Page 79 of The Smart Killer

“They ever get to take them home?”

“Not usually, but I have made some exceptions for those who have been out for some time and are considering buying one through me.”

Noah showed the photo Alejandro’s mother sent him. “This white drone look familiar?”

“That’s his. Yeah.” He chuckled. “I’d recognize that anywhere. It was a cheap one off Amazon. Less than two hundred bucks. I mean, it did the job. Not great. The video was grainy. It didn’t have GPS, so if it crashed; he was out of luck in finding it. However, the damn thing couldn’t go far anyway.”

“How far?”

“About as far as you can skip a rock,” he said. “A few of the guys let him use theirs, but for the most part, he wasn’t ready to upgrade. Said he didn’t get paid much.”

“Did you know about his prison time?”

“No. The only reason I knew about it after was because of his death. His mother phoned to say he wouldn’t be coming out anymore. She informed me what had happened. Had I known about the spying, I wouldn’t have let him come out.”

Noah nodded. “You said you rent them. Have you rented one out recently?”

“Two.”

“Did they take it home with them?”

Jim studied Noah. “Yes. Are you saying that’s my drone in the video?”

“That I don’t know. I was told the FAA requires drones over a certain size and weight to be registered and have the serial number on the side of the drone. Do you have all of yours registered?”

He nodded. “Damn right, I do. I require all my students to do the same; otherwise, they don’t come out. I also verify that information, as I’ve had a few folks try to skirt around it.”

“Lately?”

“Not for a long time.”

“Can I get the names of those who have taken them home?”

“Sure can,” Jim said, reaching for his phone. As he swiped at his phone, he continued, “Look, if one of my guys has used the drone illegally, am I going to be held responsible?”

“Out of sight, you can’t control how they use them, right?” Noah replied.

“Right.”

Jim brought up his notes, where he had jotted down the names of his members, their addresses, and phone numbers, along with information on which drone they were renting and if they had taken it home. While he was doing that, Noah glanced at McKenzie. He could already see the cogs in McKenzie’s brain turning. He assumed they were thinking the same thing.

“Here we go. Al Benson and Landon Emmett. If you want, I can call them?”

“I’d prefer you didn’t,” Noah said, holding up his hand to stop Jim from placing a call. The information was valuable, but they needed to proceed with caution.

“Any other members using that model but own it?”

“One. Eric Olsen.” He swiped up. “I’ll give you his address and FAA number.”

“They just gave you their names and addresses?”

“Some do, but not everyone is so forthright; people are cautious about their privacy. However, because we’re a flight school, I require that everyone is registered. They gave me their FAA numbers. I punch in that registration number to verify that.” He turned his phone. “That’s Eric’s.”

McKenzie jotted it down.

“Well, you’ve been accommodating. Just one last question. Do you live in a smart home?”

“A smart what?”