Sleepless Nights

by Pierre C. Arseneault

  “Ok, thanks. Keep us posted,” said Dupres.

  As the holographic screen faded away Arvin chuckled. “You’re so old-fashioned. Keep us posted he says,”

  “Bite me,” replies Dupres.

  Arvin burst into laughter.

  9

  “Thanks for agreeing to see us on such short notice, Mr Arseneault,” said Dupres, standing in the door of the modest Hollywood home.

  “No problem, Detectives. Come on in,” said Pierre. He gestured for them to come in, scratching his bald head as he walked past the detectives. “I don’t understand why you haven’t arrested anyone yet. The chip data must have made it pretty easy.”

  “It’s not that simple this time,” said Dupres.

  “Really? Do tell, how so? You do know that writing a modern day murder mystery became a thing of the past when those things became law. I mean someone gets killed, right. The cops check the data and minutes later you arrest the killer. A writer can’t do anything with that now can he? Not to mention, no more serial killers to write about.”

  “I supposed not but that isn’t really a bad thing,” said Arvin as they followed the writer into his office. Pictures of the writer’s career highlights adorned the walls. One wall was covered with pictures of him posing with various small time celebrities and politicians at various events. Arvin pointed out one picture that stood out of Pierre with Charlie Sheen to Dupres who barely acknowledged seeing it.

  Seeing this, Pierre spoke as he sat behind his desk. “And just for the record I only ever attended one of his parties and someone slipped something in my drink. I woke up naked in the neighbour’s guest house with a twenty year old large breasted porn star and I was labelled as a party animal ever since. I suppose the pictures of me having sex earlier that night with Lulu, the midget porn queen didn’t help any either.”

  Arvin tried to stifle a smile. “The video of you singing Sinatra in your underwear was worse.”

  Dupres walked over to a shelf that spanned the entire back wall and began looking at the collection of old-fashioned DVD’s and books in astonishment. “You have quite the collection here. Pretty impressive. No Blu-Ray?”

  “A few, but I prefer DVD’s.”

  “I’ve been collecting Blu-Ray myself,” says Dupres as he scanned the titles on the shelves.

  “Well I don’t see the point when you can just watch it anytime on iMovies. For a few credits the file is simply made available to you. Anyway, we know you pre-ordered a hundred copies of King Kong from Fairbanks when the bidding first started and so killing him would be foolish. That’s not why we’re here. We’re curious and want to know about the relationship between Fairbanks and Connors. You knew them both didn’t you?”

  Arvin sat down in a chair facing Mr Arseneault.

  Pierre shifted in his chair and smiled as he spoke. “Most people think they hated each other and were bitter rivals. That’s a popular misconception on the part of the public mostly because of the media. And I supposed they might have done that to themselves too. Nothing fuels sales like a little healthy competition between rivals.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Dupres as he pulled a DVD off the shelf and began looking it over in amazement.

  “Well let’s just say there was a time when Fairbanks and Connors were more than just friends.”

  “Please explain,” asked Arvin as he leaned forward, sitting on the edge of his seat.

  “You see, Fairbanks and Connors were lovers. And while they were lovers they concocted this plan to monopolize the movie industry. Since both of them were the most in demand producers they held a lot of power and they both knew it. So no matter who met the pre-order price first they would split the profits. But since Fairbanks always made more money he knew his wife would never let him split it evenly. She threatened to expose their plan to the media and that would have ruined them both.” Arseneault shifted in his chair and added “But then the agents found out about the plan and greed really set in and that’s when everything went to shit.”

  Arvin sat back in his chair and reflected on what he had just heard before speaking.

  “Well I don’t think that rules Connors out as a suspect, as a matter of fact I think it makes him even more of one. What do you think Dupres?”

  “Huh, what? He’s got Doc Hollywood, the Back to the Future trilogy and every Planet of the Apes movie ever made.”

  Arvin glanced back and turned to Mr Arseneault and shook his head in disapproval.

