Rue updated Royce as I drove to the precinct. According to Royce, he would be heading back soon. Tapper had left with LeAnn’s remains, and the husband had been called. He was on his way back to Savannah from Cleveland, and nothing had been found around the car that could point a finger at anyone.
That school had been shut down for twenty years, ever since a larger high school was built. It had no electricity, let alone cameras, and the immediate area around the school was mostly vacant lots littered with trash.
The crime lab’s flatbed had taken the car to the evidence garage, and the yellow tape had been taken down. The average passerby would have no idea what had taken place there earlier.
We arrived at the precinct and stopped at our tech department before going upstairs. Tom and Dan gave us their full attention as I explained what we needed. I asked if it was even possible to enhance the photo I’d taken from the video.
Tom had me email the photo to him. Dropping the image into their software program was the only way to try, he said, but he couldn’t guarantee a better outcome than what we already had.
“Night videos are grainy to say the least, but we’ll do what we can with what we have to work with. The actual video would be better,” Tom said.
“And that may be a possibility, but let’s see what you can do to enhance it first. I’m thinking it could be an extended white van, but that’s just my wishful thinking talking out loud. I’m not trying to sway you in any direction.”
Tom chuckled. “We’ll get back to you with our best results before the end of the shift.”
With a nod, I thanked them, and Devon and I headed upstairs.
We grabbed sandwiches from the vending machine as we passed the lunchroom. I wanted to make sure we didn’t miss the call from Tim, the mall’s security guard. If the cameras didn’t reach the spot where LeAnn had parked, then we would never know the when, how, or who of the abduction. I was counting on Tech to give us something. The vehicle behind the one in question could be LeAnn’s car. Learning whether she or someone else was driving it and whether that person could be identified might break open the case. There were a lot of “ifs” involved and, so far, not a lot of “absolutes” about anything other than the fact that two women were murdered, and their organs had been removed.
I devoured my two egg salad sandwiches and washed them down with a cola. A package of chocolate chip cookies would be my dessert. It would hold me over until that night when I enjoyed whatever Marie or Mom prepared for supper. I glanced over at Rue, and his sandwiches were eaten as well. He was working on the first of two bags of potato chips, and cookies would finish up his meal.
I wiped my mouth just as my phone rang. After a quick gulp of cola, I answered. “Detective Cannon speaking.”
“Detective, it’s Tim Hein. I learned more about the mall’s security cameras.”
“Great. What were you told?”
“Probably not the news you were hoping to hear.”
My optimism vanished as quickly as his words. “Okay, let’s hear it.”
“The range of clarity between the building to the point of something becoming unidentifiable is about three hundred feet.”
“Slightly less than the size of a football field.”
“That’s correct. Anything the cameras catch beyond that will be a blur.”
“Then why didn’t we see LeAnn reach her car at all?”
“I’m guessing the angle of that camera had a lot to do with it. My guess is that it, or maybe even all of them, points somewhat down instead of in a straight line facing out. It’s probably a deliberate act so the cameras can record activity from the exits out into the main areas of the lot. Honestly, except at peak holiday times, those outer lots don’t get much use.”
I thought about LeAnn’s car, a late model Corolla. Could she have parked away from other cars just so her doors wouldn’t get dinged? It was a possibility and likely a deadly mistake. “I have just one more question.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Do any of the cameras point directly at the main entrance with the street, and if they do, which is the closest one?”
“There’s a camera at the entryway that points at the mall’s backlit marquee. We’ve had vandalism there in the past with people breaking the signage, so management had a camera installed on the stone façade that reads Southgate Mall. That stone wall faces the marquee.”
“And would it capture the vehicles coming into and out of the mall’s frontage road?”
“Yes. That wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Even at night?”
“Even at night. It’s higher than eye level, of course, because the marquee is elevated.”
“Is that camera activated at all times too?”
“It is.”
“And one more question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Can you segregate the times for its playback, and can you email that timeframe to me?”
“I’ll ask our supervisor. He’s more technical than I am. What times are you interested in?”
“Last night from nine thirty to eleven thirty.”
“Okay, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
I thanked Tim again and hung up. If our tech department couldn’t get a clear image of those two vehicles driving down the frontage road several hundred feet from the building’s camera, then maybe the camera at the entryway could. It was worth checking out.