International Man of Mystery
Previously: Mark updates The Thomases while Jeannie goes to therapy.
3:22 PM - Tuesday, November 4, 2014
US Park Police, Ft Winfield Scott, The Presidio
Paco was starving. Tramping through blackberry for an hour made him feel itchy all over, even though they’d worn leg covers, which were now in a crumpled heap on the floor of the downstairs hallway. Small points of the blackberry thorns stuck through the papery protective fabric. ...We pulled 62 blackberry thorns out of her legs and lower arms. The coroner’s words haunted him. Paco leaned his head back against the cool wall and exhaled deeply.
“You alright?” Amanda asked quietly. She’d immediately returned to catalogue everything they’d found and started sketching a map.
“Yeah - yeah, I’m okay.” Paco sighed. “I might need some tea — do you want anything?”
“I’ll come upstairs soon, I just want to do this while it’s fresh in mind.” She looked at him closely. “You look tired, Pac - get something to eat.”
Upstairs, Paco found one of the last sandwiches from Sunday still in the fridge and gleefully unwrapped it on the kitchen counter. Standing over the sink, he chomped three bites, barely tasting its contents. Roast beef and cheddar, he realized. It needed a pickle.
“Hey man.” Mark came into the kitchen, getting water from the fridge. Paco nodded at him, chewing. “Didn’t you get lunch?” Paco nodded and cleared his mouth.
“Yeah, but this is second lunch. We’ve been out on the trail all afternoon. Battling the blackberry.”
“Find anything?” Paco met his eyes with a slight smile.
“Plenty. We think we know what happened to Alexa.”
“Really?” Mark sagged, his back against the counter. “That’s good news.”
“How was it at Xavier?”
“A little weird, but fine. These kids are something…like, devious, you know? They’re definitely not little innocents.”
“So, you’re a federal agent, “ Paco said between bites, “you can out-devious them.”
“Oh yeah. We have a double-agent now.”
A few minutes later they rejoined Raj in the conference room, where yet another laptop was now set up. Different windows were opened to writing which Raj seemed to be skimming, while also keeping an eye on the Pr3pSF site on the neighboring laptop.
“How’s it going?” Mark asked quietly, leaning in to look at the writing on the screen.
“Oh, just swimming in teenage text messages — it’s great.” Raj could barely hide his disdain. “I’m going to need some help with this. Between the texts and the photos — even just the photos of Friday night — it’s just so much.”
“Yeah, okay. Jeannie’s going to ask for some more resources. Find anything in the meantime?”
“Well, I started with Alexa’s phone,” Raj clicked open a new window, “and there wasn’t much by way of texts on Friday night after the party started, but she did receive some What’sApp messages from someone named “Feo”… it’s an international number.”
“Really? What country?”
“Looks like the UK. But the number doesn’t match anyone in the friend circle.”
“What did the last text from this Feo say?” Raj opened the What’sApp chain.
“Well, on Friday night they just said “see you soon” and it was around 10:10 on Friday night. But they did send another message on Saturday asking to meet up, kind of an apology: “sorry I missed you last night - can you meet me at our spot?””
“What time on Saturday did that come in?”
“Like, 3:30…”
“Right when everyone’s hangover was in full force.”
Paco sighed from across the table. “So, some international man of mystery is texting Alexa on Friday night, but then again on Saturday apologizing for not seeing her Friday?” He scoffed a little.
“What does that tell you?” Mark asked.
“It means whoever it was didn’t kill her, unless they’re really savvy about covering their tracks and the Saturday message was sent as an alibi. Whoever it was didn’t connect with her on Friday night at the height of the party for some reason, or maybe they were never even there?”
“If they weren’t at the party, who would this person be? And with an international number? We didn’t meet any exchange students or anything.”
“Maybe she has a boyfriend no one knows about,” Raj contributed quietly, his eyes still scanning the screen in front of him. “And maybe he’s not in the friend group. Maybe he’s not even a student.”
“What do you mean?” Mark asked.
“Oh I get it,” Paco tossed out, “hot for teacher?” Raj shrugged.
“Could be a teacher, could be someone’s Dad? Did Alexa babysit for anyone?” Mark’s eyebrows shot upward and he settled into one of the chairs at the table.
“I - I feel like Alexa Thomas wasn’t the type — “
“They never are.” Raj said. “In any case, someone was planning to see her at the party, or somewhere near the party when it was going off at Inspiration Point. Maybe that’s why she went down the trail, to meet this guy? And, they missed each other, so he was looking for her the next day. Either way, one or the other of them didn’t show up on Friday night — maybe both.”
“Maybe whoever it is left his DNA behind in a condom in Alexa’s bathroom.” Paco suggested.
“We do have that.” Mark agreed, his head propped up by his arm. “So maybe the guy Alexa was having sex with is this international man of mystery, this “Feo” character. He doesn’t have a last name?”
“Nope, just Feo.”
“Okay, dig into that number please.”
“Already did — it’s a burner phone from the UK. That, or the SIM of a burner phone from the UK.”
Jeannie had her Uber pick her up on Hayes and headed to Northern Station. It felt odd to enter the station house again, even though it had only been a few days. She felt removed form the day-to-day of the patrol officers: paperwork, reports, procedures.
“Hagen - welcome back. You’re not in uniform.” The watch commander remarked as she checked in.
“No - still on special assignment. Is the Cap here?”
“He is — in his office, I think.”
Jeannie meandered thought he station passing the patrol desks and briefing room to arrive at the Captain’s office. Through the blinds on his office window, she saw he was meeting with her Lieutenant and Sergeant. The very thought made her nervous. He quickly saw her standing there and motioned for her to come inside, the two other officers turning to look her over. Opening the door she stood tall and performed her salute, wishing she were in uniform.
