The team regrouped once again. This time, Aubrey headed to the CSI lab to oversee the DNA test results. Given his social skills, he was expected to quickly build rapport with Mac Taylor's team. Meanwhile, JJ and Hannah were assigned to investigate the new suspect.
Hannah soon had news to report. "According to the North Westchester County Land Registry, Kenneth Sigbee applied to rewire his café five months ago. I contacted the contractor, and they said the job used about one ton of 14-gauge electrical wire."
"The timeline seems to match," Jack acknowledged. "Bring him in for questioning."
Two hours later, a nervous young man was ushered into the interrogation room.
Hannah and JJ took the lead, while Jack and Jubal observed from the one-way mirror in the adjacent observation room.
Hannah gestured for the man to take a seat before getting straight to the point. "Mr. Sigbee, why did you rewire your café?"
"Why?" Kenneth Sigbee seemed taken aback. Throughout his journey to the interrogation room, he had imagined countless scenarios—but not this question.
"Uh… because I wanted to attract customers back after being closed for a while," he stammered. "People usually come to cafés for good Wi-Fi and a place to charge their phones. They don't care much about the coffee."
"That makes sense," JJ replied, almost amused by his nervous demeanor. She exchanged a glance with Hannah and then looked toward the one-way mirror.
Behind the glass, Jack and Jubal were visibly disappointed. With their experience, it was easy to see they had the wrong person.
Every suspect's reaction to being interrogated was unique. Some would be belligerent, trying to assert their innocence through anger. Others would feign innocence, sometimes so convincingly they could fool even seasoned officers. And then there were those who chose total silence as a defense.
Kenneth Sigbee, however, displayed a very specific kind of confusion. His nervousness suggested he was unsettled, but not necessarily guilty.
As a law-abiding citizen suddenly pulled in by the FBI, his unease was understandable—especially with two attractive female agents questioning him. The café owner seemed eager to cooperate.
Hannah continued, "We spoke to your contractor. They said you insisted on keeping all the leftover wiring after the renovation. Why is that?"
"Of course I kept it! I paid for it. Electrical materials are expensive, and I figured they'd come in handy for future repairs," he replied, still bewildered.
During further questioning, Sigbee claimed to know nothing about the suspicious website or the term "Incel." Under Hannah and JJ's pressure, he even agreed to let the FBI examine his computer without a warrant.
Unsurprisingly, the IT department found nothing incriminating on any of his devices, whether at the café or at home.
Unlike others who might have felt frustrated, Jack seemed oddly upbeat as he addressed the team. "So, the good news is our suspect might actually be a customer at the café, right?"
Hannah sighed, visibly disheartened. "That's what we're thinking too. We checked the café's router logs and identified a laptop that was always connected to the Wi-Fi whenever that IP logged onto the website. The problem is, we can't find the laptop."
Every device has a unique "digital fingerprint," such as the MAC address tied to its network card. While obtaining the MAC address made it theoretically possible to track the laptop's location during future logins, the killer likely anticipated this and replaced the network card to avoid detection.
"When was the laptop last online?" Jack asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"The day after we found the three bodies in Central Park. He must've seen the news reports," JJ answered, quickly catching onto Jack's train of thought.
"So, our killer remains as cautious as ever," Jack concluded. He considered their next steps before giving an order. "Check for surveillance cameras around the café. Even if there are no cameras inside, there might be something nearby. See if we can find footage of someone carrying the laptop."
Hannah's eyes lit up. "I remember seeing an ATM across the street from the café. I'll get on it."
The two women left with renewed determination. Jack gave Jubal a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Ever since his former partner's visit earlier that day, Jubal had been unusually subdued.
Before Jack could offer words of encouragement, Aubrey burst into the office, his eyes wide with excitement.
"You're not going to believe this!" Aubrey exclaimed. He grabbed a glass of water from the desk—without checking whose it was—and gulped it down.
Finally catching his breath, he continued, "The coroner couldn't find any DNA inside the victim, only traces of lubricant from a condom. But the CSI team recovered DNA from a piece of plastic sheeting at the scene, and you'll never guess who it belongs to."
"Who?" Jack asked, annoyed by the suspense. "If you keep dragging this out, don't expect to mooch any more meals from me."
Aubrey turned sharply to Jubal, his expression almost theatrical. "It's the guy you asked me to look into—Kerry McMay! The same Kerry McMay who's supposed to be in prison!"
"That's impossible!" Jubal blurted out.
The next morning, Jack and Jubal drove to the state prison.
The night before, the team had debated countless theories about how DNA from an inmate—incarcerated for three years—could show up at a fresh crime scene.
While cases existed of prisoners attempting to smuggle bodily fluids out of jail to stage fake crime scenes, such stunts were rare, impractical, and largely ineffective. DNA's uniqueness as evidence had never been successfully challenged.
Kerry McMay had only one living relative: his sister. While rapid DNA testing could occasionally confuse samples from close relatives of the same gender, this wasn't the case here.
Additionally, the fragment of epithelial tissue found on the plastic sheet had almost disappeared, meaning it was only by sheer luck that investigators managed to extract any DNA at all.
The most plausible explanation was one they didn't want to accept: the Kerry McMay in prison wasn't the real Kerry McMay.
(End of Chapter)
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