Corus and the Case of the Chaos

by Mark Hazard

  “What the good inspector is saying,” Fletcher pointed a thumb at Corus between bites, “is that he wants our help.”

  “That’s right. In…” Corus looked at his watch, “thirty-five minutes, Pacific Trust will close its doors for the evening. I have a man who will be inside those doors when they lock.”

  Adam looked both ways before speaking. “And what? We snoop around? This seems a little…”

  “It’s highly illegal, if that’s what you are asking,” Corus said. “If caught, my having asked you to do it may soften your prosecutions, but not fully.”

  Corus’ forthrightness froze the table, even the irascible Fletcher. Corus waited for one of them to speak.

  “Why would we risk our jobs and our reputations to help you?” Adam asked.

  “Let’s be frank,” Corus said. “That is precisely what you’ll be risking. The why is ultimately up to you.” Corus took another bite and hummed theatrically, more than the bland burrito deserved.

  “The medical examiner had very little for me in the way of useful clues. She explained to me, in detail, the way the bullets had traveled through their bodies. Chu and I both saw the blood streak left by Carrie Griffin as she attempted to crawl to her sons who she undoubtedly saw gunned down.”

  He took another bite. “The boys,” he said through a mouthful, “the one was in bed, maybe asleep, maybe watching the TV from across the room. Either way, fifteen years old. Was going to start on his high school’s varsity basketball team as a sophomore in his next game. He was shot three times. The person that did this made sure to blow his brains out. They had to get real up close to the kid they had just killed. They stepped right over that boys body, and that killer put one more into him, just ‘cause. He did the same with the mom and dad.”

  Adam had gone white. Fletcher’s mouth hung agape. He closed it around the straw of his soda and sipped with wide, astonished eyes.

  “Appeared the older boy had gotten up, either to run for his mother, his brother or the attacker. Brave kid anyway. Maybe he was just startled though. Maybe he just stood up instinctively and froze, pissing his pants watching his family get murdered. He did piss his pants. He shit them too, but that could have happened after his brains were shot around the room.”

  Corus took one last bite.

  “None of these details taught me much about the case, but the medical examiner had one piece of nothing for me.” Corus plucked a small shred of green lettuce from his burrito and held it aloft. “A piece of lettuce. It dawned on me yesterday that there are a few restaurants on highway 50 that the Griffins might have passed on their way up to Skokim Pass. Few had drive-thrus, which Miles Griffin would have undoubtedly preferred, and even fewer would have lettuce in their meals, particularly of the shredded variety.”

  He dropped his burrito and began unwrapping the remaining food that had gone untouched. “It occurred to me that every single entrée at Taco Express has shredded lettuce in it. That was the only gut contents the medical examiner could identify after six hours. Their surveillance footage doesn’t go back further than ninety days. So, I looked through the catalogue of evidence and found that a straw wrapper in their vehicle had been logged. Chu took that straw wrapper to Taco Express’ dry goods distributor who confirmed that Taco Express was the only restaurant it could have come from on that stretch of highway.”

  Adam opened up his own burrito to gaze at the contents.

  “This won’t be your last meal. Then again, I’m sure those kids didn’t think so either. Who knows? Maybe Miles was a bad guy, doing bad things. Maybe he brought it all down on his family. Maybe he was just a good banker, like any of you, and ran afoul of the wrong people through no fault of his own. We can’t change any of the preambles, but by helping me tonight, you can change this story’s ending. You might help catch a monster that is still on the loose and avenge the Griffins, avenge the crime of making Taco Express anyone’s last meal.”

  At that moment, Deputy Abe Rosen approached the desk of one Philippa Wong in the auditing department of Pacific Trust. He wore a badge hung by a lanyard around his neck. It read:

  Henry Decker

  Technician

  Puget Informatics and Network Solutions

  He adjusted his fake glasses and said, “Hi there. I’m Henry With PINS. I’m sorry we haven’t finished reworking the LAN portals. We’re rewiring them with a 7.4. The other tech said we hadn’t gotten to auditing yet.”

