waited as the tech finished the last of Schell's Ten-card, then he asked if the tech had any towelettes. Grinning the tech even pulled a few from her lab coat.
"I keep 'em on hand just for this! But only for the folks who are nice about it," she grinned mischievously.
Horatio chuckled at her, "Best things in the world for ink removal," then he smiled companionably and looked at Schell, who (to his bemusement) was staring at her black fingertips with distaste. He smiled, tucking his chin in and tore one open for her as the tech thanked her for her cooperation.
Thanking him, she wiped her fingers clean as he murmured, "I got you these too," and he set a little packet of aspirin on the counter next to her cup.
"I'd give anything to be home right now…"
"Soon," he smiled, "After this and something to eat. Got an idea for dinner?"
"Like I could eat right now?" she asked, finishing her fingertips and dropping the towelette in the nearest trash bin.
"Part of that headache is lack of food…" he admonished softly, spotting Payton coming towards them down the hall. "There's the Captain."
Schell glanced his way as she tore open the aspirin packet and took them, gingerly sipping the coffee.
"Headache?" he asked as he approached.
"Still recovering from the other day." Horatio replied as she gratefully drank her coffee.
"Oh yes…" Payton said and looked sympathetically at her. "I see Lisa got you all squared away?"
"Yeah, thank you Captain." Schell said.
"Well, come on over to my office, we're still waiting on Carl to bring in Thorpe. I thought I'd bring you up to date on what the techs found in that strange car out back of the warehouse."
"Any information on our other body?" Horatio asked as they trailed after Payton.
"Got a name anyway. Guy left his wallet in the car, nice and convenient. Name of Joe Miller. We're running him through everything we've got at the moment. Should come up with some information on him soon." Payton said, "but we also found a handwritten shopping list."
"A shopping list?" Schell asked, clearly puzzled.
Payton smirked and raised an eyebrow at Horatio, "It was for a very high tech store that sells amongst other things, clandestine GPS devices… you know, like overstock from government surplus? And if there's one thing we've managed to figure out about Joe Miller? He was definitely not your 'higher technology' type." He left off, hanging heavy with implications.
"But someone like Randall Thorpe, is." Horatio said as Payton opened his office door.
"Uh huh, considering he was in on the ground floor when Microsoft took off, he'd know about this kind of stuff." Payton confirmed and showed Schell to a nearby couch which she sank into gratefully. Horatio took one of the chairs, stretching his long legs out then steepling his fingers together as he rested his elbows on the arms rests.
"Was it what they put on my rental?" Schell asked.
Payton glanced at her, "Yes it was, do you know anything about it?"
She shook her head, sipping coffee, her fingers wrapped around the cup for warmth. "Just what he told me." She nodded at Horatio.
"From what I saw when they let me take a look at the boat." Horatio added, clearing up Payton's questioning look.
A buzzer going off on Payton's phone interrupted their conversation. Lifting the reciever, he listened a moment, smiled and looked at Horatio.
"Carl says Thorpe's primed and ready, starting to blow steam in the interrogation room. Been sitting in there for two hours now." He set the receiver down on its cradle.
"He's here?" Schell asked.
"We sort of like them to stew a little while before we start asking our questions." Payton replied, eliciting a soft snort of amusement from Horatio.
"Among other things," Horatio commented to the captain..
"Shall we?" Payton asked, rising from his desk. He paused a little as Schell stood up. "If you like, Miss Demereau, you can stay in here and use the couch? This process can take quite a long time and it is a little unusual to allow visitors who are not law enforcement in the observation room. You're welcome to come, don't get me wrong. I just thought I'd leave the option open."
Horatio glanced at her, seeing the storm clouds still building far back in her dark eyes.
"I'd like to attend…" she said, and Payton smiled.
"All right let me explain a few things…"
As they started towards the interrogation rooms, Payton gave Schell a gentle run down on protocol when viewing what she was about to see.
It was still a little disconcerting to her as she stepped into the darkened room with an enormous viewing window and seeing her employer on the other side, pacing in frustration. Horatio was just taking it in stride, his head tipped slightly as he studied Thorpe through the window.
