Our investigation hadn’t yet given me the answers I was looking for, but I was confident that the FBI’s forensic officer would give credence to my theory. Right then that’s all I had, a theory. But it fit.
“You know what to tell Forensics to look for?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m good,” said Kennedy.
“Great. I’ll need another favor.”
“You’re getting pretty loose with the favors,” said Kennedy, but he didn’t take it any further. I knew I was pushing it, but I figured he owed me. The bags under his eyes seemed to have grown larger and darker, but there was an alertness to him. He was beginning to doubt Child’s guilt, and he wanted to see where this led.
“Anyone in NYPD who could do you a solid and not go running to Zader about it?”
“I know a guy, but why NYPD?” he said.
I handed Kennedy a single page from the file.
“I need the tracker report for this vehicle. FBI wouldn’t have access to that system, right?”
“No, we don’t. Come to think of it I don’t know if my guy in NYPD has access to that system. But I can try,” he said.
“It’s important, I’m beginning to piece this together. I’m relying on you. The prelim starts in just over seven hours, and we’ve got one last thing to check.”
“What’s that?”
“Security camera footage of the cops working the crime scene.”
“Let’s go to my office. You can watch it there,” said Medrano.
We exited David’s apartment. Kennedy punched the button to call the elevator and hung back, waiting for Medrano to lock up. I looked at the CCTV camera, just over the bank of elevators, and moved backward a little, stopped.
“What are you doing?” said Kennedy.
“The camera footage I watched shows David hesitate just after he left the apartment for the last time. He was leaving and then he kind of paused around here and turned back toward the door.”
I examined the door but couldn’t see much with Medrano’s bulk blocking my view. Kneeling, I checked the carpet; maybe David dropped something and it rolled underneath the table, but I couldn’t see anything.
“Looking for something?” said Medrano.
“Not really. David stopped and turned around just after he left the apartment. I saw it today when I watched the footage. Thought he might’ve dropped something or … I don’t know.”
“If he dropped something, it’s likely the cleaners picked it up. We can always check the camera,” said Medrano.
“You can’t see it on the footage. David’s blocking the view,” I said, pointing toward the camera.
“Well, we can always look at the other camera,” said Medrano.
“What camera?”
“The hidden camera that covers the stairwell,” said Medrano, pointing to an air vent on the west wall.