The Netscher Connection

by Estelle Ryan

  “I’m sure the killer knows we’re here.” Colin inhaled deeply, some of the sadness leaving his expression as he walked to the far wall to look at a painting. “He or she would be stupid not to draw that conclusion the moment they were no longer receiving video from here.”

  “True.” Francine joined Vinnie in front of the television. “Well, what do you know.”

  “That’s what I thought as well.”

  “What are you two on about?” Manny stayed where he was, waiting for Andor to finish his conversation with the other man.

  “Look what’s on the telly, old chap.” Vinnie grinned.

  “I don’t speak like that.” Manny exhaled heavily and looked at the television screen. “Holy hell.”

  On the large screen was the same castle room that Vinnie’s old man and Pink’s teenage girl had entered through the wardrobe door. Netscher’s A Woman Feeding a Parrot was against the wall. I inspected every detail and felt confident that it looked exactly the same as in the game Vinnie, Pink and Nikki had played.

  This was clearly leading our investigation into a new direction. But first I needed to find the one element that we’d discovered to connect all previous victims. It didn’t take me long. I pointed at the small black box on the low table under the television. “The booster.”

  “The same as the others.” Vinnie went down on his haunches, reached out, but stopped just before touching the logo. “The red triangle. It’s another one of Három’s customers.”

  “We’ve got to stop this.” Andor shook his head. “This is now the fifteenth victim we know of and it’s fifteen too many.”

  “What did the crime scene guy say?” Manny lifted his chin towards the door. I hadn’t noticed the man leaving.

  “He’s our medical examiner. He said that he’ll have to do a full autopsy to have accurate results, but it looks like a heart attack. He gave us ten minutes in the room. Then he’ll be back to deal with the body.”

  “I want all the devices.” Francine waved her arm around. “From the whole house.”

  “We’ll do the same as last time. Download everything you can, but my guys need to look for prints and other evidence before you can have the hardware.”

  “Fine by me.” She took her ringing phone from her large red handbag and swiped the screen. “Hey, you. Tell me I’m right. Tell me I’m the queen of all queens.” She laughed then lowered the phone and swiped the screen. “You’re on speaker now, Pink.”

  “Hi, everyone.” Pink sounded excited. “I checked Francine’s findings as she asked and she was indeed right. I’m sure she’s gloating like crazy right now.”

  “Right about what?” I didn’t like feeling as if I’d missed part of a conversation.

  “Oh, yes,” Francine whispered loudly into the phone. “I haven’t told them yet.”

  Manny took a step closer to Francine, his body language aggressive.

  She winked at him. “I was tracking all the internet traffic from the victims’ IP addresses. At least I did as much tracking as I possibly could. And it kept leading me to Arany.”

  “Seriously?” Colin crossed his arms. “The gaming company? The same company that owns Drestia?”

  “The game you bunch have been playing non-stop?” Manny rubbed his hand over his face. “Bloody hell.”

  I cleared my throat. “I hate to speculate.”

  “Please do, Doc.”

  I hesitated. “Well, I posit that the killer is connected to Drestia, possibly even the designer of this game.”

  “How do you figure that, Doc?”

  I looked at the booster. “I saw Három’s logo on the red vase in the room with the wardrobe.”

  “Bloody holy hell!”

  “That’s why I told Vinnie to lift the vase.”

  “Which unlocked the door to the other room.” Colin tilted his head back. “I wasn’t watching. What did I miss, Vin?”

  “We haven’t been in that room before. It was on the floor of the second highest level.” Vinnie turned to look at the television for a few moments. “I wonder what we’ll find in that room that will lead us to the highest level.” He looked at me. “Colin and I have only managed to get to that floor. We haven’t been able to reach the tower room so we can get the scroll.”

  “What scroll?” There was so much I didn’t know about this game.

  “The scroll that will award the winner his prize.”

