That goes global.
Three dead meant a good chunk of people would avoid the rink, so possibly a motive against the rink itself. If she’d been holding that laser rifle and had a hard-on against the rink, she might have taken the girl in red, another target, but then she’d have taken out one of the security staff and at least one of the medicals.
“Three taken out,” she murmured, still watching the screen. “Organized, skilled, had to plan this out in advance. So three was the goal. No more, no less.”
She stopped the screen, went back to her desk to read the background on the victims yet again.
When Roarke sent her the list of collectors – in New York, all boroughs, and in New Jersey – with registered weapons that could have been used, she started backgrounds on all twenty-eight of them, searched for connections to the three victims, or the rink itself.
With more coffee, she got halfway through the list before Roarke came out.
“A collector’s license for a laser rifle – any make, model, or year – is twenty-five large.”
“I’m aware.”
“Most of the licenses I’ve been through are to rich dudes. A couple so far grandfathered from a relative. The screening’s pretty thorough, but that doesn’t mean your average violent offender doesn’t slip through.”
“A problem in all areas of life.” Bypassing the coffee, Roarke opted for two fingers of whiskey. “I’ve got your buildings.”
“Already?”
“The longest part of the process was designing a program that met the criteria. After that?” He shrugged, sipped.
“You designed a program?” About half the time, she thought, she could barely operate a program without getting pissed off.
“I did. An interesting experiment.”
“E-geeks are handy. You have the list of potential buildings?”
“I am, and I do. But I thought you’d like a visual. When your office is redone, we’ll be able to do this via hologram, but for now…” He set down his whiskey and gestured for her to stand, took her place, tapped some keys.
A slice of Manhattan flashed on screen.
“These are the boundaries you gave me, from the crime scene back to the river, with the north and south streets. And here…” He tapped another set of keys, and buildings began to fade away.
“Okay, okay, I get it. High-security buildings eliminated. Excellent.”
“And buildings under four stories.”
“Right. So these building remaining are potential nests. I need —”
“There’s more.” Because he was quick, and she was focused on the screen, he had her pulled into his lap before she could object.
“Working, ace.”
“So am I. What you see are buildings with a reasonably clear sight line to the targets. But —” Keeping an arm around her waist, he keyed in some more. Several other buildings faded off. “I eliminated those with mid- to high-level security. You might need to factor those in at some point, as there are always ways around security, but for now, those remaining are zero to low-level. Apartments, mid-range hotels, SROs, and flops, your occasional studio for dance or art classes or what have you, a couple of office spaces.”
“With low-level available, why risk high? But yeah, better to have them on tap if nothing else pans out. If I could —”
“Still more.”
With another tap, thin blue and red lines flashed on.
“The blue is your possible – windows or rooftop of these buildings. Red is high probability, again factoring in your theory with Lowenbaum, from the east, low-security building.”
She started to rise to her feet to get a closer look, but got pulled back down. And considering all, relaxed into it.
“The program contains an algorithm, utilizes your crime scene footage, with calculations built in for the wind speed, temperature, probable velocity and angle, and… more math and calculations than you want to hear about.”
“You built a program that factors the variables with the known, and gives visual probabilities.”
“In simple terms, more or less.”
“You’re not just handy. This is e-genius level.”
“Modesty doesn’t prevent me from agreeing. Actually, it was an interesting bit of work.”
A lot of buildings – a hell of a lot, she considered. But also a hell of a lot less than she’d had to consider a couple hours before.
So she hooked an arm around his neck, shifted enough to look at him. “I bet it’s not free.”
“Darling, your appreciation is all the payment I need.”
“And sex.”
“I thought they were one in the same.” Smiling, he kissed her.
“This probably rates appreciation sex.” But for now, she shifted again, studied the screen. “How about the buildings with high probability that also have privacy screens – standard.”
“Ah, clever girl. You’d hardly want some passerby or gawking tourist with a camera catching you poised with a weapon in a window.”
“And working windows. Why shoot through glass? Why have to cut through glass – unless the LDSK used his own office or home window. That leaves a trail to follow.”
“Give me a minute. No, I can work around you very well,” he said when she started to get up again. “Though your new command center will simplify this as well.”
He programmed the new parameters manually, and quickly, in a way she’d never comprehend, then ordered the new results on screen.