by Alec Peche
As for the fingerprints, he unfortunately didn’t have all ten fingers printed for the suspects, but Mexico did collect fingerprints and he thought he could hack into their database to do a match. He had no idea how comprehensive it was or whether he might need Hermione’s help translating Spanish. It would put him in a difficult position as he shouldn’t be teaching the kid how to hack into computer systems. He’d see if he could figure it out on his own.
He debated telling Natalie about this incident, but he didn’t have a good explanation for Ariana and Hermione, but he sure could use her help as a former detective. He looked over at Hermione and she was looking out the window, with one hand on Miguel. Disappointment was written on her face. She had been having such a great time scuba diving; she was thrilled with what she saw underwater and it appealed to her swimmer’s heart.
Damian said, “Next time we’ll go scuba diving near the Great Barrier Reef. That should be far enough away to keep us safe from whoever wants to make our acquaintance.”
Hermione looked over at him and asked, “Is that far enough away from the bad people?”
“Yes. Australia is a little harder to visit if you’re a shady character. We could also fly into Papua New Guinea and rent a sailboat and sail to the reef. That would make us even harder to track.”
Hermione brightened at that idea, “That sounds like a plan and Miguel would like sailing, although we would have to watch he didn’t routinely jump overboard just to get a swim in.”
Ariana smiled at that idea, “That does sound like fun. Maybe we could do that at Christmas since I assume that it’s winter there since they’re below the equator.”
“It is winter, but this is a better time to go because it doesn’t rain a lot and the water is still warm to dive. So maybe we can think of that trip in August before Hermione goes back to school. I’ll look into sailboat rentals and a way to get there.”
“That’s awesome!” Hermione said. “It’s good to have something to look forward to.”
“Have you been sailing before?” Damian asked the ladies. Both shook their heads ‘no’.
“I haven’t either, but there’s a first time for everything,” Damian replied.
“Do you think the police will catch the men who broke into our house?” Hermione asked.
“I don’t know,” replied Damian.
When Hermione continued to look at him, he added, “I doubt it. Officer Gonzales was smart in one area, but I don’t think he has the resources at his beck and call like an American police officer does.”
“Are you going to solve the case?” she asked.
“I hope so. I’m going to consult the detective I mentioned before and explain that I was either here on business or to scuba dive and what happened. I don’t plan to mention you or Ariana. Then I’ll tell her what the Mexican State Police did and the evidence I have in my possession and see if she has any ideas that I didn’t think of.”
“Okay,” Hermione said and then she returned to brooding while looking out the plane’s windows.
The plane hit a few minutes of bad air pockets and the two women had a momentary look of panic, so Damian said, “Ladies, I had two different pilots check out this plane as well as a metal detector and I hired a bomb sniffing dog to search the plane before we boarded. This should be just routine air turbulence.”
No sooner had Damian finished the sentence, the pilot announced that air traffic control advised them if they ascended another five thousand feet, they could avoid the turbulence.
Everyone relaxed with that announcement.
Chapter Forty Three
With the return to the bay area, life returned to normal. Ariana was working with Damian to locate space and set up his company. He formally interviewed Angus and Haley informing them of his business plans and projected salary and job duties for each of them. Both accepted and were given start dates of two months hence as in the case of Angus he wanted to give his current employer plenty of notice and train his replacement and Haley along with Trevor had to find housing that would accommodate their commutes to two different bay area cities. The third person that Damian had in mind accepted as well.
Much to his surprise when he informed Hermione about the work he and Ariana were doing and her potential future as a summer intern, she wanted in on the research immediately. Damian spent a week discussing his theories for his wave technology and energy storage so that she would understand the physics principles at work. Then he cut her loose to work on the idea while he divided his attention between the new company and his ongoing investigation into the incident in Mexico.
He spoke with Officer Gonzales perhaps a week after he returned to California and gained no new information. He didn’t know if it was because the man had no information or if he was culturally not inclined to share. Meanwhile, the security company that protected the house sent him video footage of the driveway. They also maintained the security for two other houses in opposite directions from Damian’s. From that footage, he gleaned that they came from the south and returned to the south. The license plates were stolen on the vehicle and there appeared to be no other van lurking nearby that would have transported the three of them. He was stuck with the theory that the three of them would have been deposited into the trunk of the single car involved in the raid… or perhaps, he and Ariana would have been killed and only Hermione would have been deposited in the trunk.
He was able to gain the vehicle identification number on the car and learned it was registered to someone known to associate with the Los Zetas gang. Cozumel was considered a crown jewel by the Mexican government given the amount of tourist dollars generated there by visitors. They had largely kept the gangs out of the city to keep tourists safe and in fact there were no U.S. State Department warnings about visiting that Mexican city.
In the end, Damian didn’t know if theirs was a random kidnapping effort or if they were the target. He processed the fingerprints but they were random criminals according to the Mexican fingerprint database that he’d hacked into. Finally, in an effort of desperation to solve this mystery, he met with Natalie to go over the evidence.
“You mean to tell me you had a kidnapping attempt on your life a month ago in Mexico and you’re just now asking for my help? Dammit! The evidence could have dried up by now,” Natalie said. “Don’t you trust my detective skills, Damian?”
“Of course I do and always will as you quickly solved my family’s murder.”
She let go of her anger with his response and said, “Show me what you have.”
After much thought, she could think of no new avenues to explore and so the mystery remained. Was this in some way related to Hermione’s parents or were the potential kidnappers after a well-heeled American family?
At the end of their discussion once they’d exhausted every last potential avenue of investigation, Natalie approached a new topic.
“Ah Damian remember when you analyzed the cold cases for me and picked five that I should focus on first?”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh, guessing what was coming in Natalie tone of voice.
“Can you give me the other three to work on now with the reasons why they jumped to the top of your computer algorithm list?”
“Sure, Natalie, and I’ll help where I can, but my plate is really full at the moment. You know I’m setting up a new company. I also made a promise to myself to invent a better DNA analyzer than the one you have now. I won’t be able to help you as much as I did with the first two cases.”
“That’s fine, Damian; I appreciate any help you can give me. Good luck with your new company. Haley talked about it a little last weekend when they were over for dinner and she’s real excited to work for you. Trevor is both proud and excited for her. He wishes you were operating the company closer to San Jose but he gets why you picked where you did.”
He and Natalie parted ways, traveling in opposite directions to return home. He had a lot to think about on the return home. He was frustrated that w
ith all his brilliance he could not solve the mystery of Hermione’s parents nor the mystery of what went down in Mexico. He was excited to be reaching a turning point in his life. Impulsively he stopped at a florist on his way home to buy flowers. He needed to have a one-sided conversation with Jen and the girls about where his life was taking him and what the future might have in store for him. Instead of the usual red roses in a wreath, this time he was fortunate to find three leis. The scent of gardenias filled the cab of his truck.
That evening as the sun set over the Golden Gate bridge, the fog began to roll in. Usually the fog won the race and served to block the sunset, but not tonight. He sat on the edge of Red Rock Island, Bailey and Bella at his side, and tossed the three leis onto the bay. By the time he finished his conversation with his deceased wife and girls, the sun was long gone and the moon was now in a race to show itself before the fog blocked that too. He sipped some tea in a tumbler that kept it warm and petted his two companions.
What new adventures would appear in his life tomorrow?
~The End ~