"He can't see you, or even hear you," Payton explained, "but you will be able to hear us…" he poked a few buttons on a wall mounted intercom. He then extracted his cell phone from his jacket and glanced at Horatio.
"I'm more then open to a few text messages if you've got any questions of your own, Lieutenant?" he smirked.
Horatio smirked back and pulled his out, flipping it open. He glanced at Schell, looking at him curiously.
"One way we can prompt for questions without interrupting the proceedings," he explained. She nodded, hugging her arms to herself and looked back at Thorpe.
The door opened, and Carl, looking like an enormous bulldog, poked his head in. "Ready when you are boss," he said. Payton grinned, slipping his cell phone away and rubbed his hands in glee.
"Showtime!" he said and headed off.
As the door clicked shut, Horatio looked at Schell. "You sure you're all right with this?" he asked gently.
"I've got to know…" she said quietly, frowning and hugging her arms to herself. "What has he done to me? Why?" She looked at him anxiously. "What the hell have I gotten myself mixed up in and how is this going to affect everything I do? I'm…" she shook her head, "I just have to know…"
He smiled gently, studying her drawn face and nodded. "I understand. But if you get tired, just remember the captain's couch. This could take a great long while."
Schell nodded and stiffened to attention as Carl and Payton, holding a file and notepad, entered the interrogation room.
It was clearly apparent, Randall Thorpe was angry for being hauled to the station, and he promptly began the age old argument about suing for harrassment, how he had already missed an important tee time at the Seattle Golf Club, how much of an inconvenience it was for him to be there, and how rude Carl Beckman was, etc ad nauseum.
Horatio stood there, his cell phone in one hand and toying with his ring fingernail. Schell noticed he was leaning forward, slightly toward the window, that he had a cold smile on his face and he looked bored.
Payton, for his part, was pleasant and diplomatic, coaxing Thorpe to sit down, apologizing for the inconvenience, that they just had some questions needing to be cleared and that if all went well, he'd be on his way in no time. He set the file and notebook on the table in front of them, while Carl, arms folded and leaning against the opposite wall, glowered at them both.
They had questions, Payton explained about how Thorpe had known about the shooting at the studio so quickly, seeing it had occurred so early in the morning, and that they just needed to clear that up and ask a few other questions as well.
Thorpe promptly began a rambling account of a party near Shilshole Marina at friends, how he had left to get some fresh clothes for his wife and himself and how he had seen the commotion at the studio as he drove by. He had a deeply vested interest in the work being produced at that studio and he needed to make sure that investment was being protected.
"Is any of that true?" Horatio asked, casting a glance at Schell, who was tucking a strand of her white hair back behind her ear. She looked at him, still clutching her arm, and nodded.
"The Mitchell's live about five miles from the Marina. I've met them once. They're partiers and definitely not my crowd. The Thorpes took me there once, trying to show me off," she said.
Horatio cast a glance at her, an eyebrow raised in query. "Show you off?"
"You can call it one of the job hazards… Sometimes the folks you work for insist on presenting you to everyone they know, sort of a 'see what I have and you don't' maneuver?" Schell tried to explain, looking cautiously at him. "I despise it personally, but it's one of the job requirements on occasion. Makes me feel kinda…" she shrugged. "cheap in a way. I'd rather just be researching and painting. You know, the thing they hired me for."
Horatio nodded, turning his attention back to the window. "Does that happen often?"
Schell shrugged, looking down a moment. "Occasionally. I do try to get out of them though. I find 'high society' social gatherings to be really boring. Not to mention disgusting."
Horatio smirked, he knew exactly what she meant.
Payton, meanwhile was talking Thorpe into writing down the contact numbers for the Mitchells, passing the notebook to him with a pen. Then he opened up the file folder in front of him, searching through some of the documents. He found a photograph and tugged it out, turning it around for Thorpe to see.
"Mr. Thorpe, is this your business card?" he asked, catching both Schell and Horatio's attention in the observation room.
