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[LUKA]
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“Really?”
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“Yeah.”
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“How did that play out?”
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“Well, my sister was coming home from work one night and a guy approaches her with his hands in his pockets. He says, “Where’s your money?” Now my sister in her post work obliviousness answers, “In the bank.” She then continues on her way humming as she walks.”
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“My God, the balls on her!” He remarked with amusement.
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“I know right? Its only after she got into her car that it dawned on her that he was trying to rob her. After that incident, our dad made us both take self defence classes.”
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“She still around?”
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“Nope. She got married and moved on out of town.”
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The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened at their designated floor. Luka walked out and James followed close behind her.
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They went into the conference room of the police station where they had set up the evidence in the Chen case and sat down placing their half eaten lunch on the table.
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“One bullet hole. Entry through the back and exit through the front.”
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“Was there anything on his person?”
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“Just the clothes on his back and a wallet.”
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“Anything missing?”
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“When we looked through the wallet, we were totally shocked, his ID was in there and the cash wasn’t even touched.”
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“So its possible that the assailants were after something other than money?”
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“It’s possible.”
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Both James and Luka once more scanned through the images of the casino shooting to pick up any clues they might have passed over.
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“What about the workers there? Didn’t they see anything?”
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“We interviewed all those that were working that day, including the manager, and only three of them had any credible information.” She pushed aside some files, pulled out the one she wanted and opened it. “The first witness, a Mr. Benjamin Doll, stated that he received Chen’s nephew along with two of his colleagues at the entrance of the casino and guided them to a VIP room which was reserved for them.”
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“So they had some sort of meeting scheduled.”
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“Yup.”
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“Do you have the schedule of who the meeting was with?”
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“Nope. Apparently, the meeting was off the books and no one was supposed to know who was in attendance. That was the testimony of..." she flipped through some more pages, "...the manager, Mr. Carlos Alvaro.”
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“Then how did Benjamin know who to look out for at the entrance?”
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“The manager said that they had specially made cards issued out to clients who made such reservations. Once they attended, they only needed to show the card and they would be escorted to their respective rooms.”
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James leaned back onto his chair with an exhausted expression. “Secret meetings, special cards, unknown individuals. In my opinion, this has all the trappings of a cabal.”
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“I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually was, especially considering the circumstances of this case.”
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“Yeah. What about the third witness?”
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Luka flipped through the file. “Well that’s strange.”
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“What?”
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“I can’t seem to find the statement.”
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“You’re sure?”
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“I went through the file twice. All the signed statements of the witnesses we interviewed were here.”
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“Maybe someone accidentally put it in another file.”
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"Hmm, highly unlikely. I'll ask Ruth to check the log to see if anyone's had recent access to the file."
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“On the confession statement by Vinny Goma, he said that he saw Chen walking in the casino with a suitcase right?”
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"Yeah."
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“Then its possible that that’s what they were really after.”
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"Its possible."
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“Now the real question is what was in the case?”
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“As far as I know, it could be anything. By the way, I forgot to ask. Who’s the lawyer representing Goma?”
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James adjusted his posture. “Ever heard of Charles Chance?”
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“Who’s that?”
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“You haven’t watched the news lately? He’s the guy that beat LM Pharmaceutical in the recent court case.”
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“He’s that good?”
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“He hasn’t gone up against me yet.”
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“Keep stroking your ego James, I’m sure you’ll get there."
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Just then Ruth stepped in.
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"Hey Ruth, I was just talking about you."
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"Good things I hope?"
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"Always. I needed a favour, could you please check the log to find out if anyone has accessed the Chen file recently, we can't seem to find a document."
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"Sure thing, by the way this just came in for you." She handed Luke some papers and walked out.
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"Thanks."
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Luka read over the contents of the documents and James noticed her facial expression change as the bridge between her brow closed in shock then rose in surprise.
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"What is it?"
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"Umm..." She looked at the paper more intensely. "About two days ago I received a an emergency distress call. The caller said he needed help before he suddenly went quiet and said he was going to call me back, after which he cut the call. I asked the operator for details on the call and was told that the caller said that somebody was trying to kill him. So naturally, I asked for a trace on the location of the caller at the time, and this is the report."
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"And? What does it say?"
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"It came from a warehouse."
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"A warehouse?" James' face briefly looked puzzled before the realisation slowly dawned on him. "That warehouse?"