  “Oh,” Philippa said, “I didn’t notice you guys were here.”

  Rosen laughed. “Well, you gotta watch out for us computer nerds. We’re very sneaky.”

  She laughed and swatted the air. Then she pointed to his lanyard, “Hey is that Naruto?” she asked.

  “Sure is. You a fan?”

  “I’ve only read every single one. I got one signed by Kishimoto himself at Emerald City Comic Con this year.”

  “Oh my gosh! Me too! I wrote him a letter in 2007 asking him to come to ECCC.” Rosen was fairly impressed with his impression of Lt. Chu.

  “Well, we all owe you a debt of thanks!”

  “So, I know it’s late and all, but are you slammed with work to finish before five? Or could I get into your unit?”

  Philippa’s eyebrows shot up.

  “I…I…I mean could I get into…could I use your terminal, your computer.”

  Philipa toyed with a lock of her hair as she briefly checked over her work. “Yeah, sure. It’s no problem. I can finish tomorrow.” She packed up her things and went to reach for the computer mouse.

  “You can leave it logged in,” Henry said. “It’s easier to calibrate the M4 unit that way.”

  “Oh, ok. No problem.” She stepped past him, then halted. She picked up a business card from the holder on her desk, scribbled something on the back of it and handed it to him.

  “Sometimes my unit at home acts up. Call me. I could use some help with it.”

  She walked out.

  Rosens’s mouth formed a pursed oval, and his eyes went wide.

  “Whaaaaaaat?” he wheezed. Rosen decided that he was definitely going to like detective work.

  He sat down at the computer and made sure he was still logged in. He was, so he looked around the other office spaces, seeing only the secretary who occupied a workspace by the door. Rosen had waved at her as he entered, but she’d been too engrossed with her phone conversation to notice. He slowly ducked down below the desk and curled up underneath it. He pulled the rolling, black chair toward him and listened to the receptionist’s conversation.

  “Oh don’t worry. They’re all out of the office now on audits…yeah…oh I know…oh then you know haha…most of the time…so how is that place? Do they do a good job on your bangs?” This went on for some time. Rosen was careful to reach up and jiggle the mouse every few minutes to keep the computer from logging him out for inactivity. The receptionist eventually finished her call, a drawer opened and closed, and the lights went out.

  SEVENTEEN

  The lights in Pacific Trust’s Bellevue headquarters went out starting in the personal banking lobby at 5pm sharp and followed periodically in other parts of the banking offices. But for the hard-working salaried employees, it was not always possible to go home just when the proverbial whistle blew. So it wasn’t until 5:41 that Rosen finally gave a knock from inside the rear loading bay door.

  Someone knocked back twice from the outside.

  Rosen eased the locking mechanism open and rolled the door up ever so gently. A soft clink sounded every few inches the door raised.

  Rosen helped his cousin and Fletcher up.

  “Where’s Corus?” Rosen asked.

  “He’s outside,” Adam said. “We know what to do.”

  They all four crossed the loading bay and huddled behind the open door of a janitorial closet.

  “I got us into a computer, but we have to get back fast before it logs out,” Rosen said.

  “Is there security?” Adam asked.

  “Not that
I’ve seen yet. There is no real money back here. It’s just an office. But I’d expect something.”

  “Well, should we sneak around or just walk in like we own the place?” Fletcher asked. “We’re all dressed professionally.”

  “We have forty yards to cover to get back to the auditing offices,” Rosen said. “Why don’t we split up, just in case? Adam, you walk normal like you belong here.” Then to Fletcher, “We’ll go this way, sneaky-like.”

  Adam stood and walked calmly out into the cubicles. Rosen and Fletcher darted right and stayed crouched. They stopped at the corner where the path between the cubicles led to the restrooms. Rosen peered around the edge of a cubicle, down the corridor to his left back toward auditing and Philippa Wong’s computer. Fletcher tapped him on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of a security guard seated in a cubicle to their right.

