Seven of Spades2: Trick Roller

Near noon on Thursday, Levy found a corner table at Baked Beans, a retro-style bistro in the Mirage Hotel.He rested his head with one hand, sipping black coffee with double espresso.

Martin came and he looked up at her.She, too, holds a glass of iced coffee and places a plate of French pies in the center of the table. "I've never heard so many people say, 'I didn't kill him, but I'm glad he died'," she said.

"At least the people on your side know how to be tactful, but the people on my side are outspoken and say what they say word for word."

They spent the morning conducting spot-on interviews with Hensley's colleagues during a panel discussion at the Hospice and Palliative Care conference.From Levi's experience, when a person is murdered, everyone he knows will go out of his way to whitewash the person's shortcomings and beautify his strengths-Martin calls this "deification of the dead."After Hensley was murdered, no one reacted like this. This is more evidence of his character than simple words.

Martin deliberately pushed the custard pie toward him.

"I don't want to eat." Levi was a little upset.

"That's it? If you tell me that you have taken something other than coffee today, I won't bother you to let you eat it."

He frowned at her.

"You've had too much caffeine and you're starting to shiver." She nodded her head against his hands. "Eat the fucking custard pie."

With a drawn-out groan, he pulled the plate closer, taking an exaggerated bite.She just smiled softly.

The custard pie was good—a fluffy blend of kale and cheddar, with a perfect flaky crust—so he let it go and ate it.It's not that he doesn't eat on purpose, it's just that when he's distracted, eating is often out of the question.

"Then we've made it clear that everyone hates Hensley." While Levi was eating, Martin said, "but when it comes to which murder motive can be called serious, only one person pops up in my mind--Helen Dumont Doctor. I've heard from several independent sources that even by Hensley's standards, they are bitter rivals. He deliberately kept her out of research funding, and she decided to fight back. However, I and this She didn't say a word about it when the good doctor talked."

Levy swallowed a mouthful of pie and said, "I've heard about her too. There's another name that keeps popping up——Dr. Arjun Bhatia. It seems that Hensley tore up his research project and put His professional reputation is in the mud. His career still hasn't recovered."

"Did he attend the meeting?"

"Maybe. But I haven't been able to find him yet."

"Then let's go find him next, question them both harshly, and check their Saturday night alibi. Are you going to meet with Dr. Kapoor on your lunch break?"

Levi nodded.

"It would be great if Kallman could take out the files we need from Walsh's hard drive, and things would be much easier." Martin said with a sigh.

The day before, Walsh's girlfriend had tearfully confessed that she knew he was carrying out various blackmail schemes.He never shared details with her, and she never asked, content to sit back and enjoy the dirty deal and never ask.The only thing she was sure of was that he communicated with the target, using a disposable cell phone.No cellphones like this have ever been seen at a crime scene, so if there are, you can bet the killer took them.

Levy and Martin ensured that the Walsh desktop and backup hard drives were sent to the branch for analysis by Kalman Rivera.That morning, she broke the bad news to them.

"The security on this is insane," she said. "Walsh must have hired someone to encrypt the data, which is way beyond standard commercial protection. You're lucky that the system returns from sleep mode without asking for it again. Authentication, but that's all probably because Walsh turned it off. Most computer security issues are due to human laziness. Also, the CSI officers had to shut down the computer for transport, so the system reset .”

"Are you saying you can't get in any of them?" Levi asked.

"I can, it's a matter of method and time. I'm worried that the violent intrusion will trigger the automatic anti-theft device on the spot and destroy the data. I have to use a clever trick to get in, so it will take longer."

So now, with the potential circumstantial evidence that could solve the case locked away in a little black box, they're helpless.This is really frustrating.

"We all know that the day Walsh was killed, he was in the front desk from midnight until nine in the morning," Levy said at this point. "What he saw cost him his life. We just need to analyze what it is." gone."

After he and Martin finished their coffee, they split up again, and they returned to the meeting that was taking place throughout the Mirage.Levy spent hours asking people who had worked with Hensley what was going on, and he felt like pulling his hair out.He had never investigated a similar case before. The key point was not who wanted to be killed, but who wanted it the most among so many people.

When the meeting was suspended and lunch time began, Levy and Anika Kapoor met on the spot at Pantley's.They found a relatively quiet corner.

"Thank you for accommodating my itinerary." After they all ordered, Kapoor said, "I'm so busy that I don't even touch the ground."

"It's nothing," he said.

She clasped her hands, put them on the table, and said, "Clarissa Northridge told me that you no longer feel that Stephen was killed by the lady he hired."

