23: THE TRAP

WHEN HANNA ARRIVED at the lab, Claire sat in Eileen’s spot. Her wrists and ankles were strapped to the chair, and the headband was already on her head.

Arthur was by the computer, holding the satchel with his camera inside. Lenny stood next to him with his arms crossed, and Howard was at the counter, preparing a dose of Passiflora.

Hanna approached Claire, grabbing her attention by standing in front of her, and when no one was looking, she snuck a nod. Claire responded with a nod of her own, showing she understood. Hanna had a plan, and she was agreeing to go along with it.

“She doesn’t need the sedative,” Hanna said, watching Howard grab the syringe. “She’s not Eileen, for Christ’s sake. I hardly think the straps are necessary, either.”

“She’s a criminal,” Howard said.

“She’s cooperating, isn’t she?” Hanna turned to Claire. “You understand what we’re doing, and you don’t intend to resist, do you?”

Claire shook her head. “I will not resist.”

“See?” Hanna said, looking at Charles for approval.

Charles examined the docile expression on Claire’s face. “No sedative, but the straps stay.”

Howard placed the syringe down and walked over to the chair next to Hanna. “This one?”

Hanna nodded. “Have a seat, and Russell will assist you. I should let you know, the first time can be jarring. We don’t usually bypass the training simulation, but this is a special circumstance. Do you think you can handle it?”

“I do,” he said, staring at Claire as Russell placed the headband on his head. From his intense glare, Hanna could sense his suspicions. He was probably questioning Claire’s willingness to cooperate, knowing she was innocent.

“Okay,” Hanna said as Russell returned to the control panel. “Send us in.”

 

*****

 

The soothing sound of Elvis’s voice filled the room as he sang “Love Me Tender” from the CD player on the table. Eileen was lying on the couch with a cigarette wedged between her two fingers. She sucked in a lungful of smoke and blew it toward the ceiling. She did not bother using an ashtray. Instead, she let the end of the cigarette burn off and fall to the floor.

Claire grinned at the sight of Eileen.

“What is this?” Howard asked, spinning around to see where they were. “Why are we in Eileen Warner’s apartment?”

“Relax,” Hanna said. “It’s perfectly normal to be disoriented for your first time.”

“I’m not disoriented. I know exactly where we are. I remember that goddamn song playing in the background. This is the night we—”

The door burst open, and a squad of men stormed into the room. They were all armed with automatic rifles, equipped with helmets and armor. They charged forward and pointed their weapons at Eileen.

“Get down on the ground!” the squad leader yelled. “Do it now!”

Eileen threw up her hands as high as she could. Her eyes shot wide open, shifting back and forth between all of the guns pointed at her.

“I said get down,” he yelled again. “Or we will shoot!”

She obeyed his command, lowering down with her hands still raised. Once she was on her knees, the squad moved in and pushed her onto her stomach.

The squad leader took out a pair of handcuffs and locked them around her wrists. “Don’t resist.”

“I’m not resisting,” Eileen said. Her voice was muffled against the floor. “What the hell is going on?”

He pulled her back up to her knees. “Is there anyone else in the apartment?”

“No, goddamn it. Will you tell me what’s going on?”

A copy of Howard walked through the front door, followed by Lenny and Arthur. They all wore bulletproof vests, aiming their sidearms forward. When the copy of Howard saw Eileen was restrained, he holstered his weapon.

“Eileen Warner, you are under arrest for the murder of Anthony Higgs, Cameron Shultz, and Tucker Wright. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights?”

“What are you talking about?” Eileen asked. “I didn’t murder anyone.”

“Answer the question, Ms. Warner. Do you understand these rights?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“With these rights in mind, is there anything you would like to say?”

“Not a chance.”

The copy of Howard nodded. “Very well. Get her out of here.”

The squad guided Eileen out of the building, led by Arthur and Lenny.

The copy of Howard paced around the apartment, studying her home. The CD player reached the end of its song and looped back to the beginning, opening with the calm strum of a guitar. Before Elvis’s voice could start, Howard pressed one of the buttons. The song stopped, and “Jailhouse Rock” played.

“That’s more like it,” he said. “I love The King, but that song was just too damn slow.” He bobbed his head from side to side and strutted out of the room, snapping his fingers to the new tempo.

Hanna watched the scene play out, now with a new perspective. “She had no idea why she was being arrested. Now we know it’s because she was innocent.”

Howard glared at Hanna. “I don’t understand. I thought we were looking at Claire’s memories, but she wasn’t there that day. She was sick. That means this must be my memory. We’re inside my mind, not Claire’s?”

