James Locker: Detectives in A Trap

Chapter 14 At the Murder Scene

James Locker arrived at the crime scene at 4.30AM. He was late, as he should be at a crime scene within an hour after receiving the call. But he had felt very nauseous when taking his shower, so he had decided to stick his fingers in his throat and throw up. After throwing up, he had felt a bit better, but James had still decided to drive slowly to avoid an accident despite the roads being empty in the middle of the night.

The entire team was there, and Adam Smith greeted James.

Adam Smith:

- Good morning James you are late, and you don't look very well, did you get stuck with your thing in a glory hole on Oxford Street?

James Locker

- Still working hard to keep your "values" rating at a minimum I hear. To be honest, it's the alcohol withdrawal that's killing me.

Adam Smith

- That's a shame; you should have joined Thomas and me for the gym last night, an excellent way to sweat out some of the bad stuff.

James Locker

- I guess so, you never called me last night. Where is John Dean? He was the one who got me here.

Adam Smith

- John is in the master bedroom, where the murder took place, you should meet him there.

James Locker entered the mansion. Although he was no Ace on the property market, he estimated that a house like this would be sold for at least $5 million and probably a lot more. "Oh, even the rich people kill each other" James muttered before proceeding down the hall. Suddenly, he stopped and stared at a painting. James had never been to this house before, and yet the art seemed so familiar, almost like he had seen the lady it depicted before. She was staring into his soul and whispering to him, but he could not understand what she said since she spoke a foreign tongue. Thomas Anderson approached him James and spoke:

- What’s the matter boss you look like you’re a seeing a ghost?

James Locker:

- Almost! That painting looks so familiar. I am sure I have seen it before.

Thomas Anderson:

- Oh, I did not know you were a big fan of art?! Well, you might have, provided it's stolen and a famous piece. Do you remember the lecture Barry gave to two months ago about the new app we would use to identify stolen art quickly?

James Locker:

- Vaguely, but I did not pay very much attention.

Thomas Anderson:

- Well, I remember the lecture quite well. They were showing some famous pieces of missing art and how to use the app. This could be the right time to put this application into action.

The stolen art cell phone app was the latest step by Interpol to quickly identify stolen high-value art. The app used face recognition software used by anti-terrorist agencies for ages and applied this technique on paintings. Thomas took a high definition picture of the artwork and uploaded it onto the Interpol database. A few minutes later he got a match, for a piece stolen from an Australian collector a few years earlier.

Thomas Anderson

- Great, I am sure the stolen property team will be overjoyed, and this could help us as well, now go and see John, I am sure he is eager to see you.

James walked down the hall and entered the master bedroom where John Dean and two members of the forensics department were looking for traces. John turned around, looked at James with a crooked smile and spoke:

- Oh, look who is here. Princess Aurora finally woke up from her beauty sleep.

James Locker did not like the arrogant tone of John Dean who no doubt was still upset about not getting the promotion. He decided to bite back in a similar tone.

James Locker

- I arrived a while ago, and I have already discovered that this mansion contains stolen art. Considering how much longer you have been here, why is the killer not apprehended?

John Dean:

- Okay, let’s calm down and focus on work, shall we?

James Locker

- Since you are my subordinate, I would appreciate that you acted that way.

John turned red from anger, and he struggled for a while to keep his composure before continuing speaking.

- We have not captured the killer yet; the killer did not stay here and wait for the police. However, from what we know this far, we can make some assumptions.

James Locker:

- Hit me!

John Dean:

- Well firstly, there was no sign of forced entry into the building. So, whoever the killer was, the murdered woman Miranda DiMaestro let him in willingly or he had access to keys and alarm codes. Secondly, the bedroom is decorated with roses, an ice bucket with a champagne bottle and live candles, so she was expecting a romantic encounter. Thirdly, the way she died implies a hitman and not a crime of passion.

James Locker:

- Well, that's a great start. Let's gather the team for a briefing. I am starving so let's meet up at the coffee shop just down the road.

The team gathered, and they headed for the cafeteria just down the road. The time was 5.30 am, and it would still take some time before the sun would rise and spread some warmth this crisp August night.