  Dupres picked a DVD off the shelf and flashed it to the other men and said “He’s got The Green Mile”

  “You’ll have to forgive my partner. He’s a movie buff,” said Arvin.

  Dupres put the DVD back on the shelf. “Oh and I do agree by the way. He is still a suspect even if they were lovers and potential business partners. But we should have the data from Cooper Tec this afternoon and so we should be able to eliminate most of the suspects.” Pulling yet another DVD off the shelf he smiled and added “Didn’t think I was listening did you, kid”

  “Well we thank you for your time, Mr Arseneault,” said Arvin.

  “My pleasure,” replied Arseneault as he walked over to show Dupres a few treasured gems in his collection.

  10

  As the detectives walked back to their car Dupres stopped in his tracks and pulled out his iCom, which was already glowing blue. Putting it to his ear he said “Dupres here, what’s up?”

  Arvin stood watching and listening to a one sided conversation consisting mostly of Dupres saying “yup”, “aha” and “ok”. “Who was that?” asked Arvin as he watched his partner put his iCom back into his pocket.

  Dupres spoke with a scowl of an expression on his face. “Derek White. He wants us to come to Cooper Tec to show us some of the data they found so far.”

  “You don’t like him much do you?”

  “Don’t like him. I don’t trust him. I bet this all leads back to him and his friends. What was Cooper thinking putting a kid like that on the inside?”

  11

  One hour later, Arvin and Dupres found themselves in Cooper Tec, riding down to the lab again with Cooper at their side in his private elevator. The red electronic numbers counting down as the three men descended to their destination.

  “I hope you got something for us this time. The captain is getting impatient,” said Arvin.

  Dupres glanced at Arvin and spoke looking at Cooper. “Don’t mind my partner. He’s never been a detective without the chip technology and so has never done any real detective work before.” He slouched a bit and added in a muttered grumble. “Although I’m not really sure this even counts as real detective work anyway.”

  Cooper looked up at the numbers changing on the digital holographic pad above the door as he spoke “Don’t you worry guys. I wish we didn’t have to go through this and I could just hand over the chip data as usual. This might cripple Cooper Tec if it gets out.”

  Cooper impatiently pushed through the doors as they opened. Alli met him as he walked in and demanded. “Are you sure Mr Cooper?” as she glanced at the pair of detectives.

  “No. But it’s not like we have a choice in the matter.”

  “Fine then,” she said impatiently as she led them to a computer terminal. Derek sat at the sensor keyboard before a holographic screen full of data files. Baxter, sitting at a second terminal next to him, was sipping on a banana flavoured soft drink while examining technical data. It appeared to the detectives that he was looking at chip design specifications on the holographic screen before him. Before saying a word, Derek swivelled his chair and glanced at Cooper who nodded in approval even though everyone could see he was not a happy man.

  “When we started digging into the Fairbanks murder we found overlapping signals and that his chip had been cloned. At first this looked to be an isolated incident but when we did some more digging
we uncovered that this was not the case at all.”

  Cooper’s shoulders seamed to sink a little. “It’s been going on for years,” he said as he stood, not taking his eyes off the screen.

  Dupres stood quietly looking on as Arvin asked. “What does this mean exactly?”

  Alli spoke in an annoyed tone “It means someone has been cloning chips and forging data for a long time now. Most of the files that come up as being tampered with are all celebrities and a few politicians too.”

  Derek randomly clicked on files and read out the names “Douglas Fairbanks, Rebecca Fairbanks, William P. Connors, Charlie Sheen are just the tip of the iceberg.”

  “Looks like half of Hollywood is on this list,” said Baxter.

  “More than half is on this list… the important ones are anyway, actors, writers, producers and directors,” replied Derek. “With your permission, Mr Cooper I would like to bring in a few friends who might be able to figure out how this cloning thing was done.”

  “Hackers for lack of a better term,” said Dupres while looking at Derek.

