us to work together to find this money?”
“I was brought into this precisely because I am not a team player.”
“What if I found a way to make you want to work with me?”
“I’d be interested in hearing it.”
“What if I developed the best lead to recover the money?”
Vail laughed. “Then why would you come to me?”
Kaulcrick smiled caustically. “I said ‘developed the lead,’ not that I had figured it out completely.”
“You found something at Radek’s apartment.”
“Yes.”
When Kaulcrick didn’t say anything else, Vail said, “Am I supposed to guess?”
“No, I’ll tell you on one condition.”
“Which is?”
“I’m with you every step of the way.”
“How good a lead is it?”
“Does it matter?”
“No, I guess not,” Vail said. “Agreed.”
Kaulcrick handed him a clear plastic evidence envelope with a slip of blue paper inside. On it was written: “2M-8712.”
Vail looked at it and turned it over, finding the back side blank. “Is that the same paper as the death notes, the tablet that was planted at Bertok’s?”
“It looks the same. We found it hidden in a book that was on a shelf over his desk.”
“And no one has any idea what it means?”
“None. But it’s got to be important. Why else hide it like that?”
Vail didn’t answer right away. “The first demand note had the amount written out in numbers. The second note shorthanded the three million dollars as a dollar sign with a 3 and an M. The 2M could mean two million dollars.”
“What about the four numbers? Could they be an address, like he knows the street but wants to make sure he remembers the numbers correctly?” Kaulcrick asked.
“Possibly, but he knew how to get there, and it’s unlikely that he would trust anyone else enough to send them to get the money.”
“On the off chance it is an address, I could get some analysts to start running through the reverse directories just looking for those four digits.”
“This is a big city. There could be a hundred of them,” Vail said. “What was on the desk?”
“At his apartment? Just a cell phone in a charger.”
“Since he was keeping the piece of paper that close to the phone, it could be a phone number.”
“But it’s only four numbers.”
“Salton had a cell on him, and at least one of those guys last night had a phone. And I saw one in a charger at that house where we found the Honda. They’re probably all throwaways with the preloaded minutes. Why don’t we try all the exchanges on them with 8712?”
“If you’re right and we wind up with a dead guy’s cell phone number, how’s that give us a location?”
“One thing at a time. Let me get Tom Demick up here. Can you have someone bring us those three phones?”
A half hour later Demick sat at Kate’s desk examining the three cell phones, scrolling through Menu options. He wrote down their phone numbers. Two of them had the same exchange. Vail then turned one phone on and dialed it from Kate’s desktop landline. It rang four times before a beep sounded without a greeting to leave a message. He hung up and dialed one of the phones that was not turned on. It rang once before the beep. He then dialed the exchange of the two that matched followed by 8712. He held the phone away from his ear so the other two men could hear. “The number you have dialed is no longer in service.” He dialed again, this time using the other cell phone exchange followed by the same four digits. He held it out as it rang four times before the beep. “It’s turned on.” He looked at Demick. “So far, so good.”
“I don’t get it,” Kaulcrick said.
“If this is the number Radek was referring to in the coded note, it means the phone is still turned on, hopefully on a charger like the one they found at his apartment and at the house where he had his car. Correct me if I’m wrong, Tom,” Vail said, “but as long as it’s turned on, we can ping this number.”
“We should be able to.”
Now Kaulcrick understood. “So the cell’s GPS, which they’re all equipped with for emergencies, will tell us where the phone is located.”
“Tom, can you get the phone company moving? We’ll get Tye Delson on the court order and search warrant. All we’ll need is the address,” Vail said.
As everyone stood up, Kate’s phone rang. Vail answered it. “It’s for you,” he said, handing it to the assistant director.
Kaulcrick listened for a