SSJBowser

The Detective Prince Chapter 81 All Neatly Wrapped There was no one to be seen upon reaching the second floor, seeing everyone had traveled to the lower levels. They continued toward the back corner of the room, stopping once reaching the door to the security room. He was the last to enter, closing the door on his way in. They found him sitting in front of the computer desk like he had been on their previous visit. "Edward, I need you to take a look into something." Ellson said walking up to his side. "Sure thing," Ed said turning in the chair. "Did you get that problem taken care of?" "It was a misunderstanding," Ellson replied. "Some how one of our security tags got pinned onto a customers bag." "Which in result triggered the store alarm to go off." Rick added. "Well that's a new one." Ed said. "That's why I want you to go back through the last hour of the recordings to see if you can pick up how that tag got there." "I had a feeling you'd ask that of me," Ed said turning back for the screen. "Which is why I took the liberty of backtracking the tapes." "Good." "Before I forget, the system had another glitch about two minutes after you departed the room," Ed informed. "So I went ahead and started another reboot." "Another glitch?" Heiji questioned. "Oh yes," Ellson said facing him. "We've been having minor problems with the new security system we set up." "How long ago did you install this new security?" Rick asked. "Five days from now will make a month." Ellson replied. "What exactly is affected by this glitch?" Heiji asked. "Nothing too serious," Ellson replied. "Just the inability to record anything throughout the store." "But that doesn't mean we can't see what's going on from here," Ed added. "As long as someone is sitting in front of the screen of course." "So is it possible for us to watch footage of the past hour while the system reboots?" Rick asked. "No problem," Ed replied. "You can use the computer on the right, I'll continue to observe things from here." "That works for me," Rick said stepping around him to the other side. "So how does this thing work?" "Hold on," Ed replied. "I'll get it all set up for you." It was at that moment that his phone vibrated from the side of his belt, taking the time to see who was on the other line before answering it. "Hello, this is Ellson." Not another word came from his mouth, only listening to what was said. This took all but a few seconds before lowering the phone from his ear. "What was that about?" Ed asked. "It seems we have yet another problem down stairs," Ellson informed. "I better go and have a look." "Mind if I tag along?" Heiji asked. "I see no problem in that," Ellson answered before turning to Ed. "Get detective Gates here started with the video, we'll be back shortly." "Of course." Ed said with a nod. The video played back for a third time, watching as Eldelmon whispered something into the ear of the woman knelt down at the side of his bed before handing her a check. This then lead to her leaving the room. They didn't gain anything further than what they had from their first two observations of the tape. "I'd say outside of their business deal they're not too associated," Dick said. "The duration of the time she entered the room up until when she left is only a mere thirty two seconds, if they were truly acquainted I'd have expected a longer visit." "My thoughts exactly," Tim agreed. "Their conversation was filled with only business, nothing to regard anything on a personal level between the two." They watched it for a fourth time, trying to gain a new perspective with each attempt. "Finish the job, no mistakes," Conan repeated from what was said. "It's clear what Eldelmon was referring to, he obviously still has it out for his political colleague." "That's one way to look at it," Dick said. "But there's also the possibility he hired her for multiple tasks." "Then there's the whispering," Tim said. "Why try and keep things so discreet if they were the only two in the room, it's not like anyone else was near." "I caught that as well." Conan said. "What about the written check," Bruce asked. "Have you given it an in depth look?" "The audio is the only thing I've made any adjustments to," Tim answered. "I never did get around to messing with the imagery." "Leave that to me," Bruce said pausing the video. "If we know the amount of the check given, we might be able to track her whenever she deposits it." "That crossed my mind." "It's not a guaranteed we'll catch her this way, but it's defiantly worth giving a shot." Bruce said. He zoomed in on the frozen shot, locking in on the check as it was being held out to the hooded woman. He wasted no time in saving the image. He then clicked on a program sitting on the desktop, taking a few moments for it to appear on the screen. "What are you doing now?" Conan asked. "The plans to enhance the photo," Bruce replied. "Enough