“That’s right,” Hanna said, walking over to the CD player and turning off the music. “Eileen Warner was innocent. She was framed. But it wasn’t Claire who framed her. It was you.”

Claire turned to Hanna. “It was Howard?”

“That’s right. Howard is the one who swapped the hair samples.”

He let out a nervous laugh. “That’s a ridiculous accusation. You can’t possibly believe that.”

“I do.”

“But you saw it yourself. Claire’s name is all over the security records.”

“We both know Claire lost her security card weeks ago. She’s been waiting to get a new one. It’s true, someone used her card to get into the evidence room, but it wasn’t her. You needed to swap the samples, but you knew your name would show up on the records. You had to use someone else’s card.”

“Even if you’re right, and someone did take Claire’s card, why do you think it was me? Our office has hundreds of people. It could have been any one of them.”

Hanna grinned. “I know it was you because I found her card.” She held up a plastic security card, flipping it over to show Claire’s photo.

He flinched, reaching into his inner breast pocket, only to realize it was empty. “That doesn’t prove anything. That just tells me you used her card, and now you’re trying to pin it on me.”

“Talk about ridiculous theories,” Hanna said, chuckling. “The records show that the card was used before the SCB approached me for help. Are you suggesting I planted evidence for a case I didn’t know existed?”

“I’m not suggesting anything. I’m just trying to figure out a reasonable explanation because I know it wasn’t me.”

“Prove it. Let us into your truth center. Give us access to your dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.”

He paused to consider the request, his eyes shifting between Hanna and Claire. “No. I’m not going to humor your far-fetched conspiracy theories. I have nothing to prove. You think I used that card, but you have nothing to back up your theory. And now you’re tapping into my brain without my permission. That’s a violation of my privacy. I’ve had enough of this. How do I wake up?”

“I’ve instructed Russell not to pull you out until both Claire and I are awake.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Claire asked. “What if it wasn’t him?”

Hanna stared at Howard, studying the expression on his face. “I’m not wrong.”

Howard forced a smile. “You’re making a fool of yourself, Hanna. I get it. It’s your first case, and you think you’ve figured it out, but you’re chasing something that isn’t there. It happens to all of us. We get passionate about the case, and we think we can do it all on our own. But this is a team effort, and you’re embarrassing yourself in front of the team.” He reached out his hand. “Just hand over the card, and we’ll forget this ever happened.”

She pulled the card away from him. “Not a chance.”

His smile faded, and his lips tensed. “You really think you’ve cracked the case, don’t you? Okay. For the hell of it, let’s just pretend your theory is correct. Let’s say I planted evidence to frame Eileen Warner. Do you really think that card would prove anything to anyone? Claire lost it. That doesn’t mean I ever had it. She could have dropped it in the hallway, and you just happened to find it. That’s the only evidence you have, and it means nothing.”

Howard was right. The security card was not enough, but there was a key piece of information she was holding back.

She hesitated, running through the consequences of revealing what she had found. It was a decision that would dictate the future of Core Tech Computing. They needed money. Without it, her research would die.

“It’s not the only evidence I have,” she said. “There’s your handwriting.”

“Handwriting?” Howard echoed. “What does my handwriting have to do with anything?”

“I was looking through the case files last night.”

“Don’t,” Claire interrupted. “Remember your contract.”

Hanna waved her off. “It’s okay. None of the others can hear or see us right now. And thanks to Howard, we don’t have the storage server anymore. That means there won’t be a recording of this, and no one will ever hear this conversation.”

“I didn’t take the storage server,” Howard said. His voice got louder as he grew more irritated.

“There’s no point in lying. I was there that night. I was looking through the case files, and I found your handwriting on Eileen’s hair samples. I know it was you.”

Howard squinted at her, studying her face with great intensity. “It’s not my handwriting. It can’t be.”

“I think you misunderstand my intentions. You were going to let Claire go to jail. We can still let that happen.”

Claire turned her head. “What did you say?”

“Shut up,” Hanna said. “I’m talking to Howard.”

Howard furrowed his brow. “Let it happen? What do you mean?”

“It’s simple, really. Core Tech Computing needs money to survive. If Claire goes to jail, we close the case, and I get paid for the amount on the contract. But I want more. Double. I’ll give you this card and keep my mouth shut. Claire takes the fall, and you go home an innocent man.”

Howard’s eye twitched as he processed the situation. “I can’t do anything about your contract. The amount is set.”

“You’ll find a way. Desperation tends to spark creativity. Unless you really didn’t frame Eileen, in which case, you can report me to Charles and void my contract.” She leaned forward and grinned. “But we both know that isn’t going to happen.”

He looked at his feet, clenching his fists and shaking his head. When he looked back up, there was a look of defeat. “It’s a deal. Hand over the card, and I’ll double your contract.”

