Into The Heat (Sandy Reid Mystery Series Book 6) (10 page)

S
hapiro’s office assistant ushered Sandy into the state attorney’s office immediately and closed the door behind her. Sandy said, “Why all the cloak and dagger secrecy? If you wanted me over here for a kiss just ask for it.”

“I’d like that better than what I have to tell you. You’d better sit down.”

“Sounds ominous.” She sat anyway. “Okay, spit it out.”

“I know how fond you’ve become of Nigel Edwards.” He turned his eyes away. “Well, I’m afraid your young man isn’t all he seems to be.”

“I don’t know where this is going, but you’re wrong. He’s a fine young man who could charm the birds out of the trees.”

“I’m serious. From what I’ve learned, he’s a dangerous addition to your office. Our computer technician has proof that Nigel’s so-called ‘pixel discovery’ is a fraud. He used a simple raster graphics editor, easily available on the Internet, to copy an image of a gun and paste it into the victim’s hand. In short, he photo-shopped that video. Our technician, Bill Baines checked it out.”

“I don’t believe a word of it.”

“I relied on that image to reduce your client’s charge to second-degree. That is serious business. And you presented that fraudulent evidence to the judge. I’m the state attorney in charge of this judicial district, my reputation will be shattered, and I’ll be the laughing stock of the county. And you will no doubt be censured by the ethics committee.” His voice was beginning to crack. “You’ve given me tampered evidence.”

“Nigel just isn’t the type to do that. Such a trick would violate the trust I’ve placed in him. Plus, I’m certain he’d never deceive me personally.”

“What do you really know about the guy? Did you check him out?”

“Born in Chicago. Parents are British citizens. Father was in the diplomatic corps stationed in Chicago. Father now retired and lives with his mother back in the UK.”

“And you verified all this information?”

“Well, he told me. Oh, he also told me he was six foot one. I didn’t verify that either.”

“Sounds as if you failed to check anything he told you. Meanwhile, he has access to all the personal data on your past and present clients, and freedom to roam in your office. Last week, my staff assistant called the police department to get a preliminary crime report on the Coleman case, and guess what? The clerk over there said she had just faxed Nigel a copy because he said I had ordered it. Were you aware that he’s doing such things in my name?”

“Geez, you’ve caught me red handed. I told him to use your name.”

“What about past employment, which incidentally amounts to nothing. He’s just been bouncing around. And what about citizenship?”

“I didn’t check. Frankly, I don’t care.”

“Well, aren’t you the cavalier one. We
have
checked. You’re correct, being born in the USA of UK parents means he has dual-citizenship. In other words, he can leave the country at any time without notice.”

“What does that mean? Any of us can grab our passports and leave the country at any time. Who am I supposed to give notice to?” Her annoyance was mounting. “Mel, I know you have my best interests at heart. But photo-shopping evidence is a serious charge. I want to see proof, and I want to hear his side of all this. The defense attorney in me says he’s innocent until proven guilty. I’m not worrying about it until it’s proven. Now, promise me you’ll put a lid on all this until we look into it. The guy’s reputation is at stake.”

“I don’t know if I can keep a lid on it, but I’ll try.”

“You had better keep it quiet, if this accusation gets out and you’re wrong, you can flush
your
reputation down the toilet.”

“We have already sent the flash-drive he created up to the FDLE crime lab in Tallahassee for evaluation. It’s too late to get it back. If it’s a phony the whole world will soon know.”

“Yeah, and how long will this evaluation take, six months?”

“I told them it was urgent. Anyway, I want him off the Coleman case until this is settled. I don’t want him touching it.”

“Mel!”

“Look, I’m on notice about this and have to take action. You and I have always cooperated based on trust and taken unofficial action when needed. What I’m asking for is Nigel out of your office for the duration. He has us both on dangerous ground here.”

“I’ll agree to take him off the case temporarily, but only until I have a chance to hear his side of it. I’m not agreeing to anything else.”

She had mixed feelings heading back to the office, reluctant to face Nigel, yet eager to hear his side. She went straight into Martin’s office and shut the door. He said, “You certainly look upset. What did Mel have to say?”

“He claims the video enlargement of the gun in the victim’s hand that Nigel came up with was faked.”

“He claims, or he has proof? Let’s get Nigel in here.”

Nigel was called in, he noticed their expressions, and said, “Who died?”

She explained that Bill Baines, the computer expert for the state attorney’s office had determined the gun in the victim’s hand was photo-shopped.

“God save us from computer experts,” was Nigel’s reply. “Show me any nine-year-old with a computer, and I’ll show you a grandfather who swears the kid’s an absolute computer genius.”

She said, “Please understand I’m not accusing you of anything, but that’s where it stands. Shapiro’s computer expert, Bill Baines, says it’s a fake.”