“Hagen — good to see you. How is the case progressing?”
“It’s progressing well so far, today we’ve been at Academy and Xavier, finishing up a few interviews.”
“Xavier Prep?” The Lieutenant asked, glancing at the Captain.
“Yes sir.”
“Continue Hagen.”
“Yes sir. We finished the first round of interviews, the FBI has a tech devoted to the electronic data: phones, photographs, messages, etc. We have also uncovered a secret chat room that has circulated among the students of these private prep schools. It seems to be a platform the kids use to share gossip and online bullying…In fact — “ Jeannie paused, swallowing. “In fact, someone that uses the website posted my photograph to the platform.”
“What do you mean?” The Captain asked.
“At the initial meeting on Sunday morning at Holy Heart, Agent Greenberg introduced me as an alum of both Holy Heart and Xavier Prep. One of the students then took it upon themselves to source an image of me from when I attended Xavier — my senior class photo — and posted it to the site in an effort to make fun of me, I believe. They also posted another photo of me and my boyfriend from a number of years ago. We know they found my high school photo in the yearbooks at Xavier, but still no idea where they would have found the second photo.”
“That’s — disturbing.”
“Yes sir.” Jeannie could feel the eyes of the three men on her. “Access to the site is for students only and whomever the administrator is uses people’s school email addresses to give them access, so it would have to be a student. We are currently monitoring the site and tracing any mention of the victim.”
“Very good. Continue.” Jeannie didn’t realize this was to be full brief; she just needed to ask for some help and get the go-ahead for the tip line, but there was no getting out of this. She kept her chin high, eyes focused just above the Captain’s shoulder.
“The Park Police forensics team have located quite a bit of evidence from the party site at Inspiration Point and on neighboring trails. We have been able to trace some of the movements of the victim, Alexa Thomas, by elements of her Halloween costume that fell on the ground.”
“What does that mean?” The Lieutenant’s voice was sharp.
“Sir, she wore a dress that she had made with a number of butterflies on the surface; luckily the butterflies weren’t attached very well, and many of them have been found on the trails, indicating a route of travel. We are still putting it together, but we are able to trace her steps on Friday night this way.”
“Breadcrumbs? Really?”
“Yes sir.”
“Continue Hagen, what have you learned about the drugs and alcohol?”
“Sir, the victim had a cocktail of vodka, GHB, and opiates in her system when she died. The coroner said her cause of death was also related to blunt force trauma to the chest — she has a bruised sternum and two broken ribs. He said one of the ribs punctured her lung. Between this and her inebriated state due to the drugs and alcohol, he suggested she was disoriented on the dark trail and did not know where she was going, which caused her to fall into El Polin Spring. However, we have found photographic evidence that someone may have scared her on the trail, which prompted her flight over unknown ground as well. So, dosed with GHB and opiates, drunk with vodka, scared, and hit with a blunt object on a very dark trail in the Presidio.” The Sergeant shook his head and exhaled softly looking at the floor. The Lieutenant stared at her fiercely.
“What about the honor code violation the Academy Headmaster mentioned?” The Captain prompted.
“Yes sir. We actually found a type-written statement from the victim about that. The Headmaster had encouraged her to write it while the incident was fresh in mind, and she did. The incident that took place at the Hartman house party on July 4th was bullying and coercion. The victim’s then boyfriend got very drunk, also drugged with GHB, which he admitted in his interview — and his best friend attempted to coerce the victim into group sex. The statement was — shockingly unpleasant.”
“So she was bullied at that party and then bullied online, and then winds up dead with drugs and alcohol in her system.”
“Yes sir.”
“Where’d she get the drugs?” The Lieutenant prompted.
“Sir, we have received multiple indications from our interviews that the drugs and alcohol were provided by Tripp Hartman who hosted both the July 4th party at Lake Tahoe as well as the Halloween party on Friday night. It is well understood by this circle of teens that the Hartman house consistently provides alcohol, and that Tripp Hartman is frequently able to source drugs. Apparently Mr & Mrs Hartman’s philosophy is that as long as the kids drink at their house they are okay with it, as they will be ostensibly supervised, however we have learned that they are often unsupervised, as in the case of both the July 4th part and Halloween.”
“Are you talking about Jim Hartman?” The Lieutenant asked. Jeannie saw the Captain glance at him.
“Sir, yes sir.” Jeannie swallowed. “The Halloween party took place at the Hartman home on Presidio Terrace and then proceeded to Inspiration Point in The Presidio — about a quarter mile from their home.”
“Well Hagen, thank you.” The Captain began, leaning back in his chair. “This is very thorough. It stinks to high heaven, but very thorough. What has Agent Greenberg decided as a course of action?”
“Sir, Agent Greenberg is — “ Jeannie didn’t want to reveal what the course of action was in front of the Lieutenant. Something about the way he bristled at the Hartman name set off her alarms. “Agent Greenberg is still trying to evaluate the best course of action based on the evidence which is still incomplete. We are hoping to know more by end of day or tomorrow, and he will then consider the charges and which agency will file them, be it the DOJ or the local District Attorney.”
“Jesus, the Feds?” The Sergeant asked quietly.
“Sir, yes sir. However it’s tricky as the Hartman home is within the City and County of San Francisco, but the victim was found within The Presidio. This is why Agent Greenberg is considering everything very carefully.” All were silent. Jeannie kept her eyes on the spot on the wall above the Captain’s shoulder.
“Thank you Hagen. What else can we do for you?”
“Sir, we need some extra hands.”
Love this