Chapter 5 - DEREK SLOANE
Derek Sloane wanted the Briar drive.
He admitted that much after his lawyer negotiated a proffer.
Not immunity.
Not a promise that attempted robbery disappeared.
Just an agreement that investigators would listen before deciding what use they could make of his statements.
Sloane sat across from Detective Ruiz and an attorney from Evelyn’s office who was not Evelyn.
Good.
Evelyn was now a victim in the obstruction investigation.
She should not question him.
Sloane said:
“I was told Carter would be carrying a portable drive.”
“By who?”
“Client intermediary.”
“Name.”
“Kestrel Advisory.”
“What is that?”
“Private investigations broker.”
“Who retained them?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer would need checking.
Sloane received:
$7,500 upfront.
$15,000 if he acquired the drive for thirty minutes.
Not permanently.
Thirty.
Why?
“To image it.”
“Could you decrypt it?”
“No.”
“Then why steal it?”
“Client wanted the physical device and exterior labels.”
Again.
Evidence challenge.
Chain-of-custody data.
Device serials.
Maybe they believed the drive contained unencrypted metadata.
Maybe they wanted to claim evidence had been compromised.
Either way, someone wanted to physically touch it.
Sloane had been told Evelyn would be alone.
No law-enforcement escort.
Personal shoulder bag.
West plaza route.
Exact enough.
“Did Margaret Vale hire you?”
“No.”
“Know she would be there?”
“No.”
“Then why did you shove her?”
“She was reaching into the bag.”
“You were protecting Carter?”
Sloane laughed.
“No.”
“Then?”
“I thought she was taking what I was there to take.”
There.
Two separate schemes collided.
He shoved Margaret because he thought she might steal the target first.
Then saw her plant the bracelet.
Realized she was doing something else.
When Evelyn knelt—
her bag opened.
Opportunity.
He moved.
Ruiz asked:
“Why tell Carter, ‘She doesn’t need you in jail’?”
Sloane smiled again.
“Because Vale didn’t look like somebody trying to win a theft case.”
“What did she look like?”
“Somebody creating thirty seconds of procedure.”
Security accusation.
Bag search.
Distraction.
Sloane understood the tactic because his entire career depended on knowing what people did while everyone else watched the wrong thing.
Then they asked about Arthur.
“What information have you sold?”
“Public stuff.”
“Arthur says otherwise.”
Sloane shrugged.
“His security people leak like sprinklers.”
“Names.”
“No.”
His proffer had limits.
Then investigators searched Kestrel Advisory through warrant and subpoena process.
Small company.
Three employees.
Mostly corporate investigations.
Insurance fraud.
Asset searches.
Litigation support.
The work order for Evelyn:
Document integrity assessment — Harbor Point matter.
Client field:
NORTHBANK LEGAL SERVICES
Northbank was a litigation-support vendor.
Not a law firm.
Its customers included six firms.
One represented a defendant in Evelyn’s Harbor Point corruption prosecution.
That was bad.
Not yet proof an attorney ordered robbery.
Then Ruiz showed Evelyn another item from Sloane’s phone.
A message from the person directing him:
CARTER WILL USE THE BLACK BENNETT BAG. DRIVE POUCH BLUE.
Evelyn stared.
Black Bennett bag.
Her surname was Carter.
Bennett was the bag manufacturer.
Small embossed logo near the lower seam.
Whoever briefed Sloane had seen the bag closely.
Then another image.
Her bag sitting beneath her desk.
May you like
Inside the Public Integrity Bureau.
Taken two days earlier.
