Page 9 of The Grave Artist

“He made the connection yesterday and I sent a notice to Main Justice. They want us to run this one because of an international connection.”

“Morning,” came a voice from the doorway.

Carmen turned as a solidly built man in a rumpled suit stepped into the office. His dark hair was a week late for a trim. An HSI visitor ID dangled from a lanyard around his neck and an LAPD gold shield decorated his belt.

She gave him a nod. “Hey.”

Frank Tandy was a well-regarded detective in the elite Homicide Special Section of the Robbery Homicide Division. His assignment there gave him free range to investigate cases citywide.

“Carmen.” His face broke into a broad smile as he looked her over. Then: “Eric.”

Williamson motioned Tandy toward an empty chair at the table before turning back to Carmen and Heron. “When I contacted LAPD about Declan’s catch—hispossiblecatch—Frank here volunteered to be liaison.”

No surprise that he’d jump at the chance to work with I-squared, Carmen thought wryly.

She introduced him to Heron, who stood to shake his hand.

Williamson said, “What did the brass tell you, Frank?”

“Just that the fatality at the Hollywood Crest was probably a homicide and HSI was looking into an international angle. If it turns out to be a murder, we’ll run it task-forced with you. You Feds’ll be primary on any foreign stuff.”

After the detective took a seat, Williamson brought him up to speed on the Honeymoon Killer and then resumed his briefing. “Declan spotted two other similar incidents.”

Carmen asked, “Overseas?”

“Right. Now, on the surface they looked like accidents, but taken together, likely not.”

Heron gave his head a small shake. “Declan can be something of an alarmist.”

Carmen agreed.

“Who’s Declan?” Tandy asked, glancing back briefly into the HSI office and seeing no other agents lurking in the background.

As the “assistant” fell within Heron’s realm, he was the one who explained to Tandy.

Declan was not a time clock–punching employee of the federal government. The name was an acronym for Decoder-EnCoder Language-based AI Network. A large language model computer sophisticated enough to border on sentience, or so it, or he, seemed to feel.

She and Heron had worked with Declan to design an analytical tool called the Obscure Major Crimes Relationship Indexing System, which examined data in the US and around the world for anything suggesting incidents that were, or could be, threats to the country. Declan scavenged data from every imaginable source, including law enforcement databases, traditional and social media, podcasts, online groups and chats and content creators.

“Looks like HK was the first fish he caught,” Heron concluded.

“So, three incidents,” Williamson said. “The groom who died this past Saturday on his wedding night at the Hollywood Crest Inn, just after the reception. A bride died in Verona, Italy, three weeks ago, and a groom in Florence four days after that. All three victims were knockedunconscious and drowned after they were married and about to begin their honeymoon.”

Carmen said, “With that MO, are we thinking our unsub is a man? Unless we find otherwise.”

They agreed a male was more likely.

Heron tapped the info into his ubiquitous tablet. It was like an iPad but had no brand name. He’d made it himself. He started a case board, like the one in the Garage, the wall monitor that described the Tristan Kane investigation.

“Are wesurethey’re murders?” Carmen asked. “Couldn’t they be real slip and falls? Coincidences? Declan’s had some false positives.”

Williamson pursed his lips. “I wouldn’t have called you all in without good reason.”

And she regretted her comment, which, in truth, she hadn’t thought through. There was a secret lottery in the halls of HSI about who would be the first to catch Williamson making a mistake. The unclaimed year-old pot was over $500.

He continued, “After spotting the incidents, Declan ran a statistical analysis. He concluded there was a 96.5 percent chance they were intentional and related. I ordered a copy of the Italian police reports, but nothing’s come in yet.”

Tandy asked, “How did Declan learn about the deaths overseas?”