Ensemble [Book 1: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 8: Forensics

Chapter 8: Forensics

"Rick, where are the rest of the CSIs?" asked a bloodshot and bleary-eyed Gus Lebanchek. "The morning shift is already 30 minutes late."

"Actually, sir, they were set to show at 8:00 a.m. and it's 7:50 right now with most of the investigators already on-site..."

Gus let it go, still too exhausted after a sleepless night. He wanted this done right. None of what happened yesterday made much sense to him. Well, that wasn't entirely true. At this point, it was pretty obvious to him that the Underground wanted to frame the Ministry for the initial shot that started the fracas. But what they were hiding and how that initial shot was executed eluded Gus, at least for the moment.

Hopefully, having additional time to sort things through with many sets of eyes at the scene would help shed some light on what actually went down. This particular forensics exercise wasn't designed to collect evidence for trial. Gus knew that was never going to happen. Still, the bodies, payoff money, trace, and other physical evidence from room 333 and the adjacent hallway had been bagged and tagged by the initial shift of CSIs.

They were dealing with an intelligent Organization. But mistakes were inevitable. Especially from those who always think they're the smartest people in the room. What Gus really wanted was to get something concrete that he could use to convince these Organized crime lords that their "allies" were, in fact, their assassins. However, getting to that point was going to take time and effort. The Ministry busted thugs like this all day, every day. Why would they believe, trust, or even listen to him? For any of that to happen, Gus needed a smoking gun. After canvassing this place for the last hour, he still had nothing. At least, nothing that he could use in that capacity. All he had was Stanley Dial whom he could use as bait.

"Rick, make sure your guys get every last speck of DNA, ballistics, and anything else on this floor that might have been overlooked by yesterday's crew. We know next to nothing about the guys that died here yesterday and I don't like being in the dark."

"Understood," responded Joliet, as he motioned to two of his CSIs to canvas an area further down the hallway and in the room on the south side of 333.

Gus walked over to where two CSI agents were scrutinizing the hole in the door of Room 333. "Can you confirm that this entry point matches up with the bullet hole that killed the initial Target who was standing near the desk?" he asked.

"It does, sir, absolutely," said the taller of the two CSIs. "We can already confirm that the entry point is associated with an incoming trajectory based on the entry/exit fray patterns on the door."

Then, just as Gus walked by the doorway again, something hit him. The bullet hole was quite high...too high, in fact. It looked about eight inches above his eye-level, which would put it at 6 feet 1 or maybe 2 inches.

"Guys, how high is that hole off the ground?" he asked.

After a quick measure, the smaller CSI responded, "Exactly 6 feet 3 inches, sir."

Not a bad guess, Gus thought. "Is this what you would expect to see?"

"Well, sir, now that you mention it, it is a bit odd," said the taller CSI. "Unless our shooter was 6 foot 8 or so this would make for an awkward shot. He'd also have to know exactly where the target was before shooting and there is no evidence of a sight hole present."

"Yes. It's also likely that the shooter had some sort of visual surveillance aid. Perhaps an infrared penetrating device," Gus added. "If you find anything else, especially if what you find is odd or doesn't quite match up, let me know."

"Of course, sir," the second CSI chimed in.

Gus wasn't sure what it was but something didn't seem quite right. He still had a lot of unanswered questions. During the mission, Joliet had men positioned in that hallway. They were not immediately outside the door due to safety and detection concerns but they were situated in that hallway. He'd confirmed from the limited surveillance footage that one team had been located approximately 10 meters on the north side of the door, in an adjacent entryway while the second team was similarly positioned on the south side, nearly 15 meters from the entry.

Even though they didn't have eyes everywhere, there was no plausible way for a gunman to "suddenly appear" just outside doorway 333, fire a shot and then just as suddenly "disappear". Joliet and Gus had already spent the better part of three hours speaking with every member of the two teams last night. None of them saw anyone before or after the initial shot.

Gus and his men spent a lot of time inspecting the hallway and the adjacent area. There was no ceiling entrance, floor opening, hidden wall cavity or viable ventilation ductwork to speak of. It truly was a mystery. One that Houdini himself would have been proud of.

"There is one more thing, sir," said the taller crime scene investigator.

"What's that?" asked Gus.

"Not only is the entry point quite high off the ground but the hole is oriented such that the angle of penetration is approximately 30 degrees off parallel. The shooter angled the gun downward instead of firing straight and level through the door."

Gus stood still and stared at the door for a moment.

"Why would anyone do that?" he asked.

"At the moment sir, I don't have a plausible explanation. An off-angle shot like that would only decrease the likelihood of a successful target strike. It really doesn't make much sense."

Gus responded and shook his head. "No, it doesn't. None of this does."