  Cooper gave Derek a light pat on the back. “Maybe, but I’m sure they might know things we don’t. Angles we might not think of. Do it!”

  Baxter got up and gestured Cooper to the side as if to ask without asking if he could have a word. Something Cooper recognized and followed Baxter into a quiet area where they could speak without being heard. Baxter shifted his gaze back towards the people they had just walked away from as he looked Cooper in the eye and spoke calmly. “I don’t trust Derek, never did. And I don’t like the idea of bringing in more of his kind either. Did you forget the damage he did to Cooper Tec’s reputation already?”

  “No I didn’t. But right now I think we need to see what his friends have to say before this goes public.”

  “Well I don’t like it one bit.”

  “You don’t have to Baxter, it isn’t your neck on the line now is it?” asked Cooper as he walked away from Baxter. “Derek, call your friends and meet them in security. I’ll get them set up with guest passes and access to work stations.” Cooper walked towards his private elevator, the doors sensing his approach and opening for him.

  Baxter spoke as he walked past everyone. “I’m going to lunch now and should be back when your friends get here.”

  Dupres nudged Arvin’s arm as he spoke. “Baxter, hold that elevator.”

  Arvin turned to Derek. “Keep us posted,” to which Dupres chuckled as he got on the elevator with Baxter.

  Derek now alone with Alli placed his hand on her arm and asked her a question. “Alli, can I trust you?”

  Alli smiled at Derek as she replied. “Sure!”

  “My friends did try and figure out how to clone the tracker chips but I lied when I said they could figure this out.”

  Not knowing what to think at Derek’s comments she inquired. “Really? Why would you lie about that to Cooper? That’s not going to help you get ahead in this place.”

  Derek took her hand in his. “I need you to trust me. I’m playing a hunch and there is no time to explain.”

  12

  Both men were now alone in the underground parking garage. Arvin approached his car and spoke “Doors,” watching them open slowly as he stopped to look behind him.

  At that same moment, Dupres had stopped and reached into his pocket and pulled out his iCom, which was glowing blue. He put the phone to his ear and spoke impatiently, as if the person had bothered him during something important.

  “Dupres here!”

  Arvin stood next to the car watching Dupres go through his usual array of “yup”, “aha” and “will do”. Arvin saw him look at the phone with a stunned expression as the blue glow faded away.

  “That was strange. It was like my phone died on me.” Dupres put the phone back in his pocket and started walking towards the elevator. “Derek says he wants to talk to us in private.”

  “Did he say what about?” inquired Arvin as he followed Dupres, glancing behind him at the closing doors of his vehicle.

  Dupres reached out and pressed the elevator button. “He said he found something and would rather show us in person. Probably wants to confess.”

  Arvin, with his hands now planted deep in his pants pockets said, “I wouldn’t be so sure; I think you’re misjudging this kid.”

  “Tell that to the people who got their bank accounts cleaned out by your innocent little kid,” said Dupres.

  “Maybe you’re right but I’m not convinced yet. I mean this all goes way to far back. Way before he was ever an employee of Cooper Tec.”

  “Good point,” replied Dupres.

  “Just keep an open mind,” said Arvin as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open.

  “Perfect timing,” said Dupres grinning as he saw Baxter standing alone in the elevator.

  Before anyone could say anything else Baxter pointed a handgun in a bandaged right hand at the men before him. Dupres noticed right away that the bandages of the hand holding the gun were quite bloody. He also noticed the handgun’s sensor was armed and the light underneath the barrel was green meaning it could be fired at will. Not only was the gun legal but somehow a computer technician’s chip was allowing him to use it.