“He’s not a computer expert until
I
say he’s a computer expert. And we’re not talking computers here anyway, we’re talking algorithms and graphics. He’s never seen it done before, so it can’t be done. I know the type. I don’t mean to be flip, but are you people serious?”

“No, we do not seriously believe you would do such a thing, yet the accusation is there,” Martin said. “I wonder if this would work. Can you call Baines and explain where he went wrong? Maybe explain how you did it?”

“He wouldn’t understand. I’m not saying the man is stupid, I’ve never met him. However, I promise you explaining it to him would be a waste of time, as pointless as teaching a cat to play dead. I started writing this code when I was considering going for my masters. I intended to submit it as my thesis. Later, I thought, I should copyright it and make a billion bucks. Whatever, I don’t intend to disclose the actual code to
anyone
.”

She said, “Mel has sent your flash-drive up to the computer crime lab at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Tallahassee to confirm that it was photo-shopped.”

“Good,” Nigel said. “They will find that it wasn’t. Now may I get back to work?”

Martin said, “Nigel, I’m sure it’s frustrating to have all of your ability and not be able to use it in such a simple setting as our law office. And I know you’re trying to help us. But this is a different atmosphere here. We’re always under the microscope of the court.”

She hesitated, not wanting to say the rest, “Mel agreed not to take this any further, until he hears back from Tallahassee. However, he wants you off this case.”

Nigel smiled a tight sarcastic smile. “And Mel Shapiro runs this law office?”

“Look, he was about to pursue a tampering with evidence charge against you.” Her face flushed red. “To keep that from happening, I made a deal. You’ll be off the case while we wait for Tallahassee. That will also give me some time to investigate this matter.”

“Frankly, Sandy, you are not qualified to investigate this matter. I am truly hurt. You would not have made such a deal if you trusted me and believed in me.”

“That’s not fair,” Martin said. “She’s taken your side from the very start and never wavered.”

She tried for eye contact, but Nigel wouldn’t look at her. “Let’s do this, just take the rest of the week off, with pay of course and let all this settle down.”

“Gladly!”

He turned and hurriedly left the building. Slamming the door was tempting but he didn’t do it.

He started his car and sat with his head down on the steering wheel for a full minute. Then he took a slip of paper from his wallet and stared at it.
When may I see you
, she had once asked him in the office. Was she still interested? Had she made another connection? He took out his phone and dialed.

“Hello?”

“Hello!”

“Oh wow, it’s you,” her voice said. “I thought we weren’t supposed to fraternize?”

“I need to yell at someone, and you’re the first person who came to my mind.”

“Not the smoothest line I’ve ever heard, but okay, you can yell at me.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at work, Nigel, where else on a Wednesday afternoon? Why don’t you come over to my place later? I get off at five. No, I’ll leave early give me an hour. No, I’ll leave now. You need the address?”

He looked down at the slip of paper. “I have it.”

“Can you bring a bottle of wine?”

“What do you like?”

“Cabernet. Why don’t you plan on staying late… you know.”

“Look, aren’t we moving a little fast here? You must be somewhat stressed out and sort of on the rebound at this point.”

“Rebound? I was never in love with that guy. True, I hung around too long, but I’ve forgiven myself for that. I really want to see you. You understand? How many days off do you have?”

“The rest of the week—plus the weekend.”

“No kidding? Well, how about that.”

M
onday morning, and Sandy hadn’t heard from Nigel since his dramatic exit from the Bronner and Reid law office on Wednesday. His phone had been out of service. She told herself not to worry until Saturday. But then no contact again on Saturday.

Would she ever see him again? Did he head back to Indiana? It hadn’t occurred to her to call Charlene. Sunday morning his phone was in service, but the call went to voice mail. She was pleased to leave a message informing him that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement had concluded their investigation and reported back to Shapiro that the video on the flash-drive had not been photo-shopped merely enlarged somehow. In fact, none of the frames had been tampered with. She immediately called again, apologized and said she hoped to see him Monday morning.

To her relief, he showed up regular time on Monday.

Sandy and Nigel were pleased to see each other. He told her he was sorry he acted badly. She apologized again. They laughed. She told him Shapiro was satisfied that nothing nefarious was going on and was cool with Nigel being back at work.

“So Nigel, everything is back to what passes for normal around here. I’m fine with everything. How about you?”

“Never been better.” He grinned, not mentioning Charlene.

Martin said, “Shapiro told us that although the FDLE found no tampering, they were perplexed at how you had managed to enlarge the frames.”

“That’s why my software is so valuable. No one else knows how it works, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Martin continued, “They forwarded the flash-drive to the FBI laboratory in Virginia for further investigation.”

