latest engineering inventions; though his genius was for the law rather than engineering, he understood enough to bounce ideas off. He’d also reviewed any patent issues or sales contracts for Damian’s inventions.
‘I’ve got two tickets for the Warriors game tonight. Do you want to grab a hamburger and beer at our favorite pub and then move on to the game?’
Damian had two emotions warring within him. On one hand he wanted to take his mind off the anniversary and on the other it was sacrilege to attend something fun. In the end he thought that his family would want him to move on; certainly if he’d been the one murdered, he would have wanted his wife to remarry and for his kids to have a supportive stepfather. Perhaps it was time to start living again and see where it took him. He wondered why he was feeling this way? Had the cold cases caused this yearning for more meaning in his life somehow? He decided to act on this new feeling and start by attending the game tonight.
He typed back, ‘Sounds like a brilliant plan. Meet you at six at our pub.’
The game tip-off was at 7:30pm so that gave them enough time to eat and drink a few beers before walking over to the arena. He’d take a boat to the marina closest to the arena, while Trevor would likely take a BART train. They’d found on a prior game night, a pub that was a mile away from the arena, small and quiet, with a great selection of Belgian beers and the best cheeseburgers that they’d ever tasted. There was no glitz or glamour about the place, and they’d both gotten to know the owner over the years and helped him in different ways.
One night Damian had come in by himself sick of his own company, depressed, and craving one of Pete’s cheeseburgers. Pete was depressed himself as he’d just fired another bartender for stealing alcohol from the bar. He’d really liked this person and bemoaned that if only he could design a foolproof system that would measure and dispense alcohol, he could stop firing bartenders that were wonderful with his customers. Sure there were fancy systems he could purchase for thirty thousand dollars, but he would be a long time getting a return of investment. Damian took up the challenge and within the month had designed a system made from sprinkler system parts, and a few valves and sensors he purchased. He then developed the software that required a bartender to enter a code to get anything dispensed. The system worked so well that Pete had called back the last likable bartender he fired, and rehired her since he knew she couldn’t cheat him anymore. It also earned Damian free cheeseburgers for life and another patent which he sold to someone that would commercialize his concept, but not bankrupt small bar owners like Pete. With the plans in motion to perhaps change his life, he returned to Natalie’s cold cases.
Chapter Four
He thought he’d focus on two groups of victims – those cases where a family member disappeared or those cases in which a body was discovered; be it in hours, days or years, but they started out as missing persons. At least there was a little evidence. There were, of course, people listed as Jane or John Doe who were never identified, but ended up as homicides based on evidence found in the remains. It would be hard to work on cold cases that were simply about establishing an identity for the remains.
He sorted the thirty-five cases that his first analysis had kicked out and added these new parameters which knocked the case total down to twenty-nine. Still a lot of cases to focus on, so next he tried doing a run to see if any of the cases were connected; common location, common method of a crime, any commonalities at all. That knocked it down to five cases. Perfect, he thought that was a manageable number. He explained his reasoning to Natalie and sent her the list. Later he’d take a look at the cases to see if there was anything else he could do computer wise,
‘I’ve got two tickets for the Warriors game tonight. Do you want to grab a hamburger and beer at our favorite pub and then move on to the game?’
Damian had two emotions warring within him. On one hand he wanted to take his mind off the anniversary and on the other it was sacrilege to attend something fun. In the end he thought that his family would want him to move on; certainly if he’d been the one murdered, he would have wanted his wife to remarry and for his kids to have a supportive stepfather. Perhaps it was time to start living again and see where it took him. He wondered why he was feeling this way? Had the cold cases caused this yearning for more meaning in his life somehow? He decided to act on this new feeling and start by attending the game tonight.
He typed back, ‘Sounds like a brilliant plan. Meet you at six at our pub.’
The game tip-off was at 7:30pm so that gave them enough time to eat and drink a few beers before walking over to the arena. He’d take a boat to the marina closest to the arena, while Trevor would likely take a BART train. They’d found on a prior game night, a pub that was a mile away from the arena, small and quiet, with a great selection of Belgian beers and the best cheeseburgers that they’d ever tasted. There was no glitz or glamour about the place, and they’d both gotten to know the owner over the years and helped him in different ways.
One night Damian had come in by himself sick of his own company, depressed, and craving one of Pete’s cheeseburgers. Pete was depressed himself as he’d just fired another bartender for stealing alcohol from the bar. He’d really liked this person and bemoaned that if only he could design a foolproof system that would measure and dispense alcohol, he could stop firing bartenders that were wonderful with his customers. Sure there were fancy systems he could purchase for thirty thousand dollars, but he would be a long time getting a return of investment. Damian took up the challenge and within the month had designed a system made from sprinkler system parts, and a few valves and sensors he purchased. He then developed the software that required a bartender to enter a code to get anything dispensed. The system worked so well that Pete had called back the last likable bartender he fired, and rehired her since he knew she couldn’t cheat him anymore. It also earned Damian free cheeseburgers for life and another patent which he sold to someone that would commercialize his concept, but not bankrupt small bar owners like Pete. With the plans in motion to perhaps change his life, he returned to Natalie’s cold cases.
Chapter Four
He thought he’d focus on two groups of victims – those cases where a family member disappeared or those cases in which a body was discovered; be it in hours, days or years, but they started out as missing persons. At least there was a little evidence. There were, of course, people listed as Jane or John Doe who were never identified, but ended up as homicides based on evidence found in the remains. It would be hard to work on cold cases that were simply about establishing an identity for the remains.
He sorted the thirty-five cases that his first analysis had kicked out and added these new parameters which knocked the case total down to twenty-nine. Still a lot of cases to focus on, so next he tried doing a run to see if any of the cases were connected; common location, common method of a crime, any commonalities at all. That knocked it down to five cases. Perfect, he thought that was a manageable number. He explained his reasoning to Natalie and sent her the list. Later he’d take a look at the cases to see if there was anything else he could do computer wise,
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