"Alright, I'll tell him," Sullivan muttered as he switched off the phone. He turned to address the man lounging on the couch in the darker half of his office. "That was Gillpatrick."
"What's he got?" Velo asked.
"He says that the second person's DNA was 'Billy McCoy,' and that you would know what that means." Velo nodded as a satisfied smile briefly spread across his face, before he slowly deadpanned again. Sullivan paused. "He laughed when I asked if Mr. McCoy was a bullet of some sort, so I'm still trying to decipher that part."
"Don't worry about it, it probably means nothing. So what about where the shot came from?"
Sullivan answered this with a little renewed vigor, as he finally felt like he could tell Velo something that he didn't already know. "The third floor window was a young couple who said they were 'busy' all night. They bragged that their neighbors could verify that. They did. Said the screaming could probably be heard for blocks." Sullivan chuckled. "It was in the hopes of hearing that kind of dirt that got me to join the force in the first place."
Even Velo smiled faintly. "And the others?"
"Fifth floor, a single mother and a nanny watching over six kids. I questioned the kids, of course. Nothing could possibly have happened in that room that they wouldn't have squealed about. Seemed harmless." Sullivan waited in case Velo would disagree with the sentiment.
"Alright," Velo said calmly. "The fourth floor, then?"
"That's the interesting part, and it just got more interesting," Sullivan started, sitting down on the edge of his desk. "It would appear that nobody lives there. The other tenants say they never see anybody on that floor, and there's no real evidence that anybody occupied that middle room."
"What all did you find?" Velo interrupted. The question caused Sullivan to hesitate, as he didn't see the significance of the answer.
"Real odds and ends. The skin of a grape, and some cloth on a table near the window, surrounded by mousetraps. Lots and lots of mousetraps. There was also a ruler on the floor. I have no clue how any of those things get there, unless some real fucked up whackjob had lived there for a bit."
"Perhaps," Velo held onto the word, and immediately Sullivan knew that Velo either knew something he wasn't saying, or was working through the clues toward a different conclusion.
"Anyways," Sullivan tried regaining control of the conversation. "The interesting part is this: rent has been getting paid on all three rooms on the floor, on time and the exact amount, for about a year. If you knew the usual tenants of that building, you'd know why this made the landlord grateful, yet suspicious." Sullivan prepared to set up the home run of his discourse. "And guess what name all the bills were paid in?"
"Billy McCoy?"
"That's right," Sullivan smiled, satisfied. "Your buddy, Billy McCoy." Velo slowly nodded, appearing to not be taken back in the least. "Alright, that's what I got, wanna bring in your kids, then?"
"Sure."
Sullivan opened his office door and called in Lavi and Asad, who entered and stood in front of Velo, still laying casually on the couch. "Got anything for me?"
"You talk to Dahlberg yet?" Asad asked.
"He was here earlier. I'd like to hear your sides of it now."
"Hey," Lavi began, smiling. "Can I take a guess at what Kyle's report was? 'I showed up at house on hill. Noticed Lavi had nice shoes. Later we left.' Am I close?"
Sullivan laughed merrily. "You're not too far off, actually."
Velo smiled bemusedly. "His reports do tend to be lacking in the specifics. That's why I'd like to hear from you two."
"Alright, seriously, then," Asad started. "I'm sure he already told you what was in the safe. It was this little spaceship model or something, only without any buttons or whatever you'd expect to be on a toy. Then the people showed up and Lavi almost got caught."
This piqued Velo's interest. "You got close to the Alfords?"
"All too close," Lavi admitted. "I could smell her perfume. Thick stuff."
"How did they seem to you? What I mean is, were they acting in any way unusual?"
"Not really...they said something about having a rough few days of it, and forgetting bad things. Didn't seem like the type to be expecting a murder charge, if that's what you're getting at."
"Hm. Anything else that either of you can think of seeing? How much did you get to investigate?"
"Not much," Asad responded. "The living room was the first and last room we checked. Really clean."
"Looked like Monk was living there or something," Lavi added.
"Alright then," Velo said softly, as he started to stare at the floor. He was clearly about to go deep in thought and gave the air of disappointment at the report. "That will be all for now. Thank you."
Sullivan opened the door, and Lavi and Asad were starting to walk out. Suddenly, Asad turned around. "They had this crossbow collection, too."
Velo's eyes suddenly shot up from the floor and at Asad, causing everyone in the room to stop. "What was that?"
"They had a crossbow collection," Asad repeated.
"Where? Was it hidden?"
"Behind the fish tank. No, wasn't hidden, but it wasn't exactly being shown off, either. Like, you don't see it just by walking in and sitting down, you actually have to look for it."
Everyone was suddenly fixated on Velo's eyes, as his own gaze wandered away from everything else in the room, like he was seeing something nobody else could. Velo's face slowly broke into a broad grin, and he looked back at Asad. "That's exactly what I needed."
"For what?" Sullivan asked, startled.
"To solve the case. Get a warrant, Sullivan. Tomorrow, we're bringing in the Alfords for the murders of Kellie Holcombe and Billy McCoy. Lavi and Asad, great work."
"Hey, we do our best," Asad replied tongue-in-cheek.
"See, man," Lavi said. "I told you he couldn't do this on his own, that's why he had to call in the masters!"
