The Einstein Pursuit

45

Though he still preferred an old-fashioned corkboard to a fancy computer display when it came to organizing a case, Dial had quickly warmed to video chats — especially when he was interviewing witnesses or suspects. It wasn’t as good as being in the same room as them, but it was a lot better than a simple phone call.

‘Do we have a way to reach Jonathon Payne on this thing?’ he asked Toulon, who was still lingering on the screen after their call to Zidane. ‘We owe him an update on things.’

‘Is he in your address book? If so, just click on the link.’

Dial scrolled through the names on his contact list and then hit the appropriate button. A moment later, Jones appeared on their screens.

‘Hello?’ Jones asked. ‘Nick, is that you?’

‘Hey, DJ. Yeah, it’s me. I take it you can see me?’

‘I see you, plus one.’

‘DJ, meet Henri Toulon — my assistant director and a giant pain in my ass. Henri, this is David Jones — a good friend of mine and a giant pain in Jon’s ass.’

Jones winced. ‘I have to admit, all this “ass” talk is making me uncomfortable. It’s one thing coming from a stripper. It’s quite another coming from a dirty old man on a party line.’

Toulon laughed. ‘Pleased to finally meet you. Despite that dreadful introduction, I’ve heard many wonderful things about you over the years.’

‘Likewise,’ Jones said. ‘It’s nice to meet the real mastermind of the homicide division. When are you going to start taking the credit that you deserve?’

Dial interrupted. ‘Just because Jon lets you take all the credit for his achievements doesn’t mean everyone operates that way. Sometimes you actually have to earn your place.’

‘Wow, that’s a low blow,’ Jones said, pretending to be insulted. ‘It’s about time you stood up for yourself. I wasn’t sure you had it in you.’

‘Trust me,’ Toulon said, ‘he can be a real prick.’

Jones laughed loudly, but Dial wasn’t amused. He pulled the phone close to his face and spoke directly to Toulon through the camera. ‘Henri, please keep something in mind. I’m your boss and you’re on the clock. Jokes are one thing; insults are quite another.’

Toulon flushed with embarrassment. ‘Oui.’

Jones sensed that Dial was just busting Toulon’s balls, but based on Toulon’s reaction, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure. To be safe, he opted to change the subject. ‘Anyway, I take it you’re looking for Jon, since this is his computer and all.’

‘Both of you, actually. He around?’ Dial asked.

‘I’m here,’ Payne yelled from somewhere off camera. A second later, he was standing over Jones’s shoulder in the image. ‘I heard everything you said, but if it’s alright with you, I’d prefer not to sit on DJ’s lap during this conversation — especially after your comment about him being a pain in my ass. I don’t want Henri to get the wrong idea. We’re close, but we’re not that close.’

Dial smiled. ‘Point taken.’

Payne nodded toward the screen. ‘Hey, Henri, nice to finally put a face to the name. And thanks for keeping Nick in line all these years.’

Toulon nodded but said nothing, still stinging from the last rebuke.

‘So,’ Payne said as he walked out of the frame again, ‘what’s on your mind, Nick?’

Dial knew it wasn’t an act of indifference or disrespect. Payne simply preferred to move around while he talked. ‘You still have eyes on Sahlberg?’

Jones answered. ‘He’s actually at the gym.’

‘Really?’

Jones nodded. ‘Apparently, he likes to walk after his first meal of the day. We can’t let him walk outside, not with someone chasing him, so we had to come up with an alternative.’

‘How about telling him to skip a day?’

‘He’s a creature of habit, Nick. Every day for the past century or so he takes a midday stroll. Who are we to start changing his routine?’

‘What gym is he using?’

‘He’s using an exercise room in the building,’ said Payne, who was underselling the facility. The ‘exercise room’ was actually a world-class fitness center. It filled an entire floor and had everything imaginable, from aquatic therapy pools to hyperbaric chambers. He figured, the healthier his employees were, the more productive they would be in the office.

‘Are you sure that’s wise?’ Dial had visions of the elderly Sahlberg falling off his treadmill without anyone around to help him. ‘Please tell me he’s not unsupervised.’

Jones laughed. ‘Don’t worry. He’s in there with half a dozen security guards. If he breaks a hip, we’ll be the first to know.’

‘Okay, I’ll ease up. I forgot who I was talking to.’

‘Speaking of which,’ Payne said, ‘we’ve got something for you.’

‘You do?’ Dial was a bit surprised. After all, he had called them with information, not the other way around. ‘What’s that?’

‘Tell them, DJ.’

Jones held up the custom-designed pistol he had taken from the incline. He moved it closer to the webcam for Toulon and Dial to see, drawing their attention to the sensors on the grip. ‘Remember this?’

Dial nodded. ‘It’s the pistol that you … well, let’s call it the pistol that found its way into your possession. What’d you learn about it?’

Toulon desperately wanted to know the real story about the gun and how they’d got hold of it, but he was smart enough not to ask.

‘You ever heard of a Wiltz?’ Jones asked.

‘No,’ Dial replied.

‘A Wiltz?’ Toulon said. ‘I thought it was a Beretta.’

Jones smiled. ‘Good eye, Henri. It almost is a Beretta. At least it was designed with one in mind. It was actually entirely hand-crafted by a master gunsmith out of Luxembourg. A man by the name of Yannick Holcher.’

‘Never heard of him,’ Dial offered.

‘Nor I,’ Toulon said.

‘And he’d probably be glad to hear it,’ Jones replied. ‘He’s not the type of guy that’s driven by publicity. I can’t imagine he’d be too keen to learn that Interpol has a file on him.’

‘Should we?’ Dial asked.

‘Probably. He’s certainly at the lower end of the criminal spectrum, but there’s a pretty good chance that he’s supplied at least a few of the real bastards at the top end with their weapons.’

