Clear signs of the Spring
淸明 [8] / [9]
He kept walking about a quarter of a mile until he found a coffee shop. It was open, but, like the area he just left, it was dead. He wanted to tell Cynthia everything that had just happened, but he was still processing all of it.
What the hell is this? Who is the man on the other end of the phone? What does he want, what is he planning, and how the hell does this involve me? He was confused. He ordered a tall black coffee, sat down, and tried to gather his thoughts. He could try the cyber crimes unit. It was a long shot, but maybe they could decipher the number that the caller was calling from.
He thought it likely, though, that, given how smart this guy seemed, he probably would've taken steps to protect against that: using a burner phone perhaps. Besides, there was no time. He would have to play along in what very well might be a very dangerous game. He took a sip of his coffee, and rested his head against the wall.
Gathering himself, he pulled out his phone, and called Cynthia. She picked up on the second ring.
"Alex, what did you figure out?"
"It's a cat and mouse game,"
said Alexander, sipping his coffee.
"The problem is, I'm not sure who's the cat or the mouse here."
"What do you mean?"
she asked, puzzled.
Alexander told her everything that the man on the phone had said, and described the video to her before forwarding it to her phone.
"Right," she said upon receipt,
"I'll send it over to forensics, maybe their tech guys can figure out where and when this happened."
"I have a where," said Alexander,
"But not a when. I'm sure it didn't happen all that long ago, though. The address the old man gave me. That's where this happened."
He sent her a picture of the slip of paper he had since stowed in his wallet.
"Okay," she responded,
"We are stepping outside of our bounds. I will try to get in touch with them to ask if they were able to find something. I will send a request for documents too, if needed. Are you coming back to the office?"
"Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can," he said. "I'll grab a bite to eat, and give you a proper debrief once I get back."
