An Unladylike Murder, page 18
part #1 of Jessica Sloan Mystery Series
He then held up the palms of his hands. “That’s all I can say at this time.”
Watching it play out, Sloan and Cutter were standing off to the side.
Sloan asked, “Did you read the op-ed in the Chronicle this morning, Cutter?”
“No, but I’m sure you did.”
“In a nutshell, it was all about the surveillance scandal now enveloping the social media heavyweights and data-mining firms that have siphoned millions of profiles from their users. The writer claimed that they’re selling the data to market to their users and even worse, weaponizing the social media firms as a propaganda tool for political ends.”
“What does all that mean in English?”
“They’re using the technology platforms to spread ideas and play on people’s biases. The news channels are expecting the article to be more gasoline on the fire and are expecting more protests taking place over the next several days.”
Both of their phones buzzed.
IPOIROT ALERT: Several fingerprints on stall door belong to Ben Lopez.
Cutter looked at Sloan. “Don’t get too excited. Ben told me that he had to touch the stall door in order to get inside to find Jill.”
“So we ignore it?”
“This just goes to show you that human detectives are still smarter than artificial intelligence is.”
Jessica knew that iPoirot wasn’t fully operational, yet. “I’m still optimistic. Are we heading back to the city now?”
Cutter said, “It’s been a busy seven days and we both got up too early this morning. Why don’t you leave your car in the city over night? I’ll drive you home to Dublin then whip over the San Mateo Bridge to get home. That way we’ll both be home faster and we’ll both be fresh tomorrow.”
“That works for me.”
Chapter 47
Jessica stopped part way up the stairs to her front door.
She listened.
It was quiet.
The baby must be sleeping.
She entered to find her sister was already home. “Brooklyn, what are you doing, working from home again?”
“I am. How did you get off work so early?”
“John and I went to our victim’s funeral in Walnut Creek and then he dropped me off.”
“So you left your car downtown.”
“Yes, I’ll take BART into the city tomorrow morning.”
“Why didn’t you ask John to come up so I could meet him?”
Jessica hesitated. “He was in a grumpy mood. Besides, I doubt that you would like him. He’s a bit of a slob and doesn’t appreciate technology.”
“In that case, keep him away from here. Speaking of which, I heard of an opening today that you would be perfect for.”
“Please, don’t do this again.”
“But if you come work in tech you’ll help disrupt the world for the better. And you’ll make twice as much money. Since Jill Gillberry’s death, I hear that all the CEOs are trying to get personal security protection. You could make a lot of money being female.”
“I’m doing what I do for the feeling that I make a real difference in people’s lives.”
“When you change your mind I’ll help find you a job. So how is the new system working?”
“Hard to tell. We did get one alert today, but it was nothing. In fact, it isn’t even fully operational yet. As I understand, there have been a number of startup problems as far as getting the artificial intelligence to link with anything yet. So far, it’s just been a giant repository. I’m starting to worry that if the iPoirot system fails to live up to the hype, I might be demoted.”
Instead of being the detective of the future, I might be connected to a product flop and demoted back to the beat.
“Too bad. Then how’s the case going overall?”
“Slowly, as I imagine most old fashioned investigations proceed.”
“Then why won’t you even consider working for a tech firm. From what I know, you might even make three times as much as you do now.”
“But I like what I do.”
“Have you talked to Mom lately?”
“No, have you?”
“No, she seems to be infatuated with her new boyfriend.”
Jessica asked, “Has she ever talked about the events surrounding dad’s death with you?”
“No, it’s like they never happened. Ever since she’s gone back to being a nurse at the hospital, she acts like the two of us were from immaculate conceptions.”
“She acts that way with me, too.”
Brooklyn then asked about the case Jessica was working on.
“I can’t discuss an open case. All I can tell you is that right now I’m thinking that it could be a revenge killing because the victim’s company effectively took the life of someone’s relative.”
“If your victim killed a relative of the murderer, do you take that into account?”
“Even if my heart bleeds for them, the answer is absolutely not. It's up to the jury to decide the suspect's fate and take the reason for the revenge into account. That's not my job as a detective.”
“Have you ever considered touching base with Tom?”
Jessica had fallen for Tom to the point she was thinking he was the one she should marry.
Then she had found out that he was sleeping with another female officer.
Bloody Badge Bunny bastard.
She had focused on the prospect of becoming a detective. It had consumed her time as she became excited about future prospects and relationships.
“Aren’t you afraid of becoming an old maid like your boss, Lieutenant Brown?”
“Yeah. I mean, my biological clock is ticking down and I still want to get married and have kids. But it’s just that when dad was murdered, I vowed to be a cop and now that I’m one, I don’t think I can give it up.”
At least until I find out how and why dad died.
“So have you met with Logan Reid yet?”
“I did. I had a quick coffee with him. He seems a bit geeky, but nice. Really into tech and security.”
“He is. Did he seem to like you?”
