“Correct,” Twitch agreed. “The SEC and government oversight entities have records, but anything Gentrify hid from the government or falsified…” Twitch made a little “poof” motion with her hands. “Except, of course, for any data that was transferred before triggering the scorched earth response in the server.”
The realization occurred to Tox so suddenly it felt like he said the words before he thought them. “Calliope. She was there last night. Ran into me as she was tearing out of the building. She was snooping for her news story.”
“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.” Twitch was tapping her nose. “She had access to Van Gent’s computer and she was poking around for information last night. That’s most likely the only place to access the files that would trigger the failsafe. Looks like Phipps had some dangerous secrets.”
“Let’s talk this through.” Nathan steepled his hands, elbows on his desk.
“Yes, let’s,” Tox repeated. “Because something doesn’t add up. Calliope saw Phipps Van Gent last night. She was there late, and she said he came barreling in wasted, telling her some story about a high-stakes poker game in Vegas. She gave me this little plastic cylinder that he had given to her. It was supposed to have contained a valuable painting, but he got scammed. She said he passed out in the middle of the story.”
“So, hypothetically,” Ren picked up the ball, “Calliope was in Van Gent’s office stealing information for The Harlem Sentry and unwittingly dropping a nuke on the system while her boss was sitting right there, drunk off his ass and blabbering.”
“Hypothetically,” Twitch confirmed.
“Your girl is in a heap of trouble, hermano.” Cam had obviously heard about Tox’s interest. Tox rolled his eyes. These guys gossiped like middle schoolers. “If she’s the only one with that financial information, everyone from the feds to the mob will be after her.”
“Not to mention every disgruntled client,” Nathan added as he flipped through the paper file Twitch had compiled on Phipps. “This guy is a piece of work. Everything he quote-unquote owns is leveraged or stolen or faked.”
“Big hat, no ranch,” Tox nodded.
“Looks like he goes from wealth hub to wealth hub, pays out a big return to a few strategic people, then scams the rest of his clients.”
“Classic Ponzi scheme,” Ren added.
“How is he not in jail?” Twitch asked, shaking her head at the screen.
Ren fielded the question. “He’s operated in different countries. Interpol has more pressing issues than a glorified conman. Plus the laws in most countries aren’t up to speed on cybercrime. Don’t get me started on international law. Get your car stolen? The cops handle it. Get your pension stolen...” Ren finished the sentence with a shrug.
“You gotta have balls as big as church bells to pull something like this. I mean this isn’t some two-bit operation.” Tox shook his head.
“And no conscience at all,” Cam added.
“How is this guy still breathing?” Nathan continued to page through the file.
“He’s not.”
That got everyone’s attention. Twitch was absorbed in the new information on her screen. “EMS got a 911 call at 6:27 this morning from an unidentified caller at Gentrify Capital. Phipps Van Gent was pronounced dead at the scene. GSW. Detective Pete Brigger filed the initial report. No details as of yet.”
“Pete’s a good cop. Anything on time of death?” Tox asked.
“Nothing yet, but the report says the 911 caller, probably a cleaning person, entered the room because of a smell.”
“That doesn’t really help. All kinds of bad smells come out of dead guys from the get-go,” Cam commented absently.
“Twitch can you get anything from building security?”
“Already tried. Looks like the building surveillance has been removed from the server. Cops must not want anyone taking a peek or messing with it.”
“Which means there’s something interesting on it,” Ren surmised.
“We need to get Calliope locked down. Even if she doesn’t have the files, which I think is likely, people will assume she does.” Tox stood.
Twitch pulled out her phone. “I’ll text her and see what’s up.”
Before she could type the first word, Tox was out the door.