“It really was you,” Claire said, staring at Howard with disbelief. “Did you kill Eileen too?”

“I did what had to be done!” Howard yelled, spraying a mist of saliva. “I did what nobody else had the guts to do. Our reputation as a department was in the gutter. I heard Charles speaking with the higher-ups. They were going to scrap our team and start from scratch. We were all on the verge of losing our jobs.”

“So, you murder an innocent woman?” Claire asked.

“She was hardly innocent. She was a prostitute. A lowlife. A worthless hack who has never contributed to society. No one will miss her.”

“You let Eileen take the fall and the real killer goes free?”

“Those murders weren’t connected. You’re young. You don’t have the experience to see it. I’ve worked hundreds of cases like these. They all had the telltale sign of a domestic dispute gone wrong. They were crimes of passion committed in the heat of an argument. It was probably one of their loved ones who did it, not some devious serial killer. We just didn’t have the evidence to prove it. They were already going to get away with it, whether we pinned it on Eileen or not.”

“You didn’t even try. We’re detectives. We work with the evidence and figure it out.”

Howard shook his head. “You don’t understand. Even if we did solve those cases, they weren’t big. They wouldn’t have boosted our reputation. The public doesn’t care about random domestic disputes. We needed a high-profile case. One that would grab the attention of every family in the state. A serial killer running loose around Boston? That’s the kind of case that pulls a pig out of the mud and places it on the pedestal. And it worked. That journalist loved the story. Tomorrow morning, the papers will show that the SCB has solved the case and restored public safety.”

“At the expense of Eileen’s life,” Claire said.

“She wasn’t supposed to die. She was only supposed to go to jail, but I miscalculated in thinking her hair would get the job done. Charles insisted we needed more evidence, as if her DNA wasn’t good enough. And then you had to mention Hanna Li and her research in thought-hopping. Charles has always been a sucker for new technology. When he decided to contact Hanna for help, I knew my plan was in jeopardy. I tried to slow you down, but you kept digging and digging until I had no choice. You forced my hand.”

“Don’t fool yourself,” Claire said with disgust. “You had a choice.”

“If I hadn’t killed her, you would have discovered that she wasn’t guilty. Our whole case would have fallen apart, and the press would have torn us to pieces. The SCB would no longer exist.” He shook his head. “I don’t regret a single decision I made.”

“You’re not going to get away with this.”

“Haven’t you been listening? I already have. It’s a little more expensive than I thought it would be, thanks to Hanna, but no one will ever know the sacrifices I made to save this department. This is all finally over.”

“That’s right,” Hanna said, walking over and handing him the security card. “It’s all over.”

Howard took the card from her, examining the photo of Claire. As he held it closer to his face, the piece of plastic vanished from his hand. He stared at the air between his fingers, and checked his breast pocket again. Confirming it was still empty, he glared at Hanna, waiting for an explanation.

Hanna smirked. “Did you get all of that, Russell?”

A voice projected from empty space. “Every single word.”

Claire looked up at the ceiling, searching for the encompassing voice.

“And the others?” Hanna asked.

“They heard it too. I think we’re golden, Hanna.”

Howard’s eyes widened. He clenched his jaw and stormed at Hanna. “What the hell is going on?” He grabbed her collar and pulled her in, coming inches from her face. “What did you do?”

She leaned in even closer, almost touching her nose to his. “I beat you.”

He let her go and stumbled back, falling onto the couch in total shock.

Hanna nudged Claire and smiled. “I guess you’re not going to jail after all.” She pressed the play button on the CD player and “Jailhouse Rock” played. She bobbed her head to the rhythm of the song and looked up at the ceiling to speak to the omnipresent voice. “Russell, pull us out.”

 

*****

 

When they woke up, Charles, Lenny, Arthur, and Finn stood behind them, watching the monitor above the control panel. The display showed an image of Eileen’s apartment, with a distorted version of “Jailhouse Rock” playing through the speakers.

Russell knelt beside Claire, unfastening the last strap from her ankle. Across the room, Arthur’s camera was pointed at the monitor. Russell had set it up just as she instructed.

Howard yanked his headband off and stared at the image on the screen. “I don’t understand. We were inside my mind. They can’t see us while we’re in there.”

“You’re right,” Hanna said. “One of the limitations of thought-hopping is that there’s no live feed, but we weren’t inside your mind, and that wasn’t your memory. It was Eileen’s. We saved her memory and fed it through the training simulation. Fortunately, that particular memory was processed and stored on the cloud before you were able to steal the storage server. I was worried it wouldn’t be convincing enough. Usually, we have more time to polish the training sequences. We rushed this one, but it did the job.”

