Protagonists#

• Short, Lance - Foreign Service Officer (Γιάννης)
• Miller, Liam (Agent Dave / Jocko) - Naval Special Warfare Group One (SEALs) (Παναγιώτης)
• Lensing, Emma - Professor of Philology (Τάσος)
• Bennet, Wendy - Criminal Intelligence Analyst / Assistant Professor of Criminology (Κωνσταντίνα)

Tracing Back the Killers – Tuesday, May 30th, 2017 – Early morning#

The agents watch the drone footage of all three murders, tracing the killers’ movements:

Peña killing, 2017-05-21 03:31:40#

• An hour before the killing, a taxi carries the killers into Reno from the east. The Yellow Cab logo is clearly visible.
• The cab drives them to a construction site at Katherine Dunn Elementary School in Sparks, northeast of Reno. The men unlock a large, blue storage unit at the construction site and walk inside. Twenty minutes later, a blue 2012 Toyota Camry emerges from the storage unit. One of the men closes and locks the storage unit behind them and gets in the car.
• The Camry drives to Greater Nevada Field, its route avoiding all traffic cameras until it reaches the parking lot. The three men walk to the entrance and disappear under the front awning. All wear hoods that obscure their faces. One carries a large duffel bag. A few minutes later, they drag Howard Peña onto the field, bound and writhing. They wear ski masks, now. They take a very long and bloody time killing him, drawing weird symbols around him from his blood. One of them looks up, as if looking directly at the drone, and waves. They walk off the field and out of sight. When they emerge from the front awning a few minutes later, they have changed clothes but still wear hoods. They walk back to the car.
• They drive to Whitney Peak Parking Garage, three blocks away, avoiding further traffic cameras. Neither the car nor the men emerge. Other cars come and go.
• Agents Locke and Myra identify some of the letters at the Peña killing as early Middle Eastern, perhaps a kind of Persian.

Calderon killing, 2017-05-24 11:50:11#

• The killers drive into town from the south in a white 2004 Nissan Altima. They exit I-80 at the airport and drive west, out of traffic camera coverage.
• They drive to 2310 Idlewild Drive, Reno, home to Geraldo Calderon. Three men in ski masks go inside and drag a man out with a pillowcase over his head.
• They drive north to the parking lot of the disc golf course, avoiding traffic cameras, and drag the man to the Circle of Stones. The killers indulge in ten long minutes of torture and mutilation. One of them brings a tire and a gasoline can from the trunk of the car. They place the tire around the man’s neck, douse the tire in gasoline, and set it alight with matches. The footage glitches briefly. In the next frame, the burning body lies before the killers. They take the gas can back to the car and wave up at the drone cameras for two still frames.
• They drive to the Sierra Street Parking Complex less than two kilometers away. The car does not emerge.

Sandoval killing, 2017-05-27 21:21:15#

• The footage first picks up the killers’ car, a black Chevrolet Impala, driving out of the Parking Gallery garage at West 1st Street and North Sierra Street.
• It takes backstreets to the Western Village Inn & Casino, avoiding traffic cameras. Three men in black coats and ski masks get out. They enter the casino with shotguns and emerge 20 seconds later, pushing a terrified woman into the car with them. They drive to the far side of the parking lot and push the woman out of the car. Two men get out with her. They hack her to death, look up, wave at the watching camera, and get back in the car.
• As police race to the casino, the killers drive about seven kilometers to the parking garage at East 2nd Street and Pringle Way, taking back streets and avoiding traffic cameras. The car does not emerge.

Arrested by the police#

Agents Jocko and Myra drive to Whitney Peak Parking Garage. They locate the blue 2012 Toyota Camry the killers used during Peña’s killing in the second basement floor. A pair of patrol cars comes to block them in while a SWAT team arrives. They are taken to Reno PD, where they encounter Detective Oliver Larson, lead investigator for the Reno PD Robbery/Homicide Unit, and Lt. Adam Willstatter, the department’s sole liaison with Persistent Vigil.