Thorpe looked at the picture, frowned in suspicion then glared at Payton. "Yes it is," he stated flatly. "What the hell has this got to do with someone taking pot shots at my artist?"
Horatio heard Schell taking a deep breath and cast a glance at her, she had a look of distinct disapproval on her face as she muttered, "My artist? He makes me sound like some sort of trophy possession…"
"Someone wasn't just taking pot shots at 'your artist'…" Beckman suddenly growled from his place at the wall. "We found evidence of a snipers nest in the trees at Golden Gardens Park across the street from the studio. Whoever it was was using .22 sniper rounds and tried to plant several of them into 'your artist' and a visiting cop from Miami… who very nearly ended up with one in him, I might add."
"Sniper rounds?" Thorpe exclaimed.
"Yeah," Carl sneered, "That kinda indicates its more then some gang bangers trying to exterminate one another in drive by's…"
"But what's that got to do with my business card!" Thorpe demanded.
Payton cleared his throat, bringing Thorpe's attention back on himself. "What it's got to do is with a double shooting that took place this morning at a warehouse near Todd Shipyards. It was a place that stores artwork for transport between one exhibit or museum to the next. We located your card in the office."
"I deal with artwork a lot, I'm a collector, my business card is probably in the hands of any reputable art dealer and warehouse in Seattle! What has that got to do with a shooting?"
"That's what we'd like to clear up, Mr. Thorpe." Payton replied. "Seems there was a trailer load of stolen artwork in the warehouse, we have definitive proof that the shootings took place over that stolen work and one of the people killed was an undercover detective."
"I think I've had just about enough of this!" Thorpe snapped, rising from the table.
"Please sit down, Mr. Thorpe." Payton said in a tone that definitely meant no arguing.
Thorpe glared at him, and slowly sank back down.
"The business records for the warehouse, clearly indicate that you purchased artwork through your company. We have a bit of a problem with that as this warehouse is supposed to just be a storage facility. Would you mind telling us about that?" Payton ground on.
A tap on the door jerked Horatio's head around as Lisa, the tech who had done Schell's Ten-card, stuck her head into the room. She was holding an armload of files and looking a little excited.
"Is the Captain in there?" she asked.
Horatio nodded and glanced at Schell. "Stay here a moment," he said and gently ushered the tech back out into the hall. "What have you got?" he asked as the door clicked shut behind him. He was looking at his cell phone as his thumbs tapped out a quick message. He hit the send key.
In the interrogation room, Schell was watching as Payton reacted to his phone vibrating in his pocket. He reached for it, flipped it open and glanced at an indignant Thorpe.
"Excuse me a moment," he said, abruptly standing up.
Stepping out into the hall he looked at Horatio and Lisa. "This had better be good…"
"Wouldn't interrupt you otherwise." Lisa grinned, holding the file out for him.
"Information just started pouring in. Seems Joe Miller was a former employee of Randall Thorpe's, providing security for their home until they found out he had a nasty habit of blowing things up…" she grinned. "Guy is into assault, petty arson, and vandalism. Really liked to make things go boom. Plus we are finding out that Thorpe is up to his ears in debt to a vengeful ex-wife who is suing for more alimony. And that his business is taking a direct hit from it, and failing. But that's not the piece de la resistance…" she shot a mischievous look at Horatio.
"Mr. Thorpe has a few, very interesting, insurance policies…"
"Oh really?" Payton asked, looking thorough the top folder.
"Policies?" Horatio asked, his eyes revealing his mind racing at top speed.
Payton suddenly let out a low whistle. "I'll say he does," he looked up at Horatio with wolfish delight. "To the tune of a few million dollars! This all spells motive… are they serving the warrents on the Thorpe residence yet?" he suddenly asked Lisa.
"As we speak.," she promptly responded.
"Good, good… " he looked up at Horatio. "What we got here is enough to hold our boy for a while. Lisa, call the DA's office and get someone down here."
"Beat ya too it boss!"
"Good deal, ready to watch the fireworks?" He asked Horatio.
"Always…" Horatio grinned.