  “I must say I haven’t noticed any triangles anywhere else.” Pink’s voice came from the phone in Francine’s hand. “But I haven’t looked for any. As a trained GIPN officer, I would feel really stupid if I’d missed it all along.”

  “You and me both, dude.” Vinnie looked at Colin. “Have you noticed it?”

  Colin shook his head.

  “Wanna know why you all love me so much?” Francine pouted. “Why you all adore me?”

  “Tell me, my queen.” Pink’s answer was the only polite response to Francine’s outrageous question. Manny looked like he was about to say something very rude.

  “While trying to find the killer through the IP addresses, internet activities and histories of the victims, I noticed a pattern.” She blinked a few times. “Okay, so maybe it was Olivia who pointed it out, but I knew how to pursue it. I’m not going to bore you with my genius, but I’m sure the killer has hacked most of the players of Drestia.

  “He-she is rerouting his-her internet traffic through these players’ IP addresses. In other words, he-she is using the players as proxies. He-she is hiding behind the players. Once I made that connection, I knew how to follow him-her to his-her home IP.” She threw her hands in the air. “My God, we have to find out the gender of this stupid killer.”

  “The home IP?” I didn’t care about her awkward feelings. “Is that the one originating from Arany’s address?”

  “Yup.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder. “And that’s why I’m queen.”

  “All hail.” Pink’s voice came from the phone.

  “Give me that bloody thing.” Manny grabbed the phone from Francine’s hand and spoke into it. “You’re irritating me. The others can speak to you later.”

  “Bu—” Pink’s reply was cut off. That resulted in an argument between Manny and Francine.

  “Where is this Arany?” Manny held Francine’s phone out of her reach, waiting for her answer.

  “Their headquarters are here in Budapest. It’s actually quite close to King’s house.” She wiggled her fingers. “Gimme.”

  “What time do they open?” Manny pulled her phone closer to his chest. “And who’s the owner of that place?”

  Francine placed both her fists on her hips. “If I get my phone back, I will start looking for that information. Now give me my bloody phone.”

  “I don’t speak like that.” Manny started an argument with both Francine and Vinnie for mocking his accent.

  I wasn’t paying attention. I was processing everything we’d learned. Information about Arany was of utmost importance as well as a visit to their headquarters. But there were still countless missing elements. I turned to Colin. “I need to play the game.”

  Chapter SIXTEEN

  “What the bloody hell is going on here?” Manny stood in the doorway to the living room, his corrugator supercilii muscle lowering his brow. “How are we supposed to be at the top of our game when everyone’s exhausted? I thought I told you people to go sleep.”

  “You didn’t tell me.” Pink’s amused answer drew Manny’s annoyed look to the same gaming set-up from yesterday.

  “You’re getting too mouthy, laddie.” Manny stepped deeper into the room, into the camera’s view.

  “And I thought I told you that wearing those slippers make you look like a total wuss.” Vinnie tilted his controller at the fluffy teddy bear slippers on Manny’s feet. Like everyone in the room, he was wearing his pyjamas.

  “Watch it, Mister Muscles.” Francine poked Vinnie with her foot. She was sitting next to him on the sofa, leaning against the armres
t, and had tucked her feet under his thigh. “I’ll buy you a onesie for your birthday. Then you can match”—her top lip curled as she looked past Vinnie—“that barbarism.”

  “You’re just jealous because I make cuddly look sexy.” Roxy rubbed her hands down her flannel one-piece outfit. I had no interest in fashion, but even to me her choice of sleepwear was decidedly impractical and unattractive. She was sitting on Vinnie’s other side, leaning against his shoulder.

  Manny sat down in one of the reclining chairs and looked between us and the television. “So?”

  “None of us could stay asleep.” Colin had managed to sleep fifteen minutes longer than me. He looked tired. “We decided to get some work done.”

  “By playing the game?” Manny looked at the paused screen.

