Chapter 4 - THE KNIFE THAT DIDN'T EXIST
Jack’s mental reconstruction still contained a knife.
Black-clad killer grabs Michael.
Drives blade into chest.
Leaves somehow.
Then the medical examiner ruined it.
Dr. Elena Brooks placed enlarged wound photographs on the table.
“This is not a conventional knife wound.”
“What is it?”
“Puncture.”
“We know.”
“No cutting edge.”
Jack leaned closer.
“So an ice pick?”
“Maybe. Or a narrow spike.”
“Metal?”
“Not necessarily.”
Then lab found microscopic residue inside the wound.
Resin.
Carbon fiber.
Robert frowned.
“A carbon-fiber weapon?”
Brooks nodded.
“Possible.”
Light.
Strong.
Nonmetallic.
Could pass some detectors.
Could be disguised.
Then Jack searched the apartment again.
He stared at:
umbrella.
Designer lamp.
Sculpture.
Fireplace tools.
Walking cane in a decorative stand.
The cane belonged to Michael.
Custom carbon-fiber shaft.
Jack froze.
He lifted it carefully.
The rubber tip was missing.
Inside the hollow shaft:
nothing.
Robert stared.
“Could the cane be the weapon?”
“Forensics.”
The lab found no blood in the shaft.
But one internal scratch pattern matched the diameter of the wound.
Then Jack saw a photograph on Michael’s shelf.
Michael at a charity gala.
Holding the same cane.
It had a silver wolf-head handle.
Tonight, the cane had a plain black handle.
Jack looked at Robert.
“Someone switched the top.”
They searched the apartment.
No wolf head.
Then the lab disassembled the black handle.
Spring channel.
Empty.
A concealed spike mechanism had once fit inside.
The cane was the delivery system.
The murder weapon was not carried in.
It was already inside Michael’s apartment.
Robert exhaled.
“Who had access to modify it?”
Laura Chen answered.
Michael’s personal security consultant had taken the cane for “repair” two weeks earlier after the handle loosened.
Name:
Gavin Shaw.
Former military contractor.
Now private executive security.
Tall.
Six foot two.
Jack’s eyes narrowed.
“Get me a photograph.”
Gavin Shaw looked like the man in black.
Same build.
Same shoulders.
But phone location put Shaw fifty miles away at 9:12.
Could be spoofed.
Could be another person wearing his body type.
Then Jack asked:
“Who returned the cane?”
Laura checked email.
Courier service.
No signature.
Jack looked at Robert.
The weapon had been planted before the murder.
That meant the killer only needed to trigger it.
May you like
And remove the spike afterward.
Still missing.