‘Sounds like a name we should know.’

‘Holcher isn’t the villain in all of this. He’s an asset,’ Payne said from somewhere off camera. ‘He could give us the name of whoever ordered this custom piece. Whoever he is, he didn’t order just the one. Seems he was hoping for a bulk discount.’

‘You think Holcher will hand over the information, just like that?’

‘No,’ Payne admitted. ‘I said he could give us the name. I didn’t say he would. At least not until you convince him that it’s the right thing to do.’

‘What exactly did you have in mind?’ Dial asked.

‘Tell him you’ll put agents on him around the clock, just waiting for the next lowlife to come to him. Threaten to use him as bait until you’ve arrested everyone he’s ever sold to. He can either help you this one time, or you’ll run off his buyers until there’s no one left.’

‘That’s actually pretty good,’ Toulon stated.

‘Let’s back up a second,’ Dial said. ‘How can you be certain that Holcher is involved? This doesn’t sound like the kind of the weapon he’d engrave his initials into.’

‘It’s definitely not,’ Jones agreed. ‘Holcher likes to fly under the radar as much as possible. In fact, that’s why the gun is known as a Wiltz, not a Holcher.’

‘How do you know all this?’ Dial asked.

‘We’ve got it on good authority,’ Jones explained.

‘Good authority? Whose?’

Suddenly Payne’s face filled the screen as he stepped into view from the side. His stare was equal parts admonishment and surprise. ‘Nick, you know we can’t answer that.’

‘Can’t? Or won’t?’ Dial teased.

‘Take your pick. The end result is the same.’

‘Okay, okay,’ Dial said, smiling. ‘Let me see if I got this straight. Your black-ops connection gives you the name of the guy who made the gun that was used by the guy who tried to kill you, and you want me to track him down to get the name of the guy behind everything?’

‘Exactly!’ Payne said. ‘Did we hook you up or what?’

Dial couldn’t help but laugh. ‘And, if I may be so bold, what exactly will you two be doing while I’m doing all of this?’

‘We’re going to Disneyland!’ Jones joked.

Although Toulon had heard stories about Payne and Jones, he had never experienced their antics first hand. He had no idea if Jones was speaking in military code or if he had flat out lost his mind. ‘You’re going where?’

‘Just ignore him,’ Payne said as he put his hand on Jones’s shoulder and pushed him out of view of the camera. ‘We aren’t going to Disneyland. We’re going to California.’

‘Why?’ Dial asked, suddenly serious.

‘Sahlberg, Berglund and several of the victims at the lab are interconnected. Before coming together in Stockholm, most of the scientists worked here in Pittsburgh. After that, they all followed the money out to California.’

‘What money?’ Dial asked.

‘Jonas Salk’s,’ Jones said from off the screen.

Payne nodded. ‘After the polio vaccine was released, Salk had investors lining up at his door. He took their money and founded the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. Over the next several years, most of your victims headed west to work and/or study out there.’

‘Including Berglund?’ Dial asked.

‘Berglund led the charge.’

Dial rubbed his neck. ‘And you think there’s a connection between Berglund’s lab in Stockholm, your scientist in Pittsburgh, and the Salk Institute in La Jolla?’

‘Yep,’ Payne said confidently.

‘I agree,’ Toulon said as he opened a folder and stared at its contents. ‘I had a chance to review Berglund’s travel records, and I noticed he took several trips to California. I’ve got him traveling to San Diego at least a dozen times in the last two years.’

Jones appeared again on camera. ‘San Diego is the nearest airport handling international flights. Unless Berglund has an unnatural addiction to the donkey shows in Tijuana — and let’s be honest, who could blame him? — my guess is we’ll find plenty of people in La Jolla who can give us some dirt on him.’

Dial nodded in agreement. ‘Fine. I’ll see if the gun lead takes us anywhere. You guys check out southern California. If you find anything, I can have someone from the FBI office in San Diego back you up. So no hero stuff.’

‘Who, us?’ Jones said sarcastically.

Payne pushed him aside even harder. ‘Hey, Nick, before you hang up on DJ for being an idiot, can I ask you a question?’

‘Of course,’ Dial said.

‘What’s the reason you called?’

Dial shook his head, embarrassed. ‘See how it is with you guys? I get so caught up with your shit that I tend to forget about my own.’

Jones popped up on camera again. ‘That’s because you love us.’

Dial ignored the comment and focused on the task at hand. ‘I wanted to let you know we have the name of a possible suspect: a fugitive named Hendrik Cole. We have video of him in the harbor at the time of the explosion. We’re pretty sure he arranged the blast.’

‘Why do I know that name?’ Payne asked.

‘Probably from his work in Africa. He’s often called the Butcher of Benin.’

Payne nodded. He was familiar with the incident. ‘What’s his motivation?’

Toulon answered. ‘We think it has something to do with an Algerian capitalist named Harrison Zidane. He has funded several similar labs in the past, and we have Cole on record mentioning both Stockholm and Zidane.’

‘Anything else?’

‘Ask your doctor if he’s ever heard of synthetic cells,’ Dial said.

‘I can answer that right now. He has.’

‘You’re sure?’

Payne nodded. ‘I’m positive. Berglund used to ask him if it was possible to create a perpetual cell line. Synthetic cells that would propagate on their own.’

‘Is it?’

‘Not according to Sahlberg. He said synthetic cells can’t divide, so they can’t replicate. And if they can’t replicate, there’s no cell line. Why?’

‘The coroner found synthetic cells in five of the victims.’

Payne considered the information. ‘That’s interesting. Sahlberg told us that Berglund had a different view on the matter. He said he never accepted the limitations of synthetic cells. It looks like he was trying to prove his point.’