  We’d stayed at the crime scene for another thirty minutes last night. I’d walked through the whole house, looking for anything that might take us a step closer to finding the identity of the killer. Colin had joined me, but we’d found nothing. By the time we’d returned to the villa, I’d known that I was not going to get much sleep. My mind had been racing with all the information we’d gathered and was trying to find the link between it all.

  I’d only slept for three hours. Then my mind had woken me up with the need for data. When Colin had woken fifteen minutes later, we’d agreed that working was better than tossing and turning in the bed. We’d come down to the living room to find Vinnie and Francine already in front of the television, chatting to Pink.

  Pink had taken the responsibility of explaining the workings of the game very seriously and had suggested they played until the third level before he went into any detail. As soon as he and Vinnie had defeated the gargantuan soldier with a range of weapons and unnatural strength, the key to the third floor of the castle had appeared and Pink had paused the game.

  “I was just about to explain Drestia to Genevieve,” Pink said.

  “And me.” Roxy waved her hand in the air. “I also want to understand this castle world.”

  Manny nodded. “Explain.”

  “Who’s that?” The open friendliness on Pink’s face was gone. It was difficult to gauge where he was looking since he was still looking into the camera. I looked around and saw Andor standing behind the sofa. Vinnie had insisted he return to the villa with us instead of going to his apartment. He’d said Andor looked like crap and needed to sleep soon and a lot. I didn’t think Andor had got much sleep. His hair was wet and neatly combed and he was wearing fresh clothes. Yet he appeared exhausted. I looked closer. No, his pallor was that of an ill person.

  “I’m Andor Garas.” He coughed and shook his head in annoyance. It took him a few seconds to calm his breathing and he walked around the sofa to sit on the other reclining chair. “I’m the detective in Budapest who got your friends involved in this case. You must be the other IT genius.”

  “Pink.” Pink’s focus changed to a different part of his monitor. “Genevieve?”

  “Yes?”

  Pink smiled like he always did when he realised he wasn’t being clear with me.

  “Garas is fine.” Manny slumped into the chair. “Now talk.”

  Pink didn’t. I hated that I couldn’t see on what or whom his eyes were focused, but I suspected it was me. I sighed. “Andor can be trusted. He’s proven himself.”

  “Okay then.” Pink winked. “Manny, you and Andor missed us playing through the first two levels of the game, so I’ll explain briefly. The purpose of this game is to get to the tower room. It is the seventh level that no one has ever reached. A few people have managed to get to the sixth level, but every time they are defeated before they get the chance to retrieve the scroll.”

  “What scroll?” Manny asked.

  “We don’t know.” Colin put his control on the armrest next to him. “At first I didn’t think much of it, but now that we know the game is strongly connected to the killer, I’m thinking that the scroll might give us valuable information.”

  “You sound very sure, Frey.” Manny narrowed his eyes. “What did you find?”

  Colin’s lips thinned. “I’m pissed off that I didn’t notice it earlier. The game is fast-moving and there isn’t a lot of time to appreciate the art in every single room.”

  “Just spit it out, Frey.”

  “Last night, I was looking at the artworks that have gone through the hands of Rubique Art over the years.” Colin’s nostrils flared when he exhaled hard. “Every single one of the paintings I’ve seen in the first two levels has been sold by Rubique Art.”

  “And we know that the grandfathers of four of our victims used to own Rubique Art.” Francine tucked her feet under her. “Tell them what else you found.”

  “Rubique Art is no longer operational.” Colin pushed his hands through his hair. “The last painting they sold was fifteen years ago. That was five years before the death of Grandpa Udvaros. He’d lived the longest of all the grandpas, he was the last to go. With him the art dealership ceased to exist.”

  “Nobody inherited it?” Roxy asked. “Isn’t that a bit odd?”

  “Most definitely, yes,” Colin said. “They never made any attempt to sell the business. I wasn’t able to find any of their last will and testaments, but from public records, I couldn’t find anything indicating that it was bequeathed to anyone. Rubique Art just ceased to exist.”