  Bright images from the computer screen lit his face. A zipper opened. Rosen and Fletcher exchanged horrified glances. Rosen backed into the corridor, keeping a cringing eye on the security guard’s back. By the time they made it to the auditing division, Adam was already there. Rosen peered through the window, looked across the central office space and through Philippa Wong’s office window. Adam sat at the terminal, face illuminated in blue light. Rosen looked both ways and then stood. He waved his cell phone’s lit screen to get his attention, then motioned upward.

  Corus said there were only two ways up to the second floor, the grand staircase leading from the lobby and the stairs behind the restrooms. The lobby was off limits. It probably had more security, and it was locked from the outside. That left the stairs in the back, which meant passing the masturbating security guard again.

  Rosen looked to Fletcher who shrugged and tapped at his expensive watch. Time was of the essence. They crept back to the intersection of the pathways between rows. Rosen felt a little upset that he had gone to the trouble of devising a ruse, and the guard had simply wandered around until he found a logged in station.

  They managed to get by him again and made it to the stairs. The second floor held a much nicer array of furniture and working spaces. There were few cubicles and more private office spaces. All of the lights were off. He turned to Fletcher.

  “Where to?” he whispered.

  “The GM. He’ll have access to everything.”

  They found Badcocke’s office and ducked inside. Rosen left the door open a crack and stood watch while Fletcher got on the computer.

  “It’s logged out,” Fletcher said. “I’m no computer wizard.”

  “Then put the thingy on and let’s get out of here.”

  Fletcher took what appeared to be a large thumb drive out of his breast pocket. He removed the networking cable and fitted the device into the networking port, then plugged the networking cable into its female end. He flipped a tiny switch on the device and a small orange light came on underneath it. It blinked for about fifteen seconds before turning a static green.

  Rosen and Fletcher came back down the stairs. The security guard wasn’t in his cubicle of pleasure any longer, and the light was on in the auditing division. They raced forward to find the security guard confronting Adam.

  “If you belong here, why you working with the lights off then?” The security guard asked.

  “I didn’t want to waste energy,” Adam said.

  “I searched the place before I locked it up. How’d you get in?”

  “I was here,” Adam said. “Finishing up work?” Not even Adam sounded convinced by his lie.

  “I’m gonna need to see your badge.”

  Adam rubbed one hand over the other.

  The security guard reached for his cell phone. “I’m gonna have to call this in.”

  Adam was preparing to make a run, when Fletcher stepped around the corner and said, “Time!”

  The guard turned around, clearly startled. “What the—”

  “It only took you seven minutes. Mr. Decker, did you get that?” Fletcher asked. “The target was in the building a full seven minutes before he found him.”

  “What?” The guard asked. “I…I…what’s going on?”

  “Mr…” Fletcher looked for his nametag. “Mr. Washington, tonight was your field readiness test, and I’m afraid you didn’t do too well.” He gestured to Rosen. “Mr. Decker, where does this put Mr. Washington?”

  “Seven minutes? That’s a score of 37.”

  Fletcher winced.

  “Is that bad?” the guard asked, worry beginning to show on his face. “37 is bad?”

  “Well, it sure isn’t up to our standards here at—” Fletcher looked for a badge on the man’s jacket. “—at Security Solutions.”

  “I didn’t know there was going to be a field test.”

  “A field readiness test, Mr. Washington. Why should we give you any more notice than folks who may have done you harm would?”

  The guard clenched a fist to his chin. “Am I gonna get fired?”

  “Well, that all depends, Mr. Washington.” Fletcher took him away from the others and said in confidential tones. “Now what is your first name? Never mind. I’m gonna call you Spanky. Do we even need to talk about why, Spanky?”

  The guard looked ready to weep.

  “Now, now, don’t look so worried. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t crank a few out in the office earlier today. It’s boring as hell up in here. Am I right?”

  “Yeah. Yes sir. You’re right.”

  “So, Spanky, I’m gonna let that one go. But you gotta promise me that you will be extra alert from now on.”

