I didn’t have the luxury of fast-forwarding through the video since I had no idea when the killers had entered the Humane Society parking lot. I set the recording to begin when the facility closed last night at seven o’clock and would watch until the time the receptionist pulled in a few hours ago. I was sure I could speed through the footage when I didn’t see headlights or movement in the area. I settled in and hit Play.
It felt like hours had passed when I pushed up my shirtsleeve and checked the time—I’d been there only forty-five minutes. I sighed deeply and continued watching, speeding up the footage every chance I could. Vehicles passed, then there were lulls, and as intensely as I watched, it was almost hypnotic. I paused the recording at eleven o’clock and called Lutz with an update.
“Hey, Boss, I just wanted to tell you I’m still staring at cars passing back and forth on the screen, and none of them are the Sienna. How is it on your end?”
“Don is back with the body and did an initial table exam. He said the implement was likely a butcher knife, nothing fancy, and probably a weapon of convenience. The wound in the back of the neck severed the spinal column, which led Don to believe the first thrust was to the chest.”
“So the perp was facing him? That’s a daring move.”
“Or the perp caught him off guard and lunged forward from a hidden position.”
“I guess. Any news from the guys?”
“Frank didn’t see anything on the deli footage and has moved back another street. Henry and Shawn struck out with some of the cameras. Either broken or only there as a deterrent but not actually operable. That sort of thing, but they’re still plugging away.”
“And Forensics?”
“Nothing at the scene. The van is already here in the evidence garage, and Abrams has patrol units on foot scouring the area and helping Kip and Tony with knock and talks.”
“Okay, I better get back at it, then. Actually, I was almost falling asleep and needed a distraction for a few minutes.” I hung up and resumed my position in front of the monitor with my fist propped under my chin.
Minutes into staring at nothing, I nearly jumped off the chair when the footage reached the one a.m. mark. I saw the Sienna turn in to the lot and slow down. “Whoa! There you are. Now let’s see what kind of vehicle is following you.” I perked up, my face within a foot of the screen, and watched, but no other vehicle appeared. “What the hell!” Were they that smart, that cunning, and that experienced to know exactly what to do and what not to do? I slammed my fist on the table out of sheer disappointment. I was pissed off and frustrated. I returned my focus to the Sienna and backed up the recording to when they turned in. Slowing down the speed, I watched each second pass. Brake lights flashed, and the van stopped. Somebody cloaked in dark clothing climbed out from behind the wheel, then I saw movement at the sliding side door. I leaned in closer but couldn’t make out much—the van blocked my view of that side. The driver remained in place, then movement caught my eye at the front passenger door. The person who had exited through the sliding door must have opened it.
Both individuals busied themselves with something in the front seat. I assumed that was when they pushed the victim to the driver’s side. The logic of that act escaped me since nobody would believe the victim drove himself there with two fatal wounds to his body, yet no murder weapon was found at the scene. It took a good five minutes for them to complete the task, then both doors closed, the person on the passenger side rounded the van, and they both walked away together but not before I saw the van lights flash. They locked the doors, headed east, and disappeared on foot. I stood and pressed my temples. Again, they got the best of us. They knew what they were doing and were experienced at it. I regained my composure before talking to anyone. I had sat in that space and watched a computer screen for a good three hours just to walk out without that gotcha moment.
Back at Marilyn’s counter, I asked for a copy of the footage. “Not sure how you transfer cloud-stored videos, but I’ll need to have a copy sent to my email address.”
“Sure, Detective McCord. That won’t be a problem.”
“Good.” I handed her my card listing my email address, thanked her, and left before heading back to our station with hopes that Tech would be able to enhance the images on the footage.
A drive-through at a fast-food restaurant beat anything available in our vending machines all day, every day. I made a quick detour and grabbed a double cheeseburger, large order of fries, and an iced tea, then continued on. There wasn’t time to go out to lunch. We needed to find out where those two killers went and what kind of vehicle they drove off in. Without the vehicle, or unless somebody reported the man missing, we would never know who the latest victim was—just like the others.
When I arrived at the precinct, I made a pit stop at Lutz’s office. “Got a minute?”
He waved me in. “So you struck out too?”
“Yes and no.”
Lutz gave me the look. “You do realize I hate that phrase. Either you struck out, or you didn’t.”
“Sorry. I heard Don say that earlier, and it seemed fitting in the moment.”
“Go on.”
