two nights ago . . .” he began.
“Negative. Once these old tapes have been recorded over, the original material is erased. It’s not like a computer where you can trash items but they still exist somewhere on the hard drive. This material is gone . I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard about kids taping over their parents wedding video, or some ex-jock’s football highlights lost forever because his wife taped her soaps over it. There is no retrieval system for something that ceases to exist, and that’s the case for the material you’re talking about.”
“What about the sound on the remainder of the tape?” Nate refused to feel disappointment. They might not have the rest of that film, but they had a snippet of it. And it might be enough to provide them with their first real leads in this case. “Can it be enhanced so we could hear more of the conversation?”
“Now that’s a possibility.” Karen hooked her thumbs in her waistband, which only served to draw attention to her girth. “Again, it’s going to depend a lot on the wear and tear the tape has already undergone, but I think we can do better than this, yeah. Maybe, maybe mind you, we can do well enough to give you a sample for a voice match on a speaker or two. Don’t know if that will do you much good or not.”
“You never know,” Nate murmured, staring blindly at the TV as his mind raced. “Better to have it, just in case.”
Long after Karen had gone back to IT, the three of them watched and rewatched the tape. If there was something to see on the footage shot prior to Heather Bixby happening upon the crime scene, none of them found it.
“Careful bastard.” Nate rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. They felt like they were filled with grit. “He was damn cautious about staying out of the camera’s view.”
“That makes me think he set this tape up before he left.” Risa’s voice was expressionless. And her face had regained the color that had leeched out of it when they’d first begun viewing. “Or maybe that’s when he changed tapes. At any rate, you’re right, he would be careful about not exposing himself that way.”
“Let’s go over the end of the tape again, the part that shows those men,” Morales said. His suit was rumpled and his eyes red rimmed. Nate could only imagine that he looked the same, or worse. “I’ll call Loomis and tell her to focus on where that neon sign reflects on the window in the door.” They’d stared at that portion of the tape until their eyes bled, but could only make out what they’d agreed was a z and a p . “Until and unless IT can figure out how many voices are heard in that segment, we can’t know the number of men sitting around that table.” His voice went hard. “And we can’t discount the fact that any one of them could be the suspect we’re after.”
Chapter 6
It felt more than a little anticlimactic to Risa to be standing in her mother’s living room staring out the window at barely six thirty P.M. She’d imagined they’d be working the case until late. She’d welcomed the possibility. Long hours meant exhaustion, which sometimes led to a deep dreamless sleep.
She hoped so. She couldn’t afford to avoid sleep in an effort to evade dreams that came without her consent, sneaking into her subconscious like a thief in the mist.
Broodingly, she stared at the near-empty street. She’d committed to this case for better or worse. And God help her, things couldn’t get much worse than they had over the last few months. It was as if she’d become stuck in place, while time passed her by. If she didn’t want to become a still life, she had to move forward. And if that thought still had the power to strike fear in her heart, at least she was moving toward something.
That would have to suffice for now.
She watched a dented-up navy compact drive slowly by, only to be forced to turn around at the cul-de-sac at the end of the street. The house she’d
“Negative. Once these old tapes have been recorded over, the original material is erased. It’s not like a computer where you can trash items but they still exist somewhere on the hard drive. This material is gone . I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard about kids taping over their parents wedding video, or some ex-jock’s football highlights lost forever because his wife taped her soaps over it. There is no retrieval system for something that ceases to exist, and that’s the case for the material you’re talking about.”
“What about the sound on the remainder of the tape?” Nate refused to feel disappointment. They might not have the rest of that film, but they had a snippet of it. And it might be enough to provide them with their first real leads in this case. “Can it be enhanced so we could hear more of the conversation?”
“Now that’s a possibility.” Karen hooked her thumbs in her waistband, which only served to draw attention to her girth. “Again, it’s going to depend a lot on the wear and tear the tape has already undergone, but I think we can do better than this, yeah. Maybe, maybe mind you, we can do well enough to give you a sample for a voice match on a speaker or two. Don’t know if that will do you much good or not.”
“You never know,” Nate murmured, staring blindly at the TV as his mind raced. “Better to have it, just in case.”
Long after Karen had gone back to IT, the three of them watched and rewatched the tape. If there was something to see on the footage shot prior to Heather Bixby happening upon the crime scene, none of them found it.
“Careful bastard.” Nate rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. They felt like they were filled with grit. “He