Where In The World Are The Killers?

Diamond in the Rough

"Anders, we may still be in the dark about the SOMBRA informant in the Bureau, but we now know the reason for SOMBRA's presence in Africa!" Chief Ripley said happily, "your investigation led Prince Abioye to tell us that SOMBRA was trying to smuggle diamonds through his home country of Mazunda."

"That's right, chief!" Anders verifies, "Abioye took a stand against the smuggling and was ousted from his own country!"

"Exactly. And now we know that SOMBRA has been trying to contact Lavinia De Brills, whose family owns the mine. The De Brills diamond mine could definitely be a target for SOMBRA! Get over there on the double!" she orders.

Anders and Carmen left the plane and drove to the diamond mine to investigate for clues about the smuggling operation. But when they arrived at the pit, they discovered a different crime waiting for them: murder. A blond man was suspended in the air, impaled on the trip of the drill machine near the mine entrance. On the ground below the body were a locked smartphone and a brown notebook covered in tiny dark pink petals.

"Whoa, Anders! What on earth happened to that man?!" Carmen cried, craning her neck back to see the man's face, "it looks like he was drilled straight through... That's sickening...."

"There's no way that's an accident," Anders says, flying up to remove the body, "it's murder! And this drill bit is the murder weapon!"

"Oh no! I recognize the victim!" she cried as her partner brought the body down and placed it on the ground, "that's Jude Connelly. We were rivals when I was still a journalist. We were both up for the Pulitzer Prize the year I won it. Connelly didn't take my winning the prize very well... He was extremely competitive. And he'd do anything for a story... Maybe he got too close to a sensitive subject... or too close to SOMBRA!"

"SOMBRA is known for taking out people who stick their noses where they don't belong..." he agrees, reaching over to pick up the cell phone and notebook.

"I can tell you that smartphone you found wasn't Jude's. He prided himself on being a pen-and-paper, old-school kind of guy... We'd better unlock it!" she insisted, looking over the clues, "speaking of pen and paper, this looks like the kind of reporter's notebook Jude used! But what are all these little flower buds? You'll need to collect a sample! Even though Jude liked danger, I doubt he expected to have an interview with murder."

"I don't think anyone does," he chuckled, "we'll have to put our investigation into SOMBRA's smuggling on hold... but Jude's murder in the De Brills diamond mine can very well be linked to it!"

Carmen calls the team to notify them about the murder, and Anders begins examining the clues. He places Loki on the ground with the cell phone for them to hack the device. Meanwhile, he vacuums the pink petals off the notebook and reveals the victim's contact information and the timeframe for the notes written on the cover.

"Great, you got those flower buds collected off the notebook!" Carmen cheers as she hangs up her cell phone, "hey, we were right, Anders! That is Jude's notebook - it says so right on the cover! We need to know why those flower buds were on Jude's notebook! Let's rush them over to Lars!"

"And Loki's got the phone unlocked, but I don't recognize the man on the unlock screen...." Anders commented, showing Carmen the picture.

"Me neither," she says, scratching her head, "running this photo through the database could find us a match! Let's get on it!"

Anders connects the phone to his tablet and uploads the home screen's image to the database. He compares the unknown man's features to the ones the program provided him with as possible matches, and after piecing together the man's face, he had his identity.