Amanda’s phone rang, and she answered on the move.
“Sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you with some forensic findings,” CSI Blair began.
“Hey, you’re calling us now.” She’d had her mind set on asking the people in the doctor’s office if they recognized the mystery man. But it would have to wait. Amanda motioned for Trent to follow her. She stepped to the side of the plaza, out of earshot of people, and put the call on speaker. “Trent’s here too. What do you have?”
“I took a closer look at the stuffed dolls—the elephant and the rabbit. Both are made by the same manufacturer and in rather new condition once you get past the dirt. I left a message for the distribution manager of the company to tell me where they retail these items in the area. I’ll let you know once I hear back. Moving on, hairs were pulled from the toys. No human DNA exemplars, but I have canine.”
Trent leaned into Amanda’s phone. “Do you know which breed?”
“A black Lab.”
Amanda lowered her phone. “Lance Crane,” she said to Trent. He wasn’t the mystery man from Dumfries Elementary, but he could be the man on the plaza video, as they’d discussed. Was the fact he had a black Lab a coincidence or a clue?
“Hello?”
It was the sound of Blair’s beckoning that had Amanda lifting her phone again. “Sorry about that.”
“You said ‘Lance Crane?’”
“He’s the man who called in about the fire. He said he was walking his dog. A black Lab,” she stressed.
“Huh. Rather early to be out walking. I’d say the guy deserves a second look.”
“Agreed.” And she did more than ever.
“On another note, that photo of the man you sent me didn’t get us anywhere in facial recognition databases.”
“It always feels like a long shot,” Trent said.
“Well, I think we’re getting closer now, and we need to move.” Amanda took her phone off speaker and told Blair about Leanne and Gracie Reilly as she huffed it to the department car. Trent kept pace with her.
“Good luck to both of you,” Blair said before hanging up.
Amanda palmed her phone and turned to Trent. “News about a black Lab trumps the doctor’s office for now. We need to go to Lance Crane’s. If he is our killer, he could have Leanne and Gracie right now.”
“All right.”
They both got into the department car.
“Let’s pull some information on Crane, then I’ll update Graves. We’ll go from there.” She bounced her leg, impatient, ready to move.
“You know, Crane lives in a small residential neighborhood,” he said as he logged on to the onboard computer. “If he held any of these women and their daughters hostage in his home, someone would’ve seen something.”
“We have theorized about a partnership before. Lance and his partner take the women and girls somewhere else. His partner’s home?”
“Could be.”
“We also tossed out the idea that our killer lost a woman and child in his life. Was Crane ever married? And maybe we should dig into his employment history, talk with his friends, get a real feel for the guy.”
“Also compare the size of his handspan and fingers to what CSI Blair has determined.”
“All of it. Lance Crane makes for a good suspect. Even if he’s working alone. Does he own or have access to other properties? Possibly something more isolated or rural.”
“I’ll check.”
“Before we go, do you want to grab that security video?”
She considered. Time was of the essence, especially if Lance was holding Leanne and Gracie Reilly. All the same, Trent needed to get some background on Lance before she called Graves and they headed over to Lance Crane’s. “Ah, yeah, but I’ll be quick. You work fast too.” She jumped out of the car and headed to the grocery store.
She set out in search of Brad and found him pacing at the bottom of the back stairs.
Brad spun at the sound of her saying his name. “Did you find everything you needed?”
A small bob of her head. “We just need copies to take with us.”
“No problem. I’ll get that now.” Brad headed up the stairs and Amanda bounded behind him.
“There’s something else I need your help with.”
“Name it.”
The manager’s eagerness to please was respectable, but she suspected his enthusiasm would dull with her next words. “Does the name Lance Crane mean anything to you?” It was a thin possibility, but their killer could have intentionally parked out of view of Corey’s surveillance cameras.
“Lance, Lance, Lance…” Brad prattled off the name as if trying to summon a memory. “Actually I think we had a Lance Crane who worked here once.”
“When was this?”
“He was one of my first hires as manager. So that would’ve been, say, three years ago… Somewhere in there.” Brad entered the security office and put a USB drive into the computer.
“And what did he do for Corey’s Grocer?”
“Stock person. He would also face the shelves after closing.”
“Face the shelves?”
“It’s a term given to pulling product forward so it’s flush to the front edge. Looks organized and is easily accessible for customers.” Brad copied the file from two Tuesdays ago.
“I see, and why did he leave?”
“He got a better paying job. I think it was with some plumbing fixtures company, something like that.”
“So he worked here for how long?”
“Just under a year.” He grabbed the next file and copied it over.
“Would Mr. Crane ever have reason to see the security video?”
“Every new hire is given a tour of the entire facilities, including this room. Nothing top secret about it. The cameras are only here for two purposes—to catch shoplifters and for insurance.”
“Insurance?”
“In cases of injury and lawsuits against the store.”
“And you said cameras plural?”
“Just the one on the lot but several inside.”
“To confirm then, Mr. Crane would know what cameras covered what?”
“No question, unless he had his eyes closed.” Brad took the drive out of the computer and handed it to Amanda.
“Thanks. Ah, just one more thing.” Amanda took out her phone and brought up Mystery Man’s face. “Do you recognize him?”
“Quite sure I’ve seen him in the store before.”
Amanda gave her card to Brad. “If this man turns up, call me immediately. Number’s on there.”
Brad nodded, confirming her message got through, and she hurried from the store.
Had they let a killer slip through their fingers right from the start?