"That's right, our guess now is that a certain participant knew that the suspicion would fall on her first, and took full advantage of the opportunity to murder Dr. Hensley." Levi paused, "Maybe it's too direct? , but I'm sure you can understand the difficulty we have in identifying motives. Ordinary murder victims may have a few people who genuinely want to kill them. As for Dr. Hensley, there are a dozen on that list names, and counting.”

She didn't say a word, and kept stroking the edge of the tissue with her fingertips.

"Because everyone's rooms are very close to each other, each potential suspect has enough chances to enter Hensley's room, so the situation is very complicated. As for the means—that, it is not difficult for the doctor to get Rohya Puno."

"Indeed." She looked hesitant, raised her eyes to meet Levi's gaze, "I know very well how many people hate Stephen. When they express their so-called condolences, I can hear it-they are very happy that Stephen died But wanting someone to die is a completely different thing from actually murdering. I can't imagine anyone I know crossing that threshold."

"Someone straddled," Levy said.

Kapoor took a sip of water slowly, his face clouded.She put down the glass and said, "You think it's me?"

"I think broadly."

"The relationship between me and Stephen may be the most harmonious in Stephen's life. I have no reason to kill him more than anyone else."

"If you haven't slept with him, it might be true."

It was a wild guess based on Martin's intuition, but it was a good guess.Kapoor's eyes widened and his breathing became more rapid.Then she swallowed, and looked around the restaurant secretly, as if the other table might have ears. "It's not what you think."

"But you didn't deny it," he said, silently thanking Martin for his eyes.

"Stephen and I didn't have an affair," she said. "We only slept together occasionally, but there was no romantic relationship between us. He respected me, anyway, that's how much he respects people. Respect to him is more than love." more precious."

"how about you?"

"I..." Sadness and nostalgia showed on her face, "Stephen was an excellent internal medicine specialist, a true genius. I know that doesn't excuse his flaws or the way he treats people. I know. I never will Probably love him as much as I love my husband. But there’s always that spark of attraction between us—a physical encounter as well as an important intellectual encounter.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, and Levi gave her a moment to collect.Then he asked, "Does your husband know?"

She shook her head.

"And Dr. Northridge?"

"Yeah," Kapoor said, to Levy's surprise. "She knew it all along. She and Stephen have been separated for many years, and the two of them are just a formal marriage."

Levi frowned and asked, "Then why not divorce?"

She shrugged and said, "I don't know all the details, but the Northridge family is an aristocratic family. Clarissa and Stephen have no prenuptial agreement. If they divorce, he may have the right to claim some of her family's property. They If you don't get divorced, everything will be much simpler."

Well, it was the most frustrating thing he'd ever heard.He jotted it down and continued to ask: "During our conversation on Sunday, you said that you knew about Dr. Hensley's habit of ordering compensated dating services when he was traveling on business. Aren't you jealous?"

"Of course not. As I told you, there is no romance between me and Stephen. There's no room for jealousy."

He was in no position to dispute that, so without saying a word, he took a picture of Walsh from his coat pocket and slid it across the table, "Do you know this male?"

"No." She glanced hastily and said, "Should I know?"

Before he could answer, the waiter arrived with food—a chicken Caesar salad and a steak with chips.This was not the waiter who took the order, and he started putting the salad in front of Kapoor without asking.

"It's the other way around," Levy said.He didn't mean to condemn it so harshly, but he hated the assumption that people made gender stereotypes.

The waiter murmured an apology, and after exchanging the plates, he fled as if to escape.Levi poked at the salad with a fork and was still full from the custard pie, but he felt compelled to order something.

"I understand your suspicion, Mr. Detective," Kapoor said.She picked up the fork and the steak knife that was on the plate, "But I also know that the casino is one of the few places in the world that is closely monitored. I was in Mirage when Stephen died. There must be a lot of—"

She was still talking, but Levi wasn't listening anymore.As she cut the steak, he stared at her hand, then reached across the table and took the knife from her.

She screamed, but he was already distracted and had no time to apologize.This steak knife has a beautifully carved pewter handle with abstract motifs that resemble vines.

This is exactly the same type of knife that killed Alan Walsh.

***

"They obviously couldn't figure out if there was a missing knife," Martin said by phone, "but the food and beverage manager determined that the knife that Walsh found on the scene was made for Mirage. It only provides some restaurants and room service inside it.”

Levi paced back and forth outside Pantley's. "Room service, of course. It wouldn't be difficult for the killer to keep a knife in his room and up his sleeve when he visited Walsh."