  “Yes sir. I need this job.” Washington was nodding quickly. “I want to do it to the best of my ability.”

  “Now that’s good. First thing is, I need you to never speak of this to anyone. The reason? I can’t have any of the new guards knowing these field readiness tests even exist.”

  “Yes sir. I won’t breathe a word of it.”

  “Now lastly, I’m going to need your phone number. I’ll contact you to come and see the improvements you’ve made in your work. Sound fair?”

  “Yes sir. That’s fair. That’s more than fair.”

  “Good, Spanky. Just one last thing. What kind of porn were you watching back there?”

  “Uh, sir?”

  “Big butts? Big boobs? White, Asian?”

  “It was a bit of everything sir.”

  “A man after my own heart.” Fletcher gave the security guard a slap on the shoulder. “A man after my own heart.”

  EIGHTEEN

  Five minutes had passed since Corus received the Wi-Fi signal from the collar Fletcher installed on Badcocke’s computer. Rosen had had the foresight to title it, “Satellite Diner Guest” so that anyone who saw it in the bank would think it was coming from the eatery next door. Corus sat waiting impatiently in the squad SUV Rosen had parked in the rear of the restaurant’s parking lot. When the loading bay doors finally opened, he breathed easier, but tensed when a Maglite shone through the gap. As his group of miscreants crawled down off the dock, he grew confused.

  “What the hell is happening?” Corus asked himself aloud.

  Fletcher was the last out, but he didn’t bother closing the door. A security guard stood in the bay doorway, holding the Maglite. His confusion only deepened when Fletcher turned and gave a military salute to the guard standing above him on the loading dock. The guard came stock straight and returned the salute before closing the loading bay door.

  The group jogged over to the restaurant. Corus shook his head, not able to suppress a chuckle. “Fucking Fletcher…”

  Everybody piled into the SUV.

  “Did you get anything?” Corus asked.

  “Badcocke’s computer was logged out, so we couldn’t get in,” Rosen said.

  “You got the collar on, though. Good. Anything else?”

  “Abe got me into an auditor’s computer,” Adam said. “I was able to access all the branch audits. Downloaded as many as I could, working backward, before the security guard caug
ht me.”

  Corus inclined his head. “I take it that’s when Fletcher intervened?”

  “Where did you find this guy?” Rosen asked, jerking a thumb back over the seat at Fletcher.

  “Long story. Who likes pie?”

  “Can’t stick around,” Fletcher said. “I got tickets to Miley Cyrus.”

  “Shut up, Fletcher.”

  At the Satellite, laptops unfolded and pie was indeed ordered. Only three patrons occupied the diner. Corus’ crew had a corner all to themselves, seated at two tables on the same faded, red vinyl bench that ran all along this side of the diner. Adam and Fletcher went over the branch audits one by one, while Rosen worked his way into Badcocke’s system. Rosen was no computer whiz, but they decided he knew more than Corus. He couldn’t exactly go asking 3rd Precinct IT to come and help illegally hack a bank’s network. Rosen would have to do.

  Fletcher raised his head. “So, why didn’t you go in with us, Inspector? Scared?”

  “I needed to stay outside to create a distraction in case you guys fouled up. You think I wanted to let you loose in there?”

  Fletcher rolled his eyes and sipped soda through a straw.

  Corus pulled Rosen aside. They stood out of earshot, watching their helpers. “So what do you think, Deputy? What should we be looking for?”

  Rosen thought for a long moment, his arms crossed and his chin resting on a fist. “Well, if they can get in, it would be good to read Badcocke’s emails and such. Better would be a bank record that looks suspicious. I don’t know what suspicious would look like, though.”

  “Another rule of detectivizing, then.” Corus jerked his head toward the bankers. “You don’t have to know everything if you have friends who do.” He raised his voice to Fletcher. “Hey, scumbag, what are we looking for here?”

  “Well, my good sir, we are looking for any instances where the branch audits did not go incredibly well.” Corus made a circular motion with a hand and Fletcher continued. “We’re looking for any branches that weren’t keeping their money straight.”