Day 212

[from Murder by Pixels]

Harry, Sapphire, and Lt. Hawke returned to the police headquarters, and Harry set about collating what they knew so far. He had hooked his computer up to an interactive whiteboard on the wall, and was using that to project his notes for the rest of the team to read. Right at the top, highlighted in bold, were the three key questions: "WHY DID CARLO NEED MONEY SO BADLY?", "WAS HIS DEATH MONEY-RELATED; OTHER POSSIBLE MOTIVES?", and "WHO WOULD KNOW DETAILS OF CARLO'S WORKPLACE?"

Meanwhile, Lt. Hawke set about procuring the warrant for Carlo's house, while Sapphire fast-forwarded through the security tapes from the kitchen, checking that the manager's claim about no-one going in or out was true. "I've finished going through the tapes", she concluded finally. "Nobody goes in or out of the kitchen between the time Carlo arrives and the time he drops dead. The shooter must have shot him through that gap in the shutters."

"I thought so," said Harry. "You notice anything else on the tapes?"

"Only that watching security tapes is extremely boring," said Sapphire.

"You're telling me," said Lt. Hawke, who had just arrived back at that moment. "You find anything, though?"

"Nothing we didn't already know," said Harry. "Nobody came in or out of the kitchen prior to Carlo's death."

"Alright," said Lt. Hawke. "Well, I've got the warrant sorted out, so let's see if we can learn anything about his financial situation."

Harry nodded. "Sure," he said. "Let's go."

***

Carlo's address turned out to be a small suburban terrace, only a few minutes away from the restaurant. "Well, I'm guessing he wasn't struggling to make his rent," Harry remarked as they pulled up outside.

"Wouldn't have thought so," said Lt. Hawke. "But hey, you never know. Let's go find out."

The trio got out of the police car and headed towards the front door. Carlo's personal effects, including his house keys, had been taken from his body as evidence, and Lt. Hawke fished the keys out of his pocket as they approached. Although the house itself was not a crime scene, all three were wearing fresh pairs of latex gloves, to avoid contaminating any potential evidence they might find. Hawke unlocked the front door, and the detectives proceeded inside.

"Where should we start?" Sapphire asked.

"I think it makes sense for us to split up," said Lt. Hawke. "You two look down here, I'll check the upstairs rooms."

"Alright," said Harry. Lt. Hawke headed up the narrow staircase, while Harry and Sapphire entered the living room and spread out to search. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the décor, and nothing that jumped out at them as unusual. That, of course, didn't mean they wouldn't find anything.

"You know what I'm thinking, Sapphire?" asked Harry, making his way towards a chest-of-drawers.

Now that she and Harry were alone, Sapphire's accent reverted to her natural Irish lilt, something she reserved only for those she felt comfortable around. "What would that be?" she asked.

"In order for him to have needed so much money so urgently, he must have been spending a lot of money on a regular basis," he said, as he opened the first drawer. "You know what I think he was spending it on?"

"Drugs," said Sapphire suddenly.

"Exactly," said Harry. "He must have had a pretty bad habit. Maybe not heroin, perhaps something like cocaine. Whatever it was, it was bleeding him dry, so, like many addicts, he resorted to theft." Harry closed the drawer and opened the next one. "Now, if I were a crack addict, where would I hide my stash…?"

"I think I know where," said Sapphire.

"Where?" said Harry. He turned round to see that Sapphire was in fact holding up a bag of what was presumably cocaine, having retrieved it from a small decorative box on a shelf. She glanced at it anxiously, before glancing back to Harry. "Ah," said her fellow detective. "When you said 'drugs', you meant, 'I've found some drugs'…"

"I have," said Sapphire. "Or at least, I think so…"

"Well, he's not gonna be hiding sugar in a box, is he?" said Harry, heading over to take a closer look. "So yeah, I'd say that's coke." Turning towards the doorway, he called up to the lieutenant. "Hey, Hawke! I think we found something!"

The lieutenant quickly rushed back downstairs to join them. "What is it?" he asked, as he entered the living room.

Sapphire held up the packet of cocaine for him to see. "Looks like Carlo was a crackhead," said Harry. "He must have been stealing from the workplace in order to fund his habit."

"I see," said Lt. Hawke, taking the bag. "Nice find, you two. I'll get this to the forensic lab so they can analyze it… no prizes for guessing what they'll find, though."

As Hawke sealed the bag inside a larger evidence bag, an idea suddenly seemed to strike Sapphire. "Actually…" she said.

"Actually… what?" asked Lt. Hawke.

Sapphire look down at the floor, clearly unsure about what she was about to say. "Well… you know how all drug dealers cut their drugs a different way? Like in Breaking Bad, with the blue meth? It's like a signature. Theoretically, we could compare that batch to any other batches we have in the evidence lock-up, and pinpoint who Carlo's dealer might have been."

Though Sapphire did not seem too confident in the idea, Lt. Hawke did. "That's actually a pretty good idea," he said. "You think he might have had something to do with Carlo's death?"

"He could have done, yeah," said Harry. "Carlo's late making a payment, the dealer gets angry with him… it's possible."

"Alright, then we'd better get this to the lab," said Lt. Hawke. "Unless you think there might be some other clues lying around here?"

"Well, we'll never know unless we look, will we?" said Harry.

"Good point," said Hawke. "Alright, let's split up again and have another look. Who knows, maybe we're barking up the wrong tree with this drugs thing, and there's something else here we're missing."

"That is the second key question, after all," said Harry. "Was his murder money-related, or something else?"

"Well, let's find out," said Lt. Hawke. "Call me if you find anything else." With that, the lieutenant headed back upstairs, leaving Harry and Sapphire to resume their search.