They manage to convince the police that they are FBI and DOD agents, investigating Persistent Vigil.

Willstatter#

He states his dislike of Mauch after conducting a background check on him. As for Persistent Vigil’s claims about the crime-fighting of the future, the system has been useless in the worst crimes of the summer. Clyde Mauch assured Wilstatter that Brigid and Boyer were working round the clock to make sure it didn’t happen again.

Larson#

States that the perpetrators were thorough and cautious. Police found no fingerprints or trace evidence. No photos except with the killers in masks, long sleeves, and gloves. They used axes and machetes that could have come from any hardware store. The crime scenes, all public locations, have been cleared and opened to the public.

All three appeared to be male. Witnesses at Western Village Inn & Casino heard two of them speaking Spanish to each other, but no witness who knew Spanish was near enough to understand them. He suspects Mexican cartel killers.

Motives are equally baffling. The ritualistic nature of Peña’s killing implies forethought, but Peña was not supposed to even be at work. He was filling in at the last minute. The janitor who called in sick is terrified. Calderon’s background could explain an attack on him. He was a journalist who reported on cartels and corruption in northern Mexico.

Police have found nothing in common between Peña, Calderon, and Sandoval. All had Hispanic names, but that is hardly unusual in the Reno area.

Before departing they asked Willstatter to request footage during Norah Brigid’s disappearance.

Brigid’s Phone#

Agent Locke unlocks Brigid’s phone and discovers Norah’s communication with Lt Willstatter, as well as some exchanged email with Grbhgrsnh92 (grbhgrsnh92@proton.me).

She found the address as a signature buried in deprecated and cached code. That made her think this was one of the code’s first programmers. Brigid hoped they could exchange some ideas, assuming the programmer still had the right security clearance. A reply, a few days later, made Brigid rethink that hope. It had no text, only photos of sheets of paper filled with elaborate sketches. She did not send a follow-up.

Locke calls Pitzerelli and fills him in on the case. Requests assistance with the following:

• The IP address from where Grbhgrsnh92’s mail was sent from.
• Persian Translation of the text from Great Nevada Field.
• Arabic Translation of the text found in Grbhgrsnh92’s photos.
• Figuring out the star formations from the Starry Glitch.

Pitzerelli sends her contact details of the DG friendlies and consultants she could request help from.

Using one of them, she gets the Arabic translation: “And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills.” The text is the sixth statement of Surah al-Baqarah 2:255 of the Quran, the “Throne verse.”

Lucky Beaver Parking#

All the agents gathered at their motel at 9pm. They watch Norah Brigid’s disappearance footage that was sent to them by Willstatter.

They decide to stake out the closest parking lot near the area of the next suspected murder.

They listen to police radio frequencies for anything related to their case. Half an hour after midnight they intercept a call regarding a 10-146 (breaking and entering) at 1281 Gault Way, the house where Norah Brigid disappeared.

1281 Gault Way – Wednesday, May 31st, 2017 – 12:50am#

The agents arrive at 1281 Gault Way. There is only a police car outside. Flashing badges, they manage to get into the house and gather the following information before the scene is formally secured as a crime scene.:

Victim: Lyudmila Barraclough, a thin 61-year-old with short, bleach blonde hair with graying roots. Her remains are scattered across the backyard patio by sliding glass doors.

House: Kicked in front door. Photos shattered on ground. Dark blood streaks the walls. Chairs are overturned. Nothing was stolen.

Evidence: Murder weapons hosed off in the backyard and dumped in a toolbox. Transparent coveralls and gloves, soaked in blood, in a trash bag in a can in the backyard. Fingerprints inside one of the gloves (Agent Locke takes the glove for further examination).

Locke leaves on foot and hails a taxi to drive her to the motel. She asks Pitzerelli’s help with the fingerprints from the glove she’s found.

Jocko tells the police officer that: “We’ve told Willstatter about this. We’re from the FBI”, and then he and Myra drive off. They abandon their car at Lucky Beaver Parking.