“Alright,” Salvi said to Kara. “We’ll get Riverton to check it out. Thanks.”
They turned to leave but Kara stopped them. “Hey, you seen Caine?”
Salvi shook her head. “Not today.”
“Okay,” Kara said, but Salvi detected concern.
“Everything alright?”
“Yeah. I was just expecting a call. I’ll catch him later.”
Salvi nodded and she stepped back into the corridor with Beggs. “Is Caine seeing Kara now? I thought he was dating Belle from Cyber?”
Beggs shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t keep up with the pretty boy’s girlfriends.”
They arrived back at the homicide bullpen, lost their coats and logged into the hub’s systems.
“Riverton,” Salvi spoke, “show me the rap sheet for Mr. Calabri.”
“Yes, detective.” Riverton briefly appeared, then disappeared again, before Calabri’s rap sheet displayed. Salvi scanned the short list, which showed a couple of assaults and speeding fines, but little else.
“No drug busts,” Beggs said, reading the details at his console.
“No,” Salvi said, leaning back in her chair, thinking. She bent forward again. “Riverton, can you estimate when Myki broke up with Mellon and when she hooked up with Barker?”
“One moment, detective, while I scan my data.”
“Well, there were no fingerprints on the forensics report, so the killer was wearing gloves,” Beggs said, reading his screen. “Riverton, was Calabri or one of his associates wearing gloves?”
“No, detective,” Riverton answered. “Not in the security footage.”
“None were wearing black either,” Salvi said, studying the image.
Beggs nodded. “Let’s see what the fibers Weston found tie us to. Hopefully it links Calabri to Barker somehow.”
“If we’re lucky that’ll give us Calabri or one of his companions, but not Mellon,” Salvi said. “If Mellon ordered Barker’s murder, we need to take him down too.”
“Linking him to the crime is going to be hard,” Beggs said. “We gotta take what we can get.”
“Screw that. Myki remains in danger if we don’t get Mellon.”
“Detectives,” Riverton’s image lit up their screens. “My best estimate, based on analysis of public photographs and from Barker’s phone records is that a period of approximately one to two weeks passed between relationships.”
“One to two weeks,” Salvi repeated. “Myki said they’ve been dating for three months. Why would Mellon wait three months to do something about it?”
Beggs shrugged, “Maybe they didn’t go public until now.”
“That is incorrect, detective,” Riverton said. “Their first public photo on social media was three weeks after the breakup with Mellon,” Riverton told them.
Beggs shrugged, “Maybe Mellon spent the past three months stewing over it.”
“What about Barker’s business records?” Salvi asked. “Do we have warrant clearance for those yet?”
“Yes, detective. I am analyzing the data as we speak. I have also made contact with the landlord of Barker’s photographic studio. He will meet you there in an hour.”
“Good,” Beggs said, standing. “Let’s check it out.”
Caine walked in then, looking like he’d slept in last night’s clothes.
“Hey,” Salvi said, looking him over. “Kara Shadid was looking for you.”
“Yeah?” he said, moving quickly to his desk and looking for something. “I’ll see her in a minute.”
“Everything alright?” Beggs asked, studying him too.
“Yeah,” he looked up at them, flashing his Hollywood smile, then found what he was looking for in his desk drawer, a card of some kind, which he placed in his wallet.
“Where’s Mitch?” Salvi asked.
“Ah…” Caine said, distracted, walking for the door again, putting his wallet back in his pocket. “Don’t know. I’ll meet up with him in a bit.”
Salvi looked at Beggs but he shrugged it off.
“Probably had a big night and knows his ass is in the shit.”
Salvi stepped aside as the landlord for Barker’s studio, Reg Clumsky, unlocked the door for them. Reg stood around 5’9 and weighed about 160lbs. He wore an expensive suit and a gaunt, worried expression, like at any given moment he was about to lose a lot of money, or his pet dog was about to be killed. Or maybe cops just made him nervous. Ever since Riverton had identified the studio as Barker’s, there had been a uniformed officer placed outside on watch.
Barker’s studio was located in a newly redeveloped industrial area, where warehouses offered inner city access with modern design. In the row of reformed warehouse spaces beside Barker’s, Salvi saw a scrunch workout studio, a training salon for hair and make-up stylists, and a small property outlet selling off-the-plan high spec molecular apartments. She also saw several expensive cars parked out front.
The landlord’s movements were rushed as he rolled the large door back.
“Ever get any trouble around here?” Beggs asked the man.
“No,” he said, darting his nervous eyes to Beggs’ holo-badge, knowing he was being filmed. “Never had any complaints and he paid his rent on time. He seemed to get a lot of business, so he must’ve done good work.”
Clumsky turned on the stark white lights and waved them forward. “I don’t suppose you know how long you need to keep this for before I can rent it out again? He was due to pay rent this week for the coming month, which means I’m going to be short.”
Salvi and Beggs stared at the man. He read their answer clearly.
“I’ll… go wait in the car,” he said, darting his eyes to the uniformed officer standing close by. “I have to attend to something.”
They watched him leave.
“Anyone been snooping around, Sinclair?” Beggs asked the officer on guard, reading his name badge.
Sinclair shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen anything, and nothing’s been reported by the night shift.”
Beggs nodded and they stepped into the large open white space that was Barker’s studio. To their right sat a small waiting area with artsy white loungers. To their left was a desk with a series of consoles and monitors that looked to be his main working space. The rest of the warehouse was Barker’s photographic set, complete with backdrops, props and large lights.
Beggs moved to the desk, snapped on some gloves, and began looking through drawers. Salvi moved toward his studio, stopping to study the digital frames along the wall, displaying slideshows and short videos of his work. From
