Page 37 of Shadow of Doubt
Nick looked up from his phone. “Trafficking makes more sense than Kane having a pet. He never had pets or even indicated he liked animals, so I can’t see him suddenly deciding to have a pet, much less a large cat. Plus, if there’s money to be made at it, then he would exploit it to the max.”
“Oh, there’s money in it all right.” Sierra frowned. “Twenty billion a year on the black market for illegal wildlife products. That can include the animals of course, but also medicine ingredients, exotic pets, jewelry, and accessories. It’s the fourth largest illegal economy worldwide.”
Wow!“I had no idea.”
“And it’s not just the money.” She ripped off her gloves. “They’re hunting, gathering, and trading endangered species and protected wildlife. That includes plants and animals, eitherdead or alive. Which is messing with our biodiversity. Currently more than five thousand animal species are threatened with extinction.”
Dev shook his head. “That’s a crazy number.
“I know, right?” She curled her fingers into fists. “But you can’t stop there to get the whole picture. There’s a human toll too. Illegal wildlife trade now includes armed violence, corruption, money laundering, and other forms of organized crime. And up to a hundred rangers a year are killed while trying to protect wildlife from poachers.”
She stopped and tossed her gloves into a disposal bag. “Sorry. I’ll get off my soapbox now. Can you tell I’m passionate about this?”
“Not the first time I’ve seen her on that soapbox,” Nick shook his head.
She punched his arm. Seemed like their team worked much like the Shadow Lake team did with good-natured ribbing.
“What’s being done to stop it?” Colin asked.
“Oh, no, back on that soapbox we go.” Nick chuckled.
Sierra rolled her eyes. “The usual criminal investigations, but wildlife officers are running into problems identifying illegal furs and pelts with enough accuracy to succeed in court. DNA scientists like Emory are working on improving their odds. She’s part of a group specializing in extracting genetic information from proteins that are coded for in DNA. They then compare the amino acid sequences of proteins to work back to DNA sequences.”
“Why not just do the DNA?” Dev asked.
“It isn’t always available, and these proteins are tougher and more abundant than DNA.” Sierra unzipped the top of her suit. “It’s all pretty complicated, but she’s working with the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory to build a database ofproteins for the most trafficked species so samples collected in the field can be analyzed.”
“Did you find anything in the kennel she can analyze?” Colin asked. “I didn’t see any real fur, more like hair.”
“I spotted some fur samples in the kennel. Not large, but we don’t need a big sample, and Emory has a good shot at figuring out what type of animal he was keeping.”
“That’s great,” Nick said. “My super team does it again. But how does that help us find Kane?”
Sierra frowned. “First of all, think of him being involved in wildlife trafficking. What if the victim was part of a trafficking ring that he participated in and for some reason Kane needed to kill him? If we find the animal type, we might find the ring that could lead to Kane.”
Nick turned off his phone and darkness replaced the light illuminating his face. “Sounds logical, but there’s something you don’t know about him. He’s never been one to join a group of any kind. He flies solo. So no ring. Just him. He has to be the best. Top dog. No matter who he steps on to get there. Unless that’s changed, which I’ve seen no evidence of.”
Dev studied Nick. “Do you think he would become a group player if it meant big bucks?”
Nick tapped his foot. “Could happen, I suppose. Although I think if he did, he would look for a way to eliminate his affiliation with the others and make those big bucks on his own.”
Sierra perked up. “Then think about this. Organized crime is very much a part of wildlife trafficking. What if he cut in on their business, and they sent the victim to take him out of the picture, but Kane took the guy out instead?”
Nick shot to his feet and ran a hand through his hair. “Could be. Yeah, I could see him doing that, and now he’s on the run. Desperate. Maybe even more willing to hurt Brooklyn. I’ll getsome searches set up on the dark web for Kane and any hint of wildlife trafficking.”
Sirens sounded closer.
“Patrol car in sight,” Ryan said over their comms.
“Officers are close,” Colin told Sierra and Kelsey.
Sierra shrugged her shoulders out of her suit. “We’ll get out of our protective gear. Don’t want to look like we’ve been snooping.”
“After that, can you send me the pictures you took?” Colin asked.
“Will do,” Sierra said.
Colin wanted the photos. He really did. He had to search for any leads. But honestly, looking at photos that included the gruesome sight of a man burned beyond any recognition—perhaps on purpose by the man stalking Brooklyn—was the last thing he wanted to do.
