Chapter 19

Captain Benson, Sergeant Tutuola, and Detectives Bruno and Klass walked into the building department, a team of patrol officers from the local precinct behind them. There was a TARU team with them as well. The sound of their shoes on the marble floors echoed through the halls. The old building housed thousands of paper and computer files on all the buildings inside the city, even the ones for the building they walked through, and Detective Klass wondered if there was a word for that situation. She didn't have time to think about it as the Captain went through the first office door not marked "records".

"NYPD Search Warrant! Step away from the computers!" She announced. A bunch of heads popped up but no one moved.

"NYPD! Step away from the computers!" Fin shouted. That got people moving and their boss, Jim Kilgore, out of his office.

"What in the Sam Hill is going on out here?" The man demanded, seeing his employees crowding around one of the worktables, their cubicles now empty.

"We have a warrant to search the building records that Louis Howey had access to. He is on the run and it's possible that someone in this office is helping him," Olivia handed him the piece of paper. There was a confused look on his face as the Captain ordered TARU to find Howey's desk and get to work securing all the computer terminals.

"He's killed people?" Kilgore was still in disbelief.

"We have him on camera at the scene where a body was found. Witnesses who will identify him visiting the scene multiple times. We have him at the site of another crime scene where another body was found. There is little doubt about what he's done. Now show us what we need or I will be forced to do something we both regret," Benson gave him a look.

"Where are you looking? If there is one thing this city has is buildings," Kilgore pointed out. Detective Klass moved closer to the man and pulled up a map on her phone.

"Inside the square. He could be holding a girl or he could have hidden her body," she showed him the map with the locations marked on it. Kilgore swallowed hard. He studied the map. Then he turned to his employees and the NYPD in the room.

"If anyone is helping Louis, I suggest you tell the officers. His computer is the one with the palm tree stuck on top of the monitor. Do what you have to do with it. If he's done what you suggest, he was probably smart enough to not use his machine for it," Kilgore said. Olivia turned her gaze to the employees.

"Did Louis ever ask to use your machines?" She wanted to know.

"I caught him at my machine a couple of weeks ago. He said he was waiting for IT to come look at his and I wasn't at my desk so he logged on," a man with thick lensed glasses.

"Which machine is yours?" TARU Tech James McNeese asked him.

"That one next to his," the man admitted. McNeese took the man over there and asked for his login and his password.

"Anything you can help us with now?" Bruno gave Kilgore a look.

"What kind of building do you think he'd be targeting?" The boss wanted to know.

"Abandoned buildings or lots seem to be his preferred location," Klass explained.

"We don't keep track of buildings that way. As long as the taxes are paid, we don't ask if they're occupied. We could eliminate all buildings with active construction permits. So perhaps we start with buildings that have lapsed construction permits and any who are currently in arrears for taxes," Kilgore said.

"Start there," Captain Benson told him.

"I'll use my terminal while you search his and Jerry's," Kilgore headed back into his office with Detective Klass on his tail.

"This could still take a while," Detective Bruno pulled the Captain and the Sergeant aside.

"Interrogate the coworkers. We need to see if Louis got dumb enough to say something to one of them or if one seems overly fidgety," she told him.

"On it," Bruno said.

To Be Continued…