“What are we, back in high school? Why are you asking?”
“Brad made me promise I wouldn’t tell you but Logan was with a security startup, sold it and walked away with about two hundred and fifty million.”
Jessica raised her eyebrows. “Then why is Logan working in Forensics for the San Francisco Police?”
“I don’t know. Either Logan’s working on his next venture or he likes what he’s doing. Why don’t you ask him out for a coffee, then you can ask him yourself.”
“Perhaps I will. Have you and Brad decided on a date yet?”
Brooklyn gave her head a brief shake. “No. I’m not rushing it. I just want to make sure he has a good job and knows exactly what he wants to do first.”
“So I don’t need to find a new place to live, yet.”
“No. I’ll give you plenty of warning.”
“What do you want to do about dinner?”
“I wasn’t expecting you to be home so early. Why don’t we go over to the new sports bar? Apparently their buffalo wings are to die for.”
“I was thinking more of a salad, but why not. Let’s do the sports bar… Can I borrow a pair of your earrings? Maybe your fake diamond studs.”
Jessica made sure to bring her badge and identification with her, just in case.
As they left the apartment building, Jessica said, “The problem with Dublin is that it’s all young families with toddlers. There’s no place just for singles to meet.”
“That’s why I wish we could live in San Francisco.”
“Once you get engaged, hopefully I can find a place I can afford downtown, then you and Brad can stay here with all the other young families.”
Brooklyn shook her head. “Don’t mention Brad or babies again tonight, understand.”
“Only if you buy the first round.”
The wing joint was busy but they were shown to a table right away. It seemed that every male watched them being shown to their seats.
Brooklyn sees the room as full of possible mates. I see troublemakers who haven’t acted up yet.
A good looking, trim, blond guy who looked to be in his late twenties sauntered over to them. His hair was trimmed short, and he was clean-shaven.
He faced Jessica. “So, I hear you’re either a cop or a stewardess.”
“Who told you that?”
“One of the guys over there.”
Jessica glanced over, didn’t recognize anyone and turned back to the blond. “I doubt that.”
“Well, he said that he’s seen your sister in here several times, but not you.”
“Are you saying that cops and flight attendants don’t visit bars to have dinner?”
He swayed his head from side to side like a little kid. “I’m sorry that we’re getting off on the wrong foot. The truth is that I just wanted to talk to you.”
“Look, I’m an undercover cop and I’m here to arrest someone. Unless you want me to arrest you instead, you need to take a hike.”
“You’re not a cop.”
Sloan flashed her badge. “Ba - bye now.”
The blond held up his palms and walked away.
Brooklyn said, “Put that away, Jess. Now all the guys in here will never come over to talk to us. When you’re a hammer everything looks like a nail to you, doesn’t it?”
Chapter 48
Tuesday
Jessica Sloan’s phone buzzed just after 6 a.m. She rolled over and looked at the text message.
IPOIROT ALERT: Connections found.
It’s about time.
Jessica had a quick shower and headed into the city on BART. It didn’t matter that she was on the rapid transit train early. The commuter traffic was always heavy from the Dublin Station. Commuters from farther out on Highway 580 parked their cars in Dublin then took BART in the rest of the way.
Parking in San Francisco is an impossibility baked in by the city planners. It’s like trying to find an affordable place to rent.
Fortunately, she was able to grab one of the hard plastic seats.
Her fellow commuters kept staring at her badge and holster, which she kept visible. A few smiled but all of them stayed on their best behavior.
As they sped into the city, her thoughts turned to anticipating what iPoirot may have found.
Up to this point, we’ve been doing everything the old way, Cutter’s way of doing things.
Now we’ll see if the system can live up to the hype and deliver.
Garcia, Lee and Cutter had all arrived before her. “We’ve been waiting for you Sleeping Beauty. Did you see the protests this morning?”
“No and I walked from the BART station.”
Lee said, “Check out the latest blog posts. They’re all about the protests.”
“Still about tech firms?”
“Yup. Someone seems intent on whipping up even more hatred against them.”
“Can you send me a link to my phone?”
“Doing it now.”
‘Pentagon Spying on You with Silicon Valley Technology.’
‘Tech Companies plan to drive Everyone Out of San Francisco.’
A moment later Jessica could see that all the headlines were meant to rile up San Francisco residents.
“Can you tell who’s fermenting the hate?”
“Someone’s hash tagging the posts, #IWant SFBack.”
Cutter held out a chair for Sloan to sit in front of her computer screen. “You can read that crap later, Sloan. I need you to get on iPoirot.”
She logged on. “This screen is showing us all the different people of interest that we have interviewed. The lines show how they are connected including any phone calls, texts or money transfers between them… At the tactical level, we are looking at names, phone numbers, who was where, social networks and timelines.”
Lee asked, “Is it true that this database is tied into the same one the Feds use to analyze subscriber data and phone records since all phone calls can be monitored?”
