Page 85 of In Cold Blood

“That’s if whoever did this came out those ways. They could have come off at State Route 9 and headed north.”

“In which case they would have gone by,” he pinched the screen, “these homes here.” Noah looked at her. “I had a feeling you weren’t involved in the decision-making for canvassing theneighborhood because those were two things you mentioned straight off the bat. That would have been something you would have documented.”

“I did suggest it. I wasn’t the reporting officer. Deputy Sheriff Hendrix was. He was here first. The rest of us simply added statements to that report based on what we were assigned to do.”

“Then where is it in the report?”

“It would have been in there unless he hadn’t gotten to it or it wasn’t added yet. You got to remember; we were dealing with a lot that night. One of our own was shot. We didn’t know if we had an active shooter on the loose. The first thing we did was secure the scene. Others were patrolling the area. Another officer may have documented evidence. Another may have taken photos. What probably doesn’t help was I was the one assigned to help Parish, not Hendrix. Whatever had been gathered to that point would have been turned over to him. So we’d need to ask Hendrix.”

“Why were you selected?” he asked. “You haven’t been with the office long.”

She took a deep breath. “I assume it’s because Luke and I were close. Workwise, I mean.”

She noticed the way Noah looked at her as if wondering if it was more than that.

Noah sighed. “Seven days. And there is nothing to suggest a canvassing of the neighborhood was done?”

She shrugged. “It must have been assigned to one or two of the other deputies. I can find out.”

He blew out his cheeks as he ran a hand over his head. “This is why I wanted in on this from day one. I had a feeling the ball might be dropped. Timing is everything on a case. Businesses and homes don’t hold onto recordings for long. Some are overwritten within twenty-four to seventy-two hours. For others, it’s aweek. We need to get on that. Hopefully, something can be found.”

“And if it has?” Callie asked.

“Then we might have a good lead. If a camera picked up a vehicle, we’d have something strong to work with,” he said, beginning to pace. “We could follow it out further using video canvassing down the remaining roads. We know Luke was working from twelve to twelve. We have the time he signed off, and the time when the witness called in. That gives us a good window. If we find footage and it’s not clear, we can send it to a forensic examiner and see if they can pin down a make, model, possibly a year.” He took a deep breath. “If we can track the movements of that vehicle from where it was seen to wherever it goes, it might give us a license plate to run. From there, who knows, maybe they might have been stopped in the past, or maybe there is a cellular number on file. If we can get a search warrant to see what cellular devices utilized towers in proximity to this area on that night, that could nail things down.”

He was throwing a lot at her all at once but already she could see the benefit of having him involved.

“Parish never made it to prints. His focus was on interviewing people that Luke had crossed paths with, starting with the Sheriff’s Office and working his way out. He was?—”

“Following the money trail of the drugs,” Noah said.

“Yeah.”

“As much as I think anything is possible, I can’t believe that. We’ll have to look into it but right now our best shot of finding out what happened on this road is to find that witness’s vehicle or her through DNA. We find that we may find the truth.”

22

The drone of bluegrass played over speakers as the two of them sat in a booth, having wings and a beverage for supper. Noah figured with the sudden shift to him helping, he didn’t want to waste any time getting caught up on the investigation. Having to go home and cook up a meal just seemed unnecessary, especially when Parish wouldn’t be there. Callie was fine with that; it felt less awkward eating at an establishment instead of his place.

It also gave them a chance to observe the staff at High Peaks Pub and Brewery.

He noticed the way people turned and stared when they walked in. They didn’t need to say anything. It was written all over their faces.

He was the epitome of a dead man walking.

Callie sat with her phone to her ear, nodding while Noah picked at his food.

“Uh-huh. Right. Makes sense,” she said.

Contrary to what he had believed, the Sheriff’s Office hadn’t dropped the ball.

To locate all suspects or suspect vehicles traveling to or fromthe highway, Hendrix and another officer collected surveillance videos both from residents and business addresses.

Noah’s father just hadn’t obtained the full report, which included the results of the video canvass conducted near Route 73 and the surrounding area in the early hours of June 4.

A quick phone call to Hendrix soon cleared that up.

“Got it. Thanks.” She hung up. “Yeah. So, it was done. Hendrix handed it to Parish. Parish has already requested it be sent to forensics at the FBI. It seems a review of camera footage indicated that a white truck was observed traveling northbound on State Route 9 not long after the call into dispatch. It was also seen passing Saint Huberts about an hour before.”