Page 99
CHAPTER 97
BAO WONG SAT between Lieutenant Jackson Brady and Lindsay Boxer at the war room conference table. She placed a padded manila envelope on the table, and the group leaned in for a better look.
Bao hoped that the material Chief Steinmetz had passed to her through Brady would give the task force what they needed to solve the unfathomable murders that had no apparent motive and often a bizarre catchphrase written on or near the victims.
Bao addressed the group, saying, “Good morning, everyone. It’s good to be here. Graig Steinmetz, FBI section chief of the San Francisco field office, has sent me what may be evidence of a suspect in the murders of Judge Martin Orlofsky and his wife, Sandra Orlofsky.
“I understand that several of you in this meeting were at the Orlofsky crime scene and possibly saw the suspect—but he’s a blue-ribbon chameleon. If you didn’t recognize him as a seasoned killer, that’s his superpower and why he’s still free. Also, I’ve been told that two former inspectors from this department, now retired, may have been involved with this suspect. I have some photographic evidence that may prove or disprove that theory.”
Bao reached into the open envelope and extracted a half dozen eight-by-ten photos and a small hard drive. She spread the photos out on the table, saying, “I’ll tape these photos to the wall in a few minutes. This one,” she said, holding it up, “shows the killer in profile. He is sitting behind the wheel of his gardener’s truck, which is part of his disguise. The photo was taken by a security camera wired to the next door neighbor’s home and was recorded at 6:45 a.m. three days ago. That’s the Orlofsky house. In the next photos, the truck’s driver had moved the truck out of camera range.
“This hard drive,” Bao said, holding it up, “was part of the same security system, and that system recorded the same truck at the same time and same day. The truck comes into the frame from down the street, pulls into position where the driver is in range to watch police activity.
“This photo was taken by the still camera five minutes after this one in my hand. And here is a uniformed officer telling the driver of the gardener’s truck to move along. He obeyed.
“Change of scene,” Bao said to the task force. “Here’s the same truck awaiting its turn to go through the border checkpoint from Tijuana deeper into Mexico. We have video of this truck, and of this man getting out of the truck to show his passport to the border police, returning to the truck, then driving on.
“There are no stills or video of this man doing actual murder or entering or leaving the Orlofsky house. He left no DNA and no prints. He is an accomplished killer, and his name is Santiago Garza, known as Tiago. He’s the former boss of the drug cartel Los Hermanos del Diablo. The last I heard, Tiago Garza is now an assassin for hire.”
Bao paused and looked at the people at the table, making sure they were all with her. Then she said, “Tiago’s son, Dario Garza, is on trial for murder, here in California, and is currently confined to a cell in a maximum-security location.
“Back to Tiago Garza. Here’s a mug shot of him taken fourteen years ago when he was arrested for the theft of a half dozen catalytic converters that had been ripped out of high-end vehicles, then found in his nondescript junker. He denied any knowledge of the thefts but had no explanation for how they ended up in his car. He was booked and charged, and we have this information: He is five eleven, U.S. born, with dual U.S.-Mexico citizenship.
“His prints are on file, but nothing has yet shown as a match. Most probably Garza knew how to prevent house security cameras from getting clear shots of his face.
“Bottom line, Tiago Garza is at large.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99 (Reading here)
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113