Page 41 of Three Girls Gone (Detective Amanda Steele #14)

THIRTY-FIVE

Amanda and Trent walked through the side door at Central and headed straight to the conference room. They found Malone, the chief, and Katherine waiting on them. Seeing her was an unexpected, but welcome surprise.

Amanda sat beside her friend, and Trent next to Amanda. Malone was across the table from the three of them, and the chief was at the head of the table.

“After speaking with Sergeant Malone again, I’ve brought Katherine back in to help.

” Buchanan looked at Amanda. “While I am still concerned with her safety and the department’s reputation, she is in a unique position to aid this investigation.

” Buchanan turned to Katherine. “Have you made any progress linking our killer to the Gilbert party?”

“I’ve made some calls, but haven’t unearthed anything yet,” Katherine said.

The chief nodded. “Stay on it. Now I called this meeting to let you know the PWCPD is preparing to go public with Eloise Maynard’s abduction. As part of this, we are going to make an appeal encouraging anyone to come forward who has any information on Eloise or Hailey Tanner. ”

“I’m not sure such a public appeal is wise,” Amanda said. “It might spook this person into taking rash action.” And Eloise will pay the price…

“Detective, the PWCPD is charged with keeping order and protecting its citizens. We need to show we’re proactive, not just sitting back while some deviant wreaks havoc in Prince William County. Enough is enough.”

It was hard not to take offense at his implication.

“I assure you that Detective Stenson and I have been tirelessly working this case from the moment we were called in. We’ve followed every lead, and we believe the perp targeted Eloise Maynard at her birthday party.

It was held at the Scoop, an ice cream parlor, the night before her abduction.

We also believe that same man ingratiated himself to the Tanners’ nanny, Mara Bennett, to get close to Hailey. ”

“All right. Good, good,” the chief said. “Some of which I’ve heard from Sergeant Malone.”

“Well, here’s something that’s new,” Amanda began. “Detective Stenson and I just came into possession of some video footage that could give us his face.”

“You have his face?” Katherine muttered.

Amanda turned to her. “We could have. Trent and I were coming back here to watch the video footage.”

“So you haven’t seen it yet?” Buchanan asked.

“Not all of it, but enough to see a dark-clad figure enter the Maynards’ backyard and hustle down the sidewalk about thirty minutes later with Eloise in his arms,” she told everyone.

The energy in the room intensified.

“I want to see this video. Now,” Buchanan demanded.

“There are twenty videos, for a total of thirty minutes.” Amanda didn’t think the chief would have that sort of time to dispense.

“Play them, Detective. ”

“Ah, sure.” Amanda looked at Trent, who was a bit more tech savvy.

“Here, hand me your phone,” he said. “You turn the TV on.”

It was possible to project her phone to the large flatscreen mounted to the wall, but she couldn’t always remember how to do it.

A moment later, they were watching the first video. This was the one that showed the perp jumping the Maynards’ fence.

“Guy’s lithe,” Buchanan commented.

“He’s strong and in shape,” Amanda agreed. “At two twenty-seven AM, you’ll see him carrying Eloise down the sidewalk.”

“And yet no one calls it in.” Buchanan was shaking his head.

“At that time of day most people are sleeping,” Malone pointed out.

“I suppose so. It’s just a shame, that’s all,” Buchanan lamented.

They watched the other video that she and Trent had watched at Keirns’s house, and then they went on to the new footage. They struck gold with a video from the night before at seven PM. A blue van drove past, followed soon by a gray Kia.

“That’s him,” Malone said.

Due to the angle, no plate was visible. But the car slowed down as it approached the Maynards’ house. The van pulled into the garage.

“He followed them home from the birthday party,” Trent said, looking at Amanda.

They moved on to another video taken at seven thirty. It showed a man walking down the sidewalk in blue jeans, running shoes, and a black jacket.

Amanda leaned in. “Trent, can you go back to the one of him carrying Eloise? ”

Trent did as she asked, and when it started playing Amanda rushed to the TV and pointed at the screen.

“It’s the same guy at seven thirty. Both are wearing blue jeans, but what stands out to me are the bright white running shoes.”

“Huh,” Trent muttered.

“What is it?” She turned to him, reading off her partner that something had hit him.

“Running shoes don’t stay bright white for long, but new rubber soles might be more likely to rub off than ones that are worn down.” He met her gaze.

“Which brings me to where I was headed. The scuff marks left on the lattice outside of Hailey Tanner’s bedroom,” she said.

“Uh-huh.”

“All right, back to Eloise,” Buchanan inserted. “If it’s the same guy, we have him scoping out the Maynards’ place. Bring up that video from seven thirty again, Stenson.”

Trent resumed the playback, and the man in jeans walked down the pass-through. He was creeping along and looking into the Maynards’ backyard.

“He’s deciding on an entry point,” Trent said.

“The basement window, which we now know,” Amanda put in.

“Well, we’ve got a clear shot of his shoes, but no face yet. Tell you what, I’m going to leave, but you get that, send me his picture.” Buchanan stood and headed for the door.

All righty then…

Trent was reversing the video and zoomed in.

“Do you see something?” Amanda asked him, and it stalled Buchanan’s steps.

All she saw was a rather vague character despite the sun being out, given the angle of the doorbell cam in relation to the sidewalk.

Even when he reversed course and walked back to the street from the pass-through, he kept his head down.

Had he been considering security cameras, or was he just trying to hide his face in general?

“Unfortunately not,” Trent said.

Buchanan left, and Amanda looked at Katherine. She was flushed. Amanda touched her arm. After all these years hunting the man who killed Julie Gilbert, seeing him on the TV must have been surreal.

“Did you need help calling anyone?” Amanda asked her.

“No, that’s why I’m here. There are other things you could do,” Katherine said. “If we split our efforts, we might track this guy down. Could you forward the videos to me, Trent? I’d like to look at them more. If I find the guy’s face, I can forward it along to the chief too.”

A tiny tell in Katherine’s tone and flicker in her eye had Amanda suspecting she had seen something. “What aren’t you saying?”

“There is something familiar about him, but I can’t put my finger on why.”

Malone perked up at that, as did Amanda and Trent.

“Please, don’t get too excited just yet,” Katherine said. “If it comes together, I promise I’ll share.”

“See that you do.” Malone hastened out of the room, leaving Amanda with Trent and Katherine.

Trent turned the TV off and handed Amanda her phone back. She forwarded the email with the videos to Katherine.

“On another matter, you ever hear more from Briggs about the sender of the online form?” Amanda asked.

“Just what you already know. The sender tracks back to NYC.” Katherine opened the lid on her laptop, getting comfortable right there in the conference room.

“You can use my office, if you want,” Amanda offered.

“I’m fine right here.”

“Suit yourself.” Amanda led the way from the room with Trent. She glanced over her shoulder at Katherine and found her friend staring at the screen of her laptop. Whatever was familiar about that man, Amanda hoped it would come back to Katherine before too much time passed.