  Arvin reached for his own gun, pulled it out of its hip holster and pointed it at Baxter in a quick motion like the old gunslingers in the western movies. He squeezed at the trigger twice to no avail and only then did he notice the light on the back of the police issue Glock was red instead of the green it should be. Baxter smiled at Arvin for a brief second before he shot him in the chest. The impact of the gunshot made the young detective stagger backwards a step, now off balance he fell flat on his back. Dupres took a step forward but not before Baxter would squeeze the trigger again. He felt a searing pain in his chest near his left shoulder. The blood quickly formed around the bullet hole on his beige suit jacket as he reached Baxter, now inside the elevator, making a desperate grab for Baxter’s gun hand with both of his. He clasped his hands quickly over Baxter’s and the gun went off while aimed at the ceiling. The wound in his shoulder left him with no real strength in his left arm, Dupres did almost all the squeezing with his right hand causing bolts of pain to shoot through Baxter’s right arm. The struggle was short lived as the gun went off again, this time the bullet penetrated the meat of Dupres right thigh making him collapse to one knee in the doorway, stopping the doors from closing at that same moment. Still in the kneeling position, Dupres pulled his gun from his hip holster while Baxter stepped over him making his way out of the elevator. He ran past a prone Arvin and disappeared amidst the cars not far away.

  “Fuck!” said Dupres as he looked at the red light on his Glock.

  “Oh my God!” he heard Amanda screech as he saw Cooper’s assistant quickly run over. She had emerged from the second elevator just at that moment to the sight of the two bleeding detectives. She pulled her iCom from her pocket. “Mr Cooper, I need you to come down to the parking garage right away. First level and hurry.”

  “Baxter killed Arvin,” said Dupres as he pulled himself out of the doorway of the elevator letting the doors shut.

  A coughing sound and then a weakened voice spoke. “Who said I was dead. Although I will be if the paramedics don’t get here soon.” This was followed by more coughing. “Hey, Dupres, you’re a movie buff. I bet you’re disappointed that there was no high speed chase scene.”

  Dupres laughed at the thought. “High speed chase, the cars navigation systems would have just shut down as soon as we tried to do a few crazy moves.” He leaned back as the blood stain grew on his shirt underneath his suit jacket. The elevator doors opened and rustling sounds of people could be heard as the paramedics arrived.

  “Fuck, over here… me first,” said Arvin as he lay in a small pool of blood. “I think the bullet went right through me,” as he lifted his head off the concrete tr
ying to look at the wound showing it to the paramedics as he began to cough.

  “I’m next,” said Dupres as a paramedic came to assess his condition.

  The elevator doors opened again and they heard a voice. “What’s going on here?” said Doc Brown as he emerged quickly followed by Cooper, Derek and Alli. Brown put his kit down next to Dupres. “911 said your chip signals both went out and so we assumed you were dead. Both of you… and Amanda’s signal is the one that was set off.”

  “How’s Arvin?” asked Dupres looking behind him to where he was now being hoisted up on a stretcher.

  “I’m pretty sure the bullet missed his lung somehow,” said a paramedic as they wheeled him onto the elevator. The paramedic standing next to Dupres spoke. “I think yours is worse actually, we gotta get you to the hospital.”

  Doc Brown slapped Dupres on the back and chuckled as the detective winced in pain. “I’ve never been so happy to not be needed before.”

  Arvin spoke as he was being pushed into the back of the ambulance “Derek, you need to go track Baxter and see where he’s going.”

  Dupres was being made to lie on a stretcher.

  Alli spoke “Run? Where to? He’s got three tracker chips. Actually make that two tracker chips now so how far could he get?” she said half asking. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small silver orb and looked at it. Dupres could see it was still bloody and so he guessed this was just recently removed and this explained the bloody bandaged hand.

  Cooper stepped in behind Derek and Alli placing a hand on each one’s shoulder. “I need you guys to see if you can trace whatever cloned chip he is using to have access to get away. He had to have one to be able to drive a car.”

  Alli smiled at Derek. “My money says he cloned Dupres’ chip. Your gun isn’t registering your chip is it?” she asked. “And that would also explain why we thought you were dead and how he stole your car.”

  “And why my phone died on me,” added Dupres.