to where I can make out these numbers." "Which shouldn't take long," Tim said lowering Conan back to the ground. "Show and tell's over for now, I think it's about time we planned our next move." "Ditto," Dick agreed. "I'll start us off by returning to the hospital, there's got to be an explanation for how they got past security last night." "I think it's safe to conclude Jefferson Eldelmon died from something related to his sudden heart condition," Conan said. "From the video footage observed, there wasn't anything that pointed to any kind of foul play." "It's a wait and see approach at this point," Tim said. "Nothing's a lock until the final results come back in from the lab." "I think we're about done here, call me if anything else important comes up," Dick said before turning for the door. "Once I'm finished at the hospital I plan to go look into an incident that occurred last night." "Anything we should know about?" Tim asked. "Completely unrelated." "Before you go, could you go up and connect that TV to the wall," Bruce asked looking his way. "I've been meaning to get to it." "What TV?" "The one for our guest," Bruce replied. "The wall mounts already been set in place, the only thing left to do is attach the TV to it." "Sure why not, I've got time to spare." "I'll come with you," Conan said. "There's actually something I'd like to ask." "You first." Dick said stepping off to the side. With that the both of them cleared out, with the door falling shut on its own. "You know, I could have gone and set that up instead." "That won't be necessary," Bruce said turning to face him. "Besides, there's something I wanted to discuss with you." "About?" "The night you first came into contact with Jefferson Eldelmon," Bruce replied. "I want to know everything that took place." It was unknown to them what they would find upon reaching the scene. Things only became more puzzling as they made their way down the stairs, looking to see all customers currently in the store standing to the right side of the room guarded by the two security officers. "What's going on now?" Ellson asked baffled by this new development. "Something has gone missing," The clerk informed stepping around from the glass case on the left side. "Two of the synthetic diamonds to be precise." "Missing," Ellson exclaimed. "Are you saying they've been stolen?" "It appears that way sir." "Has anyone been searched?" "We were actually awaiting your word." One of the security guards replied from behind. "Well you have my word now," Ellson said looking his way. "You're free to begin." "Yes, of course." "Now," Ellson said turning back to face the clerk. "Show me which glass case the diamonds went missing from." "Right over here." Heiji followed as well they made their way around the first set of glass cases. They stopped after reaching one at the center of it all. "This is it," The clerk pointed out. "I found the case door hanging off to the side when I came over here." "How do you suppose that happened?" "It's almost as if they had a key of their own," The clerk answered. "There is no visual damage to the lock, which would imply there was no force used to gain access." "And you're sure only two diamonds are missing?" "Positive, I just finished with the count this morning," The clerk replied. "After all, more than half of the set here was brought in last night." "Did you see anyone suspicious lurking around," Ellson asked. "Anyone who might have been hanging around this glass case for a period of time?" "I don't believe so," The clerk replied. "Most everyone seemed to be looking around for the most part." "Maybe he didn't catch anything, but that doesn't mean the surveillance camera's didn't," Heiji said. "I think we better head back up and have a look." "We will, just as soon as the search is completed of all the customers." "These diamonds, the ones missing," Heiji said stepping forward. "Was there anything special about them?" "Nope, just your typical synthetic diamonds." He then turned to the other side of the room, looking to see the security guards had begun their search. "Looks like it will come down to this," Heiji thought to himself. "If they don't find anything amongst the customers, the surveillance tapes might be our only link to unraveling what happened." The image gained clarity with each adjustment made, leaning back in the chair as he gave the completed product a look. "How is it?" "The enhancements are complete, we've got a clear amount for the check," Bruce replied. "28,585." "Not a common amount, shouldn't be too hard to track when she deposits the check." Tim said pleased to hear. "I'll keep an eye on that," Bruce said. "In the mean time, we need to find another way in now that Jefferson Eldelmon has been eliminated from the equation." "I was thinking the same thing." "Which is why I want to know who he's recently been associating himself with." In that instant