  “What about the paintings in their possession when the last grandpa died?” Andor asked.

  “There were none. They had finished trading in artworks and had cleared out their inventory as soon as Grandpa Szabo died. He was second to go.”

  “They wanted to make sure there was nothing for the authorities to look into once they were all gone.”

  “That’s my thinking too.” Colin glanced at me. “And I think we can all agree that the Rubique Art paintings showing up in the game is strong enough circumstantial proof to confirm that the game and the killer are connected.”

  Manny grunted and looked back at Pink’s face on the screen. “The game?”

  “This is technically an action game, but there are some things that set it apart.” Pink counted on his fingers. “Adventure and strategic elements. You don’t often find them in action games. Actually, I’ve never come across a game that so effectively uses all these elements together. Action games are usually very fast, a constant attack. It’s usually a war-type game where you have to shoot and run your way out of a situation, pick up some bonus points and extra weapons or ammunition along the way. But the point is to keep moving. And do it fast. The faster the game, the bigger the challenge and the more gamers like it. Winning it means that they were quick on their feet and not intimidated by the onslaught of action around them.”

  “Drestia is action, but it’s also cerebral.” Colin enjoyed the game. “You have to know history and art to work your way through each room and each level. Some rooms are not important. Those rooms are easy to spot because of the conflict in décor and art. If everything in the room doesn’t hail from the exact same era, that room was designed to waste your time and will cost you points and possibly your life.”

  “Only in the game.” I needed to clarify it. I’d been horrified when Colin had told me that the first time. “Not your real life.”

  “Kinda debatable, girlfriend.” Francine raised both eyebrows. “Maybe not the game, but a lot of people have lost their lives so far.”

  “True.” The corners of Colin’s mouth turned down. He looked at Manny. “There are booby traps in each room, false floors, false doors, etcetera. Small clues help you avoid those traps so you can look for the key.”

  “Those old keys you guys collected in each room?” Roxy asked.

  “Yes.” Pink leaned closer to the camera. This was the most animated I’d seen him in a long time. Part of it was obviously his enjoyment of the game, but I strongly suspected it was the fact that he was needed in this case that gave him the energy which was now visible in his gestures. “You can’t access the next room unless you h
ave the key. Each varies in difficulty as to where the key is hidden. Apart from the traps, there are also soldiers protecting the key. They are dressed in gear from the same era as the room. Colin can tell you more about that.”

  “It’s really quite impressive,” Colin said. “Their armour, weapons, everything corresponds exactly to that era. If not, then that room itself is a trap. So in order to find the key, you have to avoid the traps, find a weapon appropriate to the same era and defeat the soldier or soldiers. Doing it alone is doable, but it’s easier when we’re playing in teams.”

  “When we’re in a team, there are more soldiers and more traps, but we have more to work with,” Vinnie said. “When Colin teams up with us, Pink and I do the fighting and he does the searching. That’s why we’ve come so far in this game.”

  “One thing that I didn’t notice—”

  “None of us noticed it, Colin.” Pink looked decidedly displeased. “It’s frigging embarrassing.”

  “What?” Manny’s tone conveyed his impatience.

  “We didn’t notice Három’s logo.” Pink looked disgusted. “Once Genevieve pointed it out last night, I now see it every time we look for the key.”

  “And where the logo is, the key is right under it, next to it or on top of it,” Colin said. “Every time.”

  Roxy patted Vinnie’s arm. “In your defence, that logo has been so smartly interwoven in the artwork, furniture and design, I’m not surprised they didn’t see it. If Genevieve hadn’t pointed a few of those out, I would never have seen them myself.”

  Roxy was correct. The more I saw of this game, the more impressed I was with its creator. And the more convinced I was that the creator was also the killer. Why else would there be so many connections?

  “There is no end to the soldiers. They just keep coming until we find the key,” Pink said. “The moment we get the key, the remaining soldiers disappear and we’re into the next room or the next level. Some levels have only four rooms, some double that.”