Hours later - Back at the precinct
Chloe examined the plastic evidence bag containing the bracelet found in her victim's car. "Very pretty – and very unique."
Dan nodded agreement. "I've had photos of it taken so we can run it past her professor and her father to see if they recognize it. Ella is typing the blood found in the trunk against DNA on file for Mad Dog from his last prison sentence. She thinks she can use it for a paternity test to identify if the blood belongs to Annalise."
Chloe laid the bag back down with a sigh. "How long will that take?"
"Not long – couple of days at most." Dan pulled up a chair and started shuffling through the various reports on Chloe's desk. "I don't want to approach her dad until we know for sure." He hesitated for a moment, staring at the evidence bag. "Maybe I'll get Amenadiel to go with me when I make the notification. Not procedure but Gibson seemed to like Lucifer's brother more than he did me…"
"And it's always good to have backup when dealing with this sort of individual" Chloe replied softly. "How do you think he'll react?"
Dan sighed. "Don't know. Gibson was a gang banger – suspected of a lot of heinous crimes. He LOOKS like he's no longer part of the gang life now but…"
"But having your child possibly murdered has a way of bringing out all the hidden demons in a person" Chloe agreed. "Any idea how long the car was on the lot?"
Dan shrugged. "Lot manager says someone brought it in the morning after McIntyre was shot but can't say who exactly brought it in. CCTV camera closest to the parking spot was on the fritz so no video." Dan glanced out towards Ella's office, watching her slight form dance between computer and evidence table. "Did you get anything from McIntyre's wife and brother-in-law?"
"They were conveniently unavailable when I pulled in" Chloe replied dryly. "No cars in the driveway, mail still in the box, looks like they haven't been home for days. Which makes me wonder what they have been up to in the time leading up to McIntyre's death."
"Maybe the wife is staying with her brother" Dan suggested.
"HR at Bradley's company shows Milton with the same home address as his sister and brother-in-law. The secretary I spoke to said he'd been living with them since he joined the company."
Dan frowned. "Kind of strange – don't you think?"
"Not half as strange as somethings about this case" Chloe replied. "And I'm getting a little worried about Lucifer not hanging around, asking all sorts of inappropriate questions. He said something about getting Maze to look into why Bradley's nephew left Rome – which kind of worries me. We all know subtlety is not Maze's strong suit. And then there is the matter of that guy from the chat rooms, the one with all the supposed inside knowledge of the hotel - DeathStalker24. Ella's been in touch with some of her hacker friends but so far…"
"I FOUND HIM!" Ella's voice called out gleefully from across the way. She all but danced her way back to the detective's desk, waving a sheet of paper gleefully in front of her. "I knew Andy wouldn't let me down!"
"Andy?" Chloe asked, glancing back at Dan.
"My friend in the hackerverse. He finally tracked down DeathStalker24's identity in the Real World."
She shoved the paper into Chloe's hands. "You're never going to guess who it is."
Chloe glanced down at the message then frowned. "You're right – I would never have guessed. Though maybe I should have." She handed the page over to Dan and looked back at her excited friend. "Do I want to know how your friend Andy managed to get this information since the service provider has been stalling us since day one of this investigation and no judge I have talked to was willing to issue a search warrant to compel their cooperation?"
Ella waved a hand dismissively in the air. "No – just think of it as a gift from God."
Dan whistled in surprise. "So – surprised but not surprised. Kind of explains a few things doesn't it."
Chloe rose, grabbing her jacket as she moved. "Let's see what all other things we can get our mysterious hacker to explain." She and Dan moved towards the elevators, leaving the page Ella had provided them on the desk, face up, with a familiar name highlighted in yellow gleaming up at anyone who passed. James Milton.
At Lux
Lucifer swirled his drink thoughtfully in its glass, waiting for Maze to make her appearance. She hadn't been hard to find. Her new "job" as a bounty hunter still required her to be available when bail bondsmen had targets for her to run down. And one of those men had still owed Lucifer a favor for a certain indiscretion the Lord of Hell had made disappear. Getting her to agree to run down a contact in the Church who would have information about Gabriel had been another matter. She had been, at first, unwilling to comply until Lucifer had made a deal with her – find the information and she could use Lux as a base of operation for her new profession rather than the loft she was living in.
"I hope this was worth it" Lucifer muttered, pouring himself another drink.
The elevator doors opened and a cassock clothed figure fly head first into the penthouse. "Hey, wait! I never agreed…"
Maze strolled in, slapping the figure at her feet across the face. "You agreed to something your Bishop would really, really not be happy to hear about" she purred, pulling the young man up by his collar and then dropping him unceremoniously onto the sofa. "But I'm willing to forget all about it if you tell my friend and I all about the Gabriel person you were complaining about to your buddies at the homeless shelter."
Lucifer smiled. "Trying to disguise the stench of sin with the perfume of selflessness? I love making those sorts pay endlessly for their sins. So, padre, what sins of the flesh have you committed that my friend Maze can punish you for?"
The young priest shivered at the coldness in the man's voice. He dared a quick peek up and gasped as the club owner's eyes went blood red for a moment before returning to brown. "Who are you?" he stuttered.
"They obviously aren't teaching you much in seminary these days if you can't guess who I am – after all with a name like Lucifer Morningstar…" He smiled thinly. "But it's not me we're here to talk about. Tell me about Gabriel."
The priest looked down at his feet quickly, trying to keep from being sick. "Gabriel Bradley. He was in my class in seminary school in Rome."
"Bradley?" Lucifer mused. "Thought his family name was Herrera."
"His stepfather was a promoter in Mexico City named Manuel Herrera. Gabe said he used stage name Bart Manic when he played on stage. But he wasn't the kid's biological father – mother never would say for sure who was. He was enrolled as Gabriel Bradley. Strange kid – really dark. Interested in things the Church doesn't approve of anymore – possessions, exorcisms, that sort of thing. That's what finally got him kicked out."
Lucifer leaned forward slightly. "Something go wrong with one of his pet projects?"
The priest shrugged uncomfortably. "There was a priest – Father Kinley – took a real interest in the kid. Had him reading some really weird, esoteric books about the End of Days and demon possession. The Church frowns on that now – says most people claiming possession are really just in need of mental health treatment. But Kinley was a believer. One night he and a couple of others went into Rome to perform an unsanctioned exorcism. Gabe was supposed to be with them but he came down sick. The whole things was a major cluster fuck. The woman Kinley and the others were trying to help had to be restrained, supposedly to keep her from hurting herself as they performed the ceremony. She broke free and threw herself off the roof of the apartment building they had gathered in. Police came, everyone scattered, a weapon was drawn and next thing the Church knew there were three dead priests in the streets of Rome."
"I'm surprised that didn't make the evening news" Lucifer mused, handing the whisky bottle to Maze, who proceeded to take a swig.
"Police were between a rock and a hard place. No one knew who had started screaming gun, no weapon besides the ones the Carabinieri were holding could be found, and the parents of the dead woman said they had ASKED the priests to help their daughter. It was messy but the rep from the Swiss Guard and the Roman police put their heads together and made it all go away. And a few days later Gabriel left with his mother for the U.S."
Maze laid the bottle down with a clink. "Funny coincidence that this Gabe person managed to not be with Kinley and the others when they got taken down."
Lucifer tapped one finger on his chair thoughtfully. "I don't believe in coincidences."