“As long as they leave me alone, let them look. The FBI lab won’t understand it either. My present thought is to never entirely explain it, as that would reveal my algorithms and proprietary secrets. The world will have joyful use of it without knowing exactly how it’s done.”

“On the downside,” she explained, “when the case comes to trial, Shapiro said he intends to make a motion that your enlarged video showing the gun be excluded as evidence, on the grounds it was unproven science. I had no answer for that. So in the end, your technique doesn’t help with our case, at least in court.”

“Ah, but maybe it
can
help,” Nigel said. “Until my software disclosed that it was a gun, no one thought to look extremely close at the victim hand. At the very least, you could demand that the prosecution zoom in on that hand using ordinary, existing technology. Couldn’t you then argue—?”

“Got it!” she interrupted. “I can’t prove the dark object in his hand is a gun, but I can argue the victim is definitely holding something.”

Martin jumped in, “And since no other object, other than a gun, was found in his car it might well have been a gun he was holding.”

“Thanks again, Nigel.”

“Oh, you probably would have thought of it.”

She joined Martin in his office to talk further about their strategy. Two hours later, they came back up to Nigel’s desk. She said, “I see you brought your lunch. If you don’t mind handling things, we’ve decided to walk over to the Windward Bar for a long lunch.”

“Take your time.”

A mere thirty minutes had passed when their lunch was interrupted by a surprising call from Nigel describing an interesting situation back at the office. “There are two FBI agents here, scowling at me.”

“Relax, they can wait,” she said into the phone. “Tell them we’re in a meeting. I’m meeting Bloody Mary, and Martin is drowning two large olives in gin and vermouth.”

“It’s me they want, Sandy, and I expect the handcuffs to be coming out at any time.”

They hurried back and found two suited men ominously facing Nigel in the front office.

“And who are you?” she asked.

“Who are you?” the brown suit responded.

“Sandra Reid, and this is my partner, Martin Bronner. This is our law office. Let’s see your stuff.”

They held out FBI cards and badges. She was still writing down their names and numbers when the black suit started talking. She held up her hand to silence him until she finished writing. Then she nodded.

“Is there someplace we can talk to Nigel here in private?” said the brown suit.

“What is this about?” Martin asked.

“We’ll explain it to him.”

“We are his attorneys,” he said calmly. “You’ll explain it to us.”

“It has come to our attention that he’s in possession of computer technology, which might be vital to national security.”

“Sorry, he doesn’t want to talk about that,” Martin said. “Anything else?”

The black suit said, “You realize that he can be legally required—.”

She interrupted him. “Let’s not get into any fifth amendment questions here. Is there anything else?”

The black suit stepped closer. “Do you understand, Nigel Edwards, you could do your country a great deal of good by letting us examine what you’re doing?”

“He’ll think about it,” Martin said.

The other agent looked at Nigel. “Is that the computer you use here at work?”

She said quickly, “We have already informed you that we are his attorneys. Now direct your questions to one of us, not him. He’s not answering. Yes, that is the computer, and it belongs to the law office.”

The brown suit said, “We’ll be returning with a warrant to confiscate that computer. You’re now on notice that we consider that computer as evidence, and from this point on, any attempt to destroy or interfere with any evidence on that computer is a federal offense.”

She said, “In other words, unless he gives up his rights to his own intellectual property voluntarily, the government will take it from him by force.”

Nigel surprised everyone by saying, “Might as well let them take it now and save everyone a lot of trouble.”

“Nigel! Don’t say another word. Excuse us while we speak with our client in private.” She didn’t wait for a response, but motioned for Nigel and Martin to follow her to the back office.

In a low voice, she said, “You have proprietary technical information on that computer. If the government is this interested, it may indeed be worth millions to you. You can’t be certain they won’t steal it or leak it.”

“I knew they’d be coming after my code sooner or later.”

Martin said, “We can fight this.”

“Not necessary,” Nigel said, “I expected something like this might happen. I took the real software code off that computer last week. It’s safe at home on flash-drives. All they will find on that computer are fake files, all of which are poorly encrypted so they look very suspicious.”

She said, “But that’s the very thing Shapiro accused you of—committing fraud.”

“No, I haven’t made any claims about the phony files I encrypted and left on that computer. I didn’t tamper with any evidence. And the FDLE and the FBI have both said the enlarged video I gave Shapiro was not photo-shopped.”

“I get it,” Martin said, “You took the real files off the computer and replaced them with a decoy file, which will only confuse them more.”

“Correct. Now I’m free to do whatever I want with my software code without being bothered by the FBI, the CIA, the NSA and foreign spies.”

Sandy and Martin stared at each other for a second before laughing.

They marched back up the hall and put on a look of defeat. “Okay,” Martin said, “you win, but I want an acknowledgement of receipt if you take that computer.”