"I'll keep that in mind," he said as they took the elevator down to the lobby, then parted company.
On his way back to the office, he stopped to pick up a sandwich and a drink, then returned to work. By the time he arrived, Jason was already digging into the employee list of Adler and Briggs and making calls to the employees Lindsay had called out as being friends with Sabrina. And Agent Andi Hart stopped by to let him know she'd sent him the police file from Landon Kenton's death.
"The file is not thick," Andi added. "It looks like the police wrote off Kenton's death as an accident very quickly. I also couldn't help noticing that every fraternity brother who was interviewed told exactly the same story. Sounds like everyone jumped on a theory and kept repeating it."
"That's what Haley Kenton said. We need to figure out what stones they left unturned and why. If Sabrina's death was tied to Landon's death, then both cases will be important. I assume Derek hasn't been able to trace the shooter at Griffith Park?"
"No. I've been tracking traffic cams as well, and there's nothing. He probably entered the park on foot or possibly bicycle. Savannah is looking into the dark web to see if we can find any assignments matching that hit."
"Great." As she left, he started looking into the Adler family. It wasn't just Graham and Henry who had gone to Westbridge; it was also Graham's brother, Charles, and his two kids, Trent and Jill, who were the same age as Henry. Considering Sabrina worked for Adler and Briggs, he couldn't help wondering if what she'd heard about Landon had come from Henry.
But Henry and Graham were too smart to talk, especially if they'd been aware of a cover-up six years ago. In looking into the rest of the family, he noted that Charles Adler ran a hedge fund. Trent Adler had been working for his father until two years ago, when he started his own financial investment company. Jill Adler, Trent's twin sister, ran a marketing company in LA, specializing in events and promotions. She seemed to have a client list of celebrities and philanthropists.
Setting the Adlers aside, he checked the police file on Landon's death for a list of fraternity brothers who had been interviewed. Both Trent and Henry were on that list, as well as four other men: Josh Lorrie, the president of the fraternity; Brian Covington who had acted as pledge trainer for Landon's group of pledges; Drew Sanderson, who was Landon's big brother in the fraternity; and Jake Petrie, who had seen Landon stumble out of the house during the party.
He asked him if Landon was okay, and Landon had said he was fine. That was the last time anyone had spoken to him.
As he plugged the students' names into their system, he realized every single one had wealthy and well-connected parents. Josh Lorrie's mother, Eleanor, was a vice president at a media company, and his father, John, was a commercial real estate developer. Brian Covington's father, Edward, was a plastic surgeon for the rich and famous. Drew Sanderson's father, Kent, ran a mutual fund, and Jake Petrie's father was a state senator.
No wonder the LAPD had felt pressure to close their investigation quickly. None of those parents would allow a hint of scandal to touch their kid or their family.
It was also interesting to note that nowhere in the file was there any mention of Arjun Patel, one of Landon's good friends, someone who had allegedly gone to the police with his concerns but had been turned away.
He spent the next hour looking for more details, more information. The police had also interviewed Brooke Mercer, Landon's girlfriend. She'd been out of town and claimed she hadn't spoken to Landon on Saturday night. A review of her phone confirmed that to be true. The police had stopped by the apartment building where Landon lived, but none of the neighbors claimed to know him well, and no one had made a statement.
In terms of the crime, Landon's wallet was in his pocket, but his phone was missing, and no computer was found on his person or in his apartment. That detail should have provided some investigative questions. If Landon's death had truly been an accident, where was his phone? Where was his computer? He was a college kid. There was no way he didn't have a computer and a phone. Someone had taken them. But no one had been questioned about the missing items, or if they had been, their statements had not been noted in the police report.
The deeper he dove, the more he believed Haley was right; the investigation had been deliberately short because no one wanted Landon's death to be anything but an accident.
Clearly Sabrina had found something or heard something. He just wished he knew what that could be. She'd worked with Henry, so maybe he'd let something slip, but he seemed too smart and sly to be that careless. Although it was possible his arrogance had led him into making a careless mistake.
With Sabrina on his mind, he got into her file next. One of their team analysts had already compiled Sabrina's personal information and family history. Her father was an architect, her mother, a high school teacher, currently on leave as she battled cancer. Agent Hart had spoken briefly to Sabrina's father, Daniel Lin, who claimed he knew nothing about Sabrina's case work and their conversations had been focused solely on her mother's health issues.
So, Sabrina hadn't spoken to her parents, but she had called the FBI. He picked up his phone again and punched in Shari's number, wanting to clarify exactly how that call had gone. But Shari didn't pick up, so he left her a voicemail to call him as soon as she got a chance.
Next, he got back on the computer to try to track down Anthony Devray. But it felt like Anthony had dropped off the face of the earth in the last month. He'd closed his bank accounts, his credit cards, moved out of his apartment, and disconnected his phone. But at some point, he'd spoken to Sabrina. Maybe in tracing Sabrina's movements over the past few days, he could find Anthony. But that could take some time, and, clearly, Anthony was doing everything he could not to be found.
Frowning, he considered what to do next. As if on cue, a text from Haley popped up on his phone that made his pulse jump.
Found Arjun. He's in the Valley. I'm going to try to see him now. Just sharing my info.
He immediately texted back.I'll pick you up.
Already on my way. Here's the address.She texted an address in North Hollywood, which was a good forty-five minutes to an hour away in Friday afternoon traffic.
He checked his watch. It was almost 4:30.I can be there in an hour. Don't go inside until I get there.
She didn't answer right away, and he texted again.
I mean it, Haley. Wait for me.
She sent back a thumbs-up emoji, which wasn't particularly reassuring, but it was all he was going to get.
ChapterSeven
It was just before five thirty on Friday evening when Haley pulled into the parking lot of what looked like an abandoned warehouse in North Hollywood. The building was nondescript gray concrete with no visible signage, just a small neon sign that read "CIPHER" in electric-blue letters above a heavy metal door.
She'd found Arjun through a combination of old university records and some creative social media stalking that had suggested Arjun was now going under the name AJ Patel and ran a multiplayer video game club out of this building. She was eager to talk to him, but she'd promised Agent Lawson that she'd wait for him. Although she still wondered if she shouldn't have made this trip on her own.
