Band of Rogues

Sifting Through Evidence

Addalyn Payne thanked the police officer on the other end of the phone. The list of witnesses he had shared would make her job just a little easier. He had gone a step further and suggested she talk to the young man that had been first to dig out the people trapped beneath the rubble. Adam Knox had been the furthest from the blast, but close enough that he was able to provide a description of the man who drove the white pickup truck. A quick internet search lead to his f*******: page, where he proudly claimed to be descended from Franklin Knox, Secretary of The Navy in 1940. Adam’s page was innocent enough, nothing political had been posted. It was well populated with pictures of his girlfriend and his dog, memes poking fun at fishermen and status updates. Addy tucked a strand of hickory-colored hair behind her ear just as Amelia set a cup of coffee on her desk.

“Thanks, how did you know I was craving one?”

“I know you,” Ames chuckled. “How’s it going?”

“I got a list of witness names from a local officer, he suggested I talk to one in particular before any of the others. The guy who started digging through the rubble first,” Addy sipped from her cup as Amelia sat at her own desk that faced Addalyn’s. “Figured out where you’re starting yet?”

“I’m waiting on approval to bring all the evidence back here, as well as first responder reports.”

“Gotta love the hurry-up-and-wait part of the job,” Addy smiled.

“Well, I have my plan I’ll be working on until then.”

“Ah yes, the famous Quartermain plan report. I’m considering adopting that this time around.”

“Really?” Amelia’s eyes lit up a little as she sipped from her own cup.

“Yeah. You think I could borrow a prototype when I get back from meeting with this guy?”

“Sure, I’ll leave it on your desk,” Amelia was interrupted as her cellphone, as well as Illiad’s and Addalyn’s, chimed with the arrival of a text message from Eldar.

‘You’ve all been invited to Dad’s for steak and drinks tonight. Bring your SO if you’d like.

“Bringing anyone this time, Addy?” Illiad asked from her desk.

“Probably not. My sister is still out west filming her show. You?”

“I’d love to bring Dorian, but how would I explain it to him without a cover story?”

“One of these days we’ll have to come up with something so you can bring him if you want,” Ames spoke up. “I think I’ll ask Andrew if he wants to come. Maybe then the boss won’t be outnumbered by X chromosomes.” Amelia’s brother knew what she did for a living, and kept her secret as guarded as if it had been his own. He had frequently attended their get-togethers, and Gene had always been pleased to sit and talk to him. 

Amelia turned her attention to her computer, brought up a government database and typed in a few search parameters. She scanned a resulting list of bombings that had been classified as domestic terrorism, making notes on her pad when she found incidents that shared similar characteristics. Five had been listed as having shards of the same type of trigger, and five had been in the past eight years. At all five events, traces of mercury had been found as well as shards of glass. According to the lab technician notes, the glass was not of the type used in vehicles, but rather in medical-grade vials. She found another pattern between all five events - in each, a truck had been blown up. She couldn’t imagine yet what the significance of that was, but she made a note about it anyway. She switched to a different database and requested information on vehicular explosions in the past five years. She read through all the reports provided on those cases and found investigator notes referencing a handful of nearby bank robberies. None of which had been resolved.

She sat back in her chair and stared at a spot on the wall across the room. What if the truck explosions and bank robberies were related? An explosion would, in theory, be well attended by police. And if the bank job and explosion could be timed to occur close enough together, the bank robbers could be making their getaway while the area was being evacuated for citizen safety. There were six incidents that she’d found so far. Further searching revealed four more cases of bank robberies with nearby vehicular accidents, one of which had resulted in a fatality. A 25-year-old young man thrown through the windshield after being rear-ended by a tractor-trailer. 

A chime from her cellphone announced an incoming text. Approval to gather and sift through physical evidence recovered at the Truman Mall.

Amelia glanced up at Addalyn. “Approval’s come through. I’m off to collect the evidence boxes. I’ll see you at the barbeque, if not before.”

“Be careful out there,” Addalyn replied.

“Always.” Amelia shot her a quick smile, plucked her jacket off the back of her chair and headed for the exit.