“But I—” he started to say but could not find the words to form a complete thought.

“Cat got your tongue?” Russell asked patting him on the back. “Don’t worry. There’s no need to confess again. They heard it all the first time.”

Howard turned to Charles. “You didn’t actually believe me, did you? It was a joke. I wasn’t serious. We both know Claire is the one who accessed the evidence room.”

Hanna stood up. “Check his breast pocket.”

Russell reached over Howard’s shoulder and pulled a plastic card from his pocket. “What do we have here?” He held it up to read the text. “Agent Claire Foster. Security level three. This card is to be used by the cardholder and no one else.” He patted Howard on the back again. “I guess you broke the rules, buddy.”

“Don’t touch me,” Howard said, swiping Russell’s hand away. He peered at Charles. “It was the only way.”

“I’ve heard enough,” Charles said. “Lenny, arrest him.”

Lenny stepped forward with his handcuffs out. “Howard Grimley, you are under arrest for falsifying evidence and first-degree murder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights?”

“Seriously?” Howard asked. “You’re cuffing me? You’re reading my rights?”

“You know I have to. Now, please answer the question. Do you understand your rights?”

Howard rolled his eyes as the cuffs locked around his wrists. “Yes, I do.”

Charles leaned forward. “You disappoint me, Agent Grimley. You let down this entire department.”

“No,” Howard said as Lenny and Arthur guided him toward the door. “I saved this department.”

Charles followed them out of the lab, leaving Hanna, Claire, Russell, and Finn.

Hanna and Claire shared a smile. “I was a little worried you were throwing me under the bus,” Claire said. “But I knew you had a plan.”

“I couldn’t have pulled it off without Russell.” Hanna swiveled her head around. “You did everything perfectly.”

Russell shrugged, switching off the camera. “It was your plan. I just did what you told me to do.”

“So,” Finn said to Hanna. “You ended up looking at the case files after I left last night?”

Hanna shrugged. “Sorry, Finn. I saw your card on the floor and couldn’t resist.”

“Oh. You found it on the floor. So, you didn’t steal it from me?”

“No. I would never do that.”

“Damn. I was kind of hoping you did. Charles has been bugging me about losing my card. This time, I thought it wasn’t my fault.”

Claire watched the image of Eileen’s apartment on the monitor. “They have you on tape confessing about that. Now the SCB doesn’t have to pay you.”

Hanna sighed. “Yeah, I kind of shot myself in the foot there, didn’t I?”

“You shot mine too,” Russell said. “I’m just as much a part of Core Tech Computing as you are.”

“He might still pay you,” Finn said. “He’s a generous guy. Hell, if it were up to me, I’d hand over the money. It’s well-deserved.”

Hanna grinned. “That’s nice of you, Finn, but I doubt he will. He offered the money because he saw potential in our tech, but things went wrong at every turn. The computer overheated. We lost a whole session on the storage server. Eileen Warner died, and we never learned anything useful from exploring her mind.”

“We learned she was innocent,” Claire said. “You picked up on the clues pretty early.”

“The tech didn’t live up to the expectations. If I were him, I would be looking for a way out of the deal, and I just handed him the perfect excuse. It’s the end of Core Tech Computing, but I think I’m okay with that. What’s important is that we proved Eileen’s innocence. It’s just a shame we couldn’t save her.”

“We tried,” Claire said. “That counts for something.”

“I suppose it does.”

Finn let out a lengthy yawn. “Man, I’m beat. It’s been quite a day. I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight.”

“Yeah, it’s getting late,” Claire said. She extended a hand toward Hanna. “It was an honor to work with you. I hope to do it again someday.”

Hanna accepted her handshake. “The feeling is mutual.”

“Ditto,” Finn said. “Now, let’s all go home and finally get some sleep.”

Russell shut down the computer and followed Finn and Claire to the door. He glanced back to see Hanna still standing by the control panel. “Are you coming?”

“Yeah,” Hanna said. “I’ll head out soon. Go without me. I just need a minute.”

“Okay, but don’t stay too late.” He waved goodbye and pushed through the door to catch up with the others.

Hanna stood alone in the lab, surrounded by her own technology. Core Tech Computing was her heart and soul for the last ten years, and now it was coming to an end.

She picked up one of the headbands and ran her fingers along the smooth outer surface. The feeling of the cold metal conjured memories of early prototypes. The design had changed so much over the years.

She walked to the computer and pressed her hand against the side of the case. The rumble of the fan died down as the system shut off. It was perhaps the last time she would hear the fans run.

The Eileen Warner case would be her final project in cerebral infiltration. The work at Core Tech Computing was dead. It was time to move on.