“Uh … exactly. Do you mind telling me what it is you two do for a living?”

“I work for an online advertising agency in Victoria,” said Steven. “It’s called Neverblue.”

“I’m with London Drugs,” replied Kelly. “Why?”

“Steven seems rather astute when it comes to bad guys.”

Jack caught Steven’s smile in the rear-view mirror. “My dad is a retired RCMP officer,” he said. “I’ve heard a few things.”

Jack smiled back and said, “Good. Do you know the city well?”

“Vancouver? No way,” said Steven, shaking his head. “We’ve been lost for an hour driving around.”

“Wonderful,” muttered Jack.

“It’s my fault,” said Kelly. “We are supposed to meet my dad but I’ve only been to his new house a couple of times. We’re completely lost.”

“Pull this off and I’ll buy you a tank of gas and lead you there personally,” said Jack. “I would only ask that you don’t mention any of the details about this to anyone.”

“I understand. We won’t,” replied Steven.

“Is he really dangerous?” asked Kelly.

“Yes, but right now I think he might only be meeting somebody. All I want to do is find out who. He knows my face. Same goes for my partner, so we can’t let him see us.”

Fifteen minutes later they found themselves in the heart of downtown Vancouver, with Laura still stuck in traffic and trailing two blocks behind. Steven’s ability to quickly grasp surveillance was surprisingly good. Soon he made a habit of always allowing one or two cars between them for cover, but weighed it with the option of when to speed up to make the same traffic light as Goldie when needed.

“Your dad would be proud,” said Jack, hunched low in the back while peering out between the two front seats.

“Thanks. Is it okay if I tell him?”

“Yeah —”

“He’s stopping!” said Kelly. “There, right in the entrance to that alley!”

Jack peered out the window as they drove past the alley and saw Goldie getting out of the car.

“You going to follow him on foot?” asked Steven.

“Can’t risk him seeing me,” replied Jack. “But this was a great help. He’s bound to be meeting someone in a building close by. This helps us narrow it down.”

“Yeah, to what? About ten thousand people,” said Steven, looking up at the skyscrapers around them.

Jack peeked out the rear window and saw a familiar glimpse of Goldie’s moss-green windbreaker in the crowd as he came their way.

“He doesn’t know me,” said Kelly, opening the door and leaping out.

“Wait, I don’t —” Jack knew Goldie would be coming past them within seconds. “Okay, but public places only. Under no circumstances go anywhere unless there are lots of people.”

She flashed a pretty smile back at Jack and said, “I’ll be careful. This is so cool,” she added, closing the door.

“What do you want me to do?” asked Steven.

“Keep circling the block. Does Kelly have a cellphone?”

“Yes, we both do.”

Goldie walked briskly down the sidewalk toward them as Steven sat parked in traffic. Jack saw Kelly appear to be intently examining the front display window of a jewellery store as Goldie walked past her in a throng of people. Jack laid down on the back seat out of sight.

“Dangerous sign,” said Jack, watching Steven’s nervous face as he stared straight ahead, afraid to be seen by Goldie in case he’d be caught looking at him.

“Dangerous sign?” repeated Steven, nervously, risking a glance at the back of Goldie’s head as he passed by on the sidewalk.

“Yeah, I think Kelly is looking at wedding rings.”

Steven’s smile matched Jack’s.

Minutes later, Goldie disappeared around the next corner with Kelly following discreetly.

“We’re stuck,” said Steven in frustration, gesturing at the traffic. “Maybe I should phone her?”

“Hang tough,” replied Jack. “I know it’s not easy, but the sound of a cellphone could attract attention and get her noticed. She already has a disadvantage in that category.”

“How’s that?”

“She’s too damned cute. Guys will remember her. What’s her ethnic background?”

“Irish.”

Jack chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Inside joke. Basically this bad guy won’t like the Irish when I’m done with him.”

Steven had only managed to make one circuit around the block when they saw Kelly standing near where she had been let out.

“The tallest building around the corner,” she said breathlessly. “He went to the forty-seventh floor. It is the very top. He told the receptionist that his name was Mister Golden … or something like that. He said he had an appointment with Mister Lee. That name I’m certain of.”

“You went with him in the elevator,” said Jack, frowning.

“There were lots of people. There are different elevators for the first thirty floors. Although it was just him and me when we got to the top. I had to get out with him, there was no place left.”

“Did he look at you a little strangely when he realized you didn’t belong there?” asked Jack.

“The name of the company behind the reception desk is Intrinsic Global Investments. While he was waiting to see Mister Lee, I asked the receptionist if they had any secretarial positions open. She said they didn’t. I don’t think he paid much attention to me. Then I left.”

Jack grinned. “If either of you decide to become police officers, I’ll be your reference.”

“Law enforcement was one of two occupations my dad said he never wanted me to go into,” said Steven.

“You never told me that,” said Kelly. “What was the other?”

“To become a defence lawyer,” said Jack and Steven in unison. Both men chuckled.

“Do you want to know what Mister Lee looks like?” asked Kelly.

“You saw him?”

“He came out as the elevator door was closing. He’s easy to identify. Asian, mid fifties, probably. He was wearing a navy blue suit, red tie, has a bald head, and a diamond stud in his left earlobe.”

“Excellent,” smiled Jack.

“Oh, yeah, and he is really short and small. If it wasn’t for how he was dressed and his bald head, you would think he was just a kid.”

Steven and Kelly both saw the startled reaction on Jack’s face. He immediately used his cellphone to speak to Laura.

“Just found a match for the footprint in the park,” he said quietly.

23

On Wednesday afternoon, Jack and Laura met with Rose to update her on the investigation.

“I’m certain it’s the man they call The Enabler,” said Jack. “His name is Kang Lee. He is originally from Seoul, South Korea, and is currently in Canada under a work permit as the president of a financial consulting company called Intrinsic Global Investments. He rents a two-bedroom penthouse overlooking English Bay in the west end and drives a new Mercedes-Benz SL500 leased to the company.”

“Must be doing extremely well as a financial consultant,” said Rose. “I knew I entered the wrong profession.”

“CC confirmed that a picture of his shoe print matches exactly the size of the print they found at the murder scene,” said Laura.

“What did you do? Mug him and steal his shoe?”

Laura smiled and said, “There are several levels of underground parking in his office tower. The bottom two levels are public parking, but the other levels are reserved spaces for different companies in the building. We went there this morning before Lee arrived. His spot, closest to the elevators, is reserved in his name.”

“And?”

“And I smeared a film of dirty engine oil beside where he parks,” said Jack. “He stepped in it as soon as he got out of his car.”

“After that we placed a ruler beside his print and took a picture,” said Laura.

“Too bad he didn’t fall on his ass,” said Rose. “How about Drug Section? Are they on board with us?”

“Drug Section is using what we gave them to prepare a wiretap application on Goldie. They hope to have it before a judge next week. In the meantime, they’re going to start doing surveillance on him. Strictly periodic. They don’t want to risk burning anything at this stage.”