“It is. That is why younger people prefer to text. iPhones have strong encryption technology built in so text messages are much harder to track.”
Sloan clicked on the keyboard. “This next screen shows suspected and confirmed relationships using all the links they have such as family members, romantic links, have they been seen with someone, made phone calls, have common Facebook and Twitter follows and the like.”
Cutter said, “I’ll get you a coffee if you’ll tell us who iPoirot says is the person with the strongest connections that we should be looking at.”
“One second. This is interesting. There’s a thick line between Sonia Rodrìguez and both of Jill’s body guards from the theatre.”
Cutter squinted. “How’s that possible.”
“According to the system the guards are related to her. They’re all second cousins.”
Cutter felt his stomach tighten. He experienced the tightness every time he knew, deep down in his tired gut, that he’d gotten a solid break in the case.
Garcia said, “I see the system is good at racial profiling of Mexicans.”
Sloan corrected him. “It’s not profiling if the connections are because of interactions.”
“I’m not going to waste my time arguing with a white female. Discrimination still exists and even if it’s subtle, the impact remains.”
Jessica opened both of her palms as if to ask what she’d said.
Garcia frowned at her. “Lee’s parents and mine came here many years ago. Lee and I were born here in America. It wasn’t until President Reagan gave us all amnesty in 1986 that we became citizens. And even so, I still get dirty looks from white people.”
Sloan asked, “Is that why both of you became police officers?”
“Sure, why not?”
“All I can tell you is from what I know about iPoirot, it doesn’t profile. In fact I was told that it uses its artificial intelligence to ensure its not doing what a lot of people default to.”
Lee jumped in. “I’ve looked up artificial intelligence on line. What will happen when artificial intelligence automates all of the things that we humans do, there will be no more jobs for humans. What if the AI decides that humans are a pesky plague and they need to get rid of us?”
Lee and Garcia are as bad as Cutter.
Sloan didn’t want to be sidetracked. “Let’s just focus on solving this murder, shall we.”
Lee shook his head. “Since self-driving cars still get in accidents and kill people, how can we trust what iPoirot tells us.”
“Get on board, Lee.”
“Maybe I haven’t had enough coffee.” He got up and walked out of the room.
“Before we get too excited, let’s see what else the system has found for us.” Jessica was flipping through several screens. “I think that’s the strongest match so far. Oh, and iPoirot found that the Lopez brothers both have carry licenses.”
Cutter ran his hand through his hair. “Let’s assume the system’s right. Now we need to figure out if it was Sonia Rodrìguez, or her cousins Ben and Carl who killed Jill, and how they did it. Unless we can prove it, it won’t matter.”
Garcia said, “Just because we know who we should focus on, it doesn’t mean we’re anywhere close to finding the killer, yet.”
Sloan said, “If the Lopez brothers were involved in Jill’s murder, why should we believe any of their testimony?”
“Which part?”
“The description of the woman with big black hair and sunglasses.”
“But we have a similar unidentified woman on video leaving the theatre.”
“We need to keep searching for her. Either to charge her, or to eliminate her.”
Sloan turned to Cutter. “You said you were getting me a coffee. Make it black, please.”
Once Cutter left, Garcia sat next to Sloan. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against the new technology if it helps catch a killer. It’s just that I think that as experienced police detectives, Lee, Cutter and I ought to be able to catch the villains ourselves, the way we have for years.”
“The software doesn’t replace us, it’s simply a tool to help us look at non-obvious connections and bigger meanings. The great thing about the program is that it already has multiple databases that it can draw upon. If you find out that someone was in prison it can tell you who their friends were when they were inside and whom those prisoners were linked to. You might find out someone’s uncle is connected to a known felon. What might take investigators like us hundreds of hours can now take minutes. In the near future, with iPoirot there will be no secrets that detectives won’t be able to discover.”
“Hmm. Even if this computer told us exactly who the killer is, it still needs us to collect enough evidence to prove it in court. I doubt a jury would ever convict someone based on a computer analysis alone.”
Sloan felt sorry for Garcia.
He’s going through the same fear of retirement that Cutter is.
“Computer software is great at spotting patterns and trends in data to find meanings that can produce knowledge that we can act on. The software is good where there are hundreds of people, addresses, statistics, Internet addresses and so on. It can look at unlimited probabilities and tease out the connections. But you’re right it still needs real live detectives like us to do the legwork and make sure it didn’t overlook something crucial.”
“So you’re saying that it’s not going to replace us in the near future.”
“As I told Cutter, it’s just another tool that we can’t afford to ignore.”
John Cutter returned. “Black coffee, here you go.”
Garcia said, “Do we have final results on the facial recognition identifications of the theatre goers as they were leaving? If we do, was Sonia there?”
“I don’t know, let me look… Here we go… Nope, no match with Sonia because the face in question was too covered up.”
“Did you ever hear if they found any video of anyone leaving the theatre right after the intermission?”