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Luka nodded her head.
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"Wow."
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"That's not all." Luka continued, "The ballistics reports also came in for both the Chen case and warehouse incident. Turns out most of the shell casings from both incidents came from a single supplier."
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"Is it local?"
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"It is." Luka stood up and grabbed her jacket off of the chair. "I'm going to follow up on this lead, you in?"
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James checked his watch. "I've got about an hour or so to spare."
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"Not much going on at the NPA huh?"
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James also stood up, smiled and shook his head. "Not really."
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The door opened and the chimes rang announcing the individuals’ presence.
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“We’re not open!” Blurted out the shopkeeper from behind his magazine.
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“What, not open? A man in your position turning away business?”
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The shopkeeper lowered the magazine. “Oh, I didn’t realise it was you Luka.”
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“You would have if you’d put down those porn magazines you’re always staring at and mind the store a little more.”
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“What do you need?” He put down the magazine in frustration.
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“Information.”
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“I can’t help you with that. People see you coming in here often and they might get the wrong idea.”
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“Well, the sooner you help me out the faster I’ll be out of your hair.”
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He scoffed. “What's this about?”
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Luka pulled out photos of the bullets and casings found at the casino and warehouse and placed them on the store counter.
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“We found bullet casings at the shooting at the casino and warehouse incident, our ballistics expert traced them back to your store as the vendor."
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“That’s nothing new. You know I supply most of the firearms and ammunitions on this side of the city.”
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“Yeah, I do. That’s why we need the names of the purchasers. I know you keep a list of your clients' names.”
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“Now you know that I can’t do that Luka. Its private information.”
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Luka leaned in over the counter and stared directly into his eyes. “I’m doing you a favour Fred. The fact that I’m here and not some other cop with a warrant to search and seize all your records, including what we both know are some illegal contraband shows my good faith.”
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They briefly stared at each other before Fred clicked his mouth and looked away.
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“I’ll take that as a sign of your cooperation.”
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He walked to the back of his store, where she heard him handling some keys to unlock what she could only assume was a safe, before coming back to the counter with a large dusty old looking book. He placed it on the counter and wiped the dust off the cover with a cloth he most likely used to clean his rifles.
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He put on his glasses and flipped through the gigantic pages whilst gliding his hand over the list of clients with the tip of his pen. From what she could tell from her angle, the book had the names, serial numbers of guns, ammunition, the date they were purchased and by who, as well as the addresses of the purchasers.
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"Do you have any details on the serial numbers?"
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She handed him a copy of the report with the details of the ammunition. He glanced at the page and went back to his book, flipping through more pages until he came to a stop.
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"Ah, here we go."
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Luka took out a small notepad and pen in anticipation.
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"Hmm..." He stared more intensely at the page.
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"Fred, the names?"
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"The ammunitions were purchased from here, but not by a person."
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"Well, by who?" James pressed him.
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"By a company, called The Golden Company." He closed his book, took off his glasses and faced Luka. "They are a mercenary group."
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"Where are they registered?"
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"I don't know, people like them tend not to give such details. It was a supply drop at an undisclosed location and we picked up our payment at another undisclosed location. Both happening simultaneously."
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"Really Fred, you know I could arrest you right now for arming such groups."
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"You could, but then that will just give room to another competitor who will take up my spot, and most likely won't be as cooperative as I am."
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Luka knew he was right. Better to deal with the devil you know than the one you don't.
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James pulled her aside by the arm. "Are you really going to let this slide? The man just told you that he illegally sold arms and ammunitions to a mercenary group for God's sake!"
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Luka broke free from his grip and looked at him dead in the eyes. "This isn't a courtroom, this is how we make headway. If you want to be on this then you need to follow my lead."
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She walked back to the counter.
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"When did this transaction occur?"
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"About 6 months ago."
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“I see, by the way...” She pulled out another picture and placed it on the counter. “Any idea where I might find something like this?”
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He picked up the photo and closely inspected it. “You won’t find that kind of stuff around here.”
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“Can you at least point me in the right direction?”
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“Sure, as long as you buy something this time around."
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Luka turned to James and stretched open the palm of her hand.
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James sighed and reluctantly pulled out his wallet, took out some cash and gave it to her. She in turn gave it to Fred.
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“Ever been to Riverside?”
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