"Even if you didn't believe that the two murders of Walsh and Hensley were really related, you can only believe it now."

"Speaking of which, why did you leave the knife behind? The murderer was obviously very cautious about the scene of the first murder."

"I think you're right about why the murderer vomited after he killed Walsh," she said. "The man must have been in a panic at the time. Either he forgot the knife, or he didn't expect us to connect the knife." Mirage, I forgot to turn off the computer. The stabbing experience frightened the murderer, we are lucky."

"Well, I just finished talking with Dr. Kapoor." He glanced at his watch. "I'm going back to the branch, checking my alibi three times, and following up on the forensic work at Walsh's scene. We must have missed something."

"Okay, I'll see you there."

Levy hung up the phone and walked to the hall.He and Martin had come together in her car, but it didn't matter if he took a quick taxi back.Mirage was only four miles from the precinct, just down the Las Vegas Strip—or perhaps even faster, along the parallel Las Vegas Freeway.

As he walked through the casino, passing the centrally located, aptly named Center Bar, a customer caught his eye.Craig Warner, pale and lanky, slumped on a bar stool, leaning his elbows on the bar, pouring himself a large glass of wine.Levi hadn't been able to find him all morning, which would explain why.Judging from the scene, the cocktail in his hand was not the first one today.

Levy walked to the bar, joined him, and said, "Isn't it early for Mai Tais?"

Warner blinked at him drunkenly, and didn't seem to recognize him right away. "It's okay in Las Vegas."

That's right.Levi sat on the high stool next to him and waved away the waiter who wanted to come.

"You know what, I'm supposed to be listening to a lecture on management of delirium in geriatric patients right now," Warner said.He sipped the wine in his glass and made a noise.

"I take the liberty to ask, why are you here instead?"

Warner didn't answer right away.He held the cup tightly with both hands, as if if he let go even for a moment, the cup would be taken away.

"I'm glad Hensley is dead," he said.

He obviously had more to say, and Levi waited for him without saying a word.

"Dr. Kapoor told me the news on Sunday, and my first reaction—the very first reaction—was to breathe a sigh of relief." Warner closed his eyes, "I don't think I can handle this emotion."

"I understand that working with Dr. Hensley is hard work," Levy said cautiously.

Warner sneered, and said, "Hard work? Saying I'm living in hell isn't flattering him. But—happy for another person to be killed? That's insane." He looked at Levi pleadingly. "How to reconcile with my part?"

The hostage robbery at the 'Tropical Garden Hotel' a few months ago flashed unconsciously in Levy's mind-the panicked robber surrounded by the police in the lobby, and the little boy he used as a shield.And that fatal shot Levi had taken right in the middle of his forehead.

Dale Slater was down and the boy was alive and well, and Levi felt a moment of pure, intense satisfaction.The next moment, he was immersed in disgusting shame. Although Natasha helped him get through the most difficult stage, this shame still persists to this day.

"You're asking the wrong person, trust me," he said.

Warner, playing with the pineapple on the rim, said, "I thought about going home to Baltimore and fucking the show tomorrow. But Dr. Northridge talked me out of it."

"Yes, she mentioned that she came to support you and Dr. Kapoor."

"She was a wonderful doctor—a wonderful woman. Hensley was no match for her. I'm surprised she flew here so soon after Hensley died. If I were her, I I don’t know if I’ll take the trouble to come.”

"You call the full 48 hours 'fast'?" Levy said.

Warner frowned and said, "Well, we only found out on Sunday morning, so Monday afternoon isn't too late."

"Dr. Northridge flew to Vegas on Tuesday." Levi wondered, "Did you see her on Monday?"

"That..." Warner cleared his throat and straightened up. "No, you know, I must have made a mistake. It's been a stressful week, and the days have gotten mixed up." He motioned to the waiter, and again Said, "Hey, can I buy you a drink?"

"No thanks. I'm at work." Levi took Warner's anxious body language into his eyes and jumped off the high stool, "I have to go back to work. It's probably time for you to work too. I'm not looking down on everything you've been through , but it might not be worth your career."

"Thank you, Mr. Detective," Warner said, saluting him with his glass.

Levy stalks through Mirage's tropical-style lobby, pulling out his phone.Clarissa Northridge was in Baltimore when Hensley died, an absolutely seamless alibi.There is no reason to doubt it.

It doesn't hurt to confirm a few things, though.

[1] That is MaiTai, a cocktail made of rum, Curacao wine (soaked with a citrus fruit from the Curacao Islands), almond syrup, and orange juice.