he walked up to the desk, reaching into his pocket before placing a card onto the table. "What's this?" Bruce asked. "Somewhere to start," Tim replied. "It's one of Cobblepot's business cards, it was actually given to Jefferson who left it behind that night." "So, this is where we pursue on to." "Not quite," Tim said. "The card was given to Eldelmon on the behalf of a Salomon Green, an acquaintance of his." "That must mean he's the one connected to the Penguin," Bruce said. "What do you know about Mr. Green?" "Little to nothing, I haven't run any searches on him at this point," Tim replied. "But that's not the only thing, he also brought up someone else during their conversation." "Anyone we know?" "Not yet, he's actually someone hired from out of town." "What's his occupation?" "Can't say for sure, Salomon referred to him as a straight shot," Tim informed. "There's a couple of directions you can take from that." "And what's the name of this, straight shot?" "Norio, Norio Hue." "Looks like we have some work to do," Bruce said. "Starting now." They waited patiently from the side, watching as the search of the customers continued on. This lasted for over ten minutes before one of the security guards looked their way with the shake of his head. "There's nothing here to find," He said walking toward them. "They all came up clean." "I see." "What now Mr. Ellson?" The clerk asked. "I'm going to go review this further in the surveillance room," Ellson replied. "I'll leave it to you to handle things down here." "What about the customers?" The officer asked. "They're free to leave whenever they so choose, just make sure to get contact information from each of them," Ellson replied. "If we find anything incriminating on any of the tapes we can always summon them back." "I understand," The clerk said. "But shouldn't we at least hold them here until you look over the tapes?" "I can't enforce that." "He's right," Heiji said. "Everyone's already been searched." "Now what?" "You just stay here and keep a look out on things," Ellson replied while turning for the stairs. "A sharp look out." "Hold on," Heiji said following after him. "I'm coming with you." It was a silent walk back up, neither saying a word to the other as they pressed on toward the back corner. He reached for his keys after reaching the door, unlocking the door in a matter of moments. "What happened down there," Ed asked looking toward them as they entered the room. "We've been watching from here." "Was something stolen," Rick asked. "We saw the security guards searching the customers." "Afraid that might be the case," Heiji replied. "A pair of synthetic diamonds have gone missing, no leads to where they might be as of now." "Which is why we need to go through and look over the recordings," Ellson said. "With any luck, we should have our unsub on tape." "Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves there," Heiji said before turning to Rick. "What about that security clothes tag, did you guys find out how it got onto his bag?" "Negative," Ed replied. "We checked all cameras, the instant when the security tag was connected to his bag happened off screen." "How so," Heiji asked. "Don't you have every square inch of this store accounted for." "True, but each of the cameras pivots from one side to another while on their look out," Ed informed. "Which leaves a slight gap in time where certain areas can't be seen." "So much for top notch security." Heiji muttered. "We'll worry about the clothes tag in time," Ellson stated. "But right now I want to find out what happened to those diamonds, as in last week." "Already on it," Ed said twirling in his chair to face the computer. "I'll rewind the tapes, I'm most certain whatever happened is on tape." "How can you be so sure?" Rick asked. "We've always got a clear shot on the register, as with any of the glass cases," Ellson replied. "We don't know what happened with those diamonds, but we'll know soon enough." He stood from directly behind as the recorded footage was set into reverse, hoping that was indeed the case. "I was assembled here to handle my first official case here in Gotham, funny how that turned into three in such a short amount of time," Heiji thought to himself. "One thing's for sure, there's more to this whole thing than meets the eye." Everything was tightly locked into place, double checking to make sure this was indeed the case. He then took a step back to gaze up at the completed product, shaking his head in acceptance. "So, what do you think," Dick said looking down at him "I think it's the perfect spot." "I was just thinking the same thing," Conan replied. "Nothing better than waking up to a TV across the way." "Not that I really care to know, but was this TV your idea," Dick asked. "To be honest, I always took you as more of a book person." "Your spot on with your deduction, reading is one of my favored