The Skin Hunters by Dominika Best

Author:Dominika Best [Best, Dominika]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Published: 2021-06-26T07:00:00+00:00

19

DAY 4 - MARCH 9, 2019 - SATURDAY

Harri yawned and took a sip of what felt like her first coffee. She’d had so much coffee throughout the night the caffeine wasn’t making a dent anymore. Harri and Tom had pulled an all-nighter working through Jared’s notebook. They were finally able to confirm the chronology of his movements up to Sunday morning with the last entry in the notebook.

They ran background checks on every name found in the notebook and outside of the more garden-variety aggravated assaults and drug charges, one name stuck out.

Patrick Smith of Smith Construction was the man who picked up Jared that Saturday to work as day labor. Their search for Patrick Smith came up empty, just like with Jared Atkinson. For a moment, Harri wondered if Patrick Smith could be another undercover cop. She quickly dismissed the thought.

Patrick Smith did not exist in any database they could find, and his company, Smith Construction was owned by what appeared to be a shell company. As they dug deeper, it appeared that Smith Construction was the lowest level in a totem pole of shell corporations, which meant each level up was even more secret to prying eyes than the one below it. Smith Corporation was owned by a shell company, which was owned by another shell company, and so on. Each shell company had only a registered agent and obviously hired directors.

Harri and Tom concluded that Patrick Smith was most likely Jared Atkinson’s killer. Harri wondered if Patrick Smith had uncovered Jared Atkinson’s real identity, or if Jared had become a nuisance or liability somehow. Now, they had to discover who Patrick Smith really was. They planned to go back to CUCO with the warrant Raymond Sklar had demanded. A judge signed the warrant for their records pertaining to Smith Construction only an hour ago.

CUCO wouldn’t be open for another few hours so Harri decided to reach out again to Detective Lenny Fioranello in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was the main detective in the groundbreaking case on tissue harvesting Dr. Grimley had told them about.

She waited until 9 a.m. Jersey time and as soon 6 a.m. chimed on her watch, she called the number his lieutenant had given her.

Detective Fioranello picked on the first ring.

“Lenny speaking,” a man’s voice with a strong Jersey accent answered.

“My name is Detective Harri Harper calling from the Los Angeles Police Department. I was given your name by your lieutenant to speak to you about your Matthew Michael’s funeral home case,” she said.

“Oh yeah. My lieutenant told me about you. What would you like to know?” he asked.

“We’re currently working a case where the body appears to have been harvested for tissue. We’re not having an easy time navigating the nuances of the death industry.”

“Ah. Tissue banks stonewalling?”

“Exactly,” Harri answered. “We’re not entirely sure how the money flows to the various people along the chain.”

“I can give you a quick rundown. It’s actually brilliant,” Lenny said.

“Really?” Harri understood how Detective Fioranello could admire an aspect of crime.

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