Message in a Bottle (part 2)

This is the continuation of my Sept 20 post (finally).  School starts next week, but I promise to be more faithful in building this story.  I have done some revisions so you might want to go back and read that Sept 20 post again.  If you love mysteries…  you’ve just hit on an unpublished mystery, in progress.  I hope you enjoy and share.  JMLandon

Once the bottle was packed up and on its way, Andy didn’t give it another thought until it arrived on his doorstep the day after he got home from vacation. It was already six in the evening with the day spent on the phone, returning calls and putting out fires. Vince, his partner, had made it a point to fill up his voice mail with crack-pot calls. And with 722 emails he knew what he’d be doing tomorrow.

He picked up the box and gave it a slight shake, juggling keys, case files, and his travel mug. “Seems to be in one piece,” he mumbled. He had a bad habit of talking to himself which seemed to be getting worse as he got older. One of those things his ex said used to bug her. Inside his home and settled, he opened the box, then opened the bag and set the bottle on the table, handling it with a dish towel.

He went to his desk in the living room and got out a fingerprint dusting kit and set about checking it for prints. It had been wiped clean. “This just keeps getting weirder.”

He sat for a minute staring at the bottle, leaning on the table with his chin resting on his hand. The thumb drive could be someone’s vacation pictures, or it might have nothing. Andy found it hard to believe it wasn’t damaged by the moisture. And there was the smudge of red on it.

A while back, Andy read a book about this scientist who created a virus in his basement, then mailed it to Ireland to avenge his wife’s death from a random car bombing. The virus ended up spreading around the world, genetically engineered to kill all the women. It was brilliant premise—the guy sent the virus to Ireland in a package of infected cash. Vince liked to call Andy a technological dinosaur, but still he knew this drive might have a virus that could wipe out his machine.

“Aw shit. It’s probably blank,” he said popping the cork and dumping the drive on the desk. He took a swab from the red spot then brushed it for prints. It was clean as well. He blew on the components to clear sand or dust particles, took a deep breath and pushed it into the USB port on his laptop.

It took a minute for his computer to recognize the removable drive, then a dialog box came up asking if he wanted to open the files. The cursor hovered over the ‘OK’ for a second. He took a deep breath and clicked the mouse.

Inside there were eight file folders labeled with the year going from this year back. He clicked open this year’s. It continued three more folders labeled: Manhattan, New York, and St. Louis. He opened St. Louis.

His screen opened thirty or more thumbnails of what looked, at first glance, like a bunch of naked women draped with red. He reached for his glasses and leaned in to get a closer look, then double clicked to open the first one and arrow through the slide show. He recognized all of them but one.

He leaned back in his chair letting the breath out of his lungs like a deflating balloon. “I’ll be damned,” he said taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes, surprised his hand came away wet.

 

Meeting the “Beginning” Challenge from the 17th…

So a friend met my challenge from the other day. The above picture is the prompt. Here’s my beginning…

Detective Andy Benedetti walked along the Smyrna beach at sunset, on the last day of his vacation, when he stubbed his bare foot on a bottle.  He tucked his hands behind his back and bent to examine it.  The bottle was a clear glass, corked wine bottle with a jump drive inside.

“I’ll be damned,” he mumbled.  “A 21^st century message in a bottle.”

He looked around, thinking maybe someone had dropped it.  No one in sight.  He dug in his pockets for latex gloves, then remembered he was on vacation.  He bent to look at it again.  It didn’t look like there was any moisture in the bottle.  The drive might still be good.  He slipped off his shirt and wrapped the bottle in it to preserve any possible fingerprints, then headed back to his rental car and drove straight to the nearest police station.

Walking into the station bare-chested and barefoot, carrying something wrapped in his shirt, he suddenly had three guns stuck in his face.  The city had been dealing with some recent bomb threats and they were a little jumpy.

“Hang on guys.” Andy stood still.  “I’m one of you.  ID in my back pocket.”

The officer behind the counter stepped up and extracted Andy’s wallet.  Everyone relaxed and Andy began to explain why he was there.  He wanted the bottle and thumb drive dusted for prints and then run through the proper chain of evidence.  Then he wanted one of the IT specialists to check the drive for viruses before opening it.

“And what case is this related to?” asked the desk sergeant.

“How would I know?  I’m on vacation,” said Andy.  “You’ve got to see what’s on it first don’t you?”

“What makes you think it’s related to a crime?” said the uniforms with a name badge of Officer Casey.

Andy held up the bottle and shook is a little, positioning the thumb drive.  “See that glob of red on it; could be blood.”

All three of them bent close, staring into the bottle.

“You know the Florida sun will fry your brain if you’re not used to it,” said the other uniform.  They all chuckled and began to disburse.

“Wait a minute.  Can I talk to one of your detectives?”

“You’re kidding, right?” said Officer Casey.  “Our guys don’t have time for that.  We’re overloaded as it is.  Why don’t you just take it home with you?  You know, for a souvenir.”

Andy left the police station ten minutes later with the bottle in a brown evidence bag and several pairs of latex gloves.  He placed the bag in the trunk of his rental and headed straight for a UPS store.  He didn’t want to take the chance the bottle might get confiscated or the evidence, it that’s what it was, being compromised.

Let me know if I’ve got you hooked and wanting more???