mediums," Conan said in response. "It was actually Alfred who saw the TV idea through." "That comes as no surprise," Dick said. "So tell me, what is it you wanted to ask me?" "Oh, that's right," Conan said. "I actually wanted to know something about that case you mentioned." "What case?" "The incident that occurred last night." "Oh that," Dick said. "What did you want to know?" "What happened," Conan asked. "Was someone hurt?" "Three people to be exact." "How badly?" "Fatally shot," Dick replied. "Which is always unfortunate, not one of your normal cases of the week." "What do you mean by that?" "The weapon used to kill the three was left behind at the scene, along with a pair of gloves apparently used by the shooter," Dick replied. "An AWC G2 rifle." "The weapon used was left behind at the scene?!" "Yea, that's right." "Looks like our culprit was busier than we thought." "Say what?" "Bruce came across similar incident last night," Conan informed. "Nine men were found dead along the street, six shot and another three stabbed." "Where did this happen?" "Outside of some sporting complex." "I think I know of it." "I find it strange none of what you saw was reported on the news," Conan said. "If it had, the rest of us would have known." "It got over shadowed by most everything else going on." "Any chance this could be the same guy?" Conan asked. "Only one way to find out," Dick replied. "We'll have to cross reference details between both cases." "Which means going back to the study," Conan said. "Bruce wrote down everything there is to know about what happened." "Come, there's no time to waste," Dick said. "If there's a potential lead, I'd like to get on it right away." "You read my mind." After a seemingly long period of time, the video was finally put to a stop. They stood in silence for the moments that followed, unsure where to progress from there. "Now what," Rick said. "The process in which the diamonds were taken was not recorded." "Not to worry," Heiji said. "It only means the diamonds were taken after the reboot of the computers was launched." "Which would have been some time after that security tag caused the alarms to react." Ellson said. "If that's the case I would have seen what took place," Ed said. "Not once did I see anyone messing around near that glass case." "There's just no way," Ellson exclaimed with the shake of his head. "Diamonds don't just get up and walk out on their own with no trace, there has to be an explanation for this!" "Don't jump the gun just yet," Rick calmingly said. "This investigation is far from over." "Ed, was there ever a time you left this room?" Heiji asked. "Earlier I left for an important visit to the." Ed began only to be cut off. "I meant after the surveillance was put on lock," Heiji clarified. "At any time, did you leave this room?" "I... did." Ed admitted after slight hesitation. "Edward, why would you do that," Ellson snapped. "You knew the security cameras would be down for a period!" "I'm sorry," Ed apologized. "But.. but I heard something." "You heard something," Rick questioned. "What excaly did you hear?" "The sound of a young child weeping, it was faint," Ed replied with a pause. "That's what prompted me to leave the room, but I was only gone for a second or two." "I take it you didn't find any distressed child," Heiji said. "So tell us what you did come to discover." "This," Ed said pulling something out from his jacket wrapped in a cloth. "It was laying on the ground." He carefully unwrapped the cloth, laying his eyes on an unfamiliar device. "So, what is that thing?" Ellson asked coming to his side. "Not quite sure," Heiji replied. "But if I'm not mistaken, I'd say it's some kind of sound device." "Now I see," Rick said with a snap of his finger. "Whoever laid that thing there must have wanted to lure him out, leaving them clear to move on with their heist." "Are you saying this was planned by the one who took the diamonds?" Ellson asked. "No doubt in my mind," Rick said with confidence. "And now that we have it, we can use it as a means of tracking it back to them." "Not possible," Heiji stated upon further review. "Unless we have finger prints that is." "Well don't stop there," Rick said looking his way. "Enlighten us Hattori." "No tags, no bar code," Heiji informed. "That can only mean this was hand created, customized." "Then what do we do now," Ellson questioned. "How are we supposed to find the diamonds with no leads?" ".. I don't know," Rick replied. "I truly don't know." He wrapped the cloth back around the device, finding a secure spot for it in his jacket. He stood there for moments to come, keeping to himself as he collected his thoughts. "The sound recorder all but links the the security tag and the disappearance of the diamonds as a whole," Heiji thought to himself. "But what about that note with the riddles... could this be their first anticipated move?" To Be Continued