“The recording is being sent to my in-box so Tech can go over it. I saw the killers—”
“What!” Lutz rose to his feet. “And you didn’t think to call me that very second?”
“That’s where the ‘and no’ part comes in. They turned in, parked, and moved the vic to the driver’s seat.” I shook my head. “That still doesn’t make sense to me. Anyway, they were both in dark clothes, fully covered from head to toe, and unidentifiable by gender. They clicked the fob, the headlights flashed, and then they walked off into the night.”
“That’s it? There’s nothing more to the story?”
“Sorry, I wish there was. They walked east, so we can look for cameras on the eastern streets, but going in that direction may have been a ruse. I’m sure they were aware of the neighborhood cameras, and they could have cut back in any direction, through dark alleys and parking lots.”
“It’s still worth a shot. I’ll get everyone working the streets east of the animal shelter. They had to pop out somewhere, even if it was only to cross the street.”
I jerked my head toward the door. “I’m going to check my in-box to see if that video arrived yet. If it has, I’ll forward it to Tech and ask if there’s anything they can do to enhance the killer’s images.” I groaned. “That parking lot only had one overhead lamp, and they deliberately parked away from it.”
“Go ahead and let me know what they get.”
I slapped the doorframe as I walked out. “I will, and I’ll stop in by Don too. We need to get that man’s face on the news.”
It seemed odd to be alone in the bull pen, but everyone else had taken to the streets. I woke up my laptop and logged in to my email account. A message had come in from Back Up Plan, and an attachment was included. The video had arrived, and I forwarded it to our tech department. I pushed back my chair, grabbed my drive-through iced tea, and headed downstairs to go over the video with Todd and Billy.
Through the glass doors, I saw Todd sitting at his computer. He must have noticed the email I’d just sent. I walked in and headed in his direction.
“I’m reading your email,” he said as I pulled the roller chair alongside his desk. “There’s an attachment?”
“It’s the camera feed from the accounting firm across the street from the Humane Society. Don’t know if you were aware that another body was found this morning.”
He rubbed his forehead. “Jeez, and no, that news hadn’t filtered down here yet.”
“Anyway, the video caught the vehicle driving into the parking lot and the perps getting out and walking away. Wondering if there’s any chance of enhancing what we have.”
“Let’s take a look. Do you know the time they arrived?”
“Yeah, at one in the morning. I fast-forwarded through the footage until I hit seven o’clock—the time the facility closes. That’s when I began paying attention. The time stamp on the footage was at the one-hour mark for today, give or take a few seconds. The footage starts over at midnight every night, and they pulled in at one a.m.”
“Got it. Let’s take a look.” Todd advanced the scrubber bar through the hours of footage I’d watched until it rolled over to the current date. Then he slowed it down until he reached a few minutes before one a.m.
“I’ll start it five minutes early so we can take a closer look at everything in the immediate area. Possibly people walking by, someone trolling the neighborhood in a vehicle, that sort of thing.”
“Good idea.” I watched with keener eyes that second time around and took notice of any movement in the area surrounding the driveway to the shelter. All I saw was a feral cat scurry across the street and random cars pass by. None of them showed up multiple times.
“Okay, I didn’t see anything that stood out. Let’s continue on.”
When I saw the Sienna, I pointed. “That’s it, and it’s about to turn in.”
Todd slowed the footage even more and tweaked the clarity the best he could. “It’s tough working with night images, especially when the only light is on that one pole in the parking lot.”
I nodded. “And they made sure to park far enough away from it too.”
We watched as the scene played out again. The driver parked and climbed out. The sliding side door opened, and seconds later, the front passenger door did too. The scene remained that way for five minutes.
“What the hell are they doing?”
“Pretty sure they’re moving the body to the driver’s seat. It takes them a few minutes and is quite a risk in my opinion.”
Todd frowned. “No kidding, right? Okay, and now the passenger walks to the driver, who clicks the fob after closing the doors, then they disappear into the darkness.” Todd leaned back in his chair while Billy watched over our shoulders. “That’s brazen.”
“Or just stupid,” Billy said.
“Nah, they’re brazen. I realize they’re both wearing dark clothes and hoodies. No distinguishable features to tell us if they’re male or female or even get a height and weight.”
“We might be able to sharpen their shapes, but I can’t guarantee it. What we can get is their height based off the height of the van. That should give us something as far as the odds of them being male or female.”
“Great,” I said, “since the van is in the evidence garage right now.”
Todd pushed back from his desk and grabbed a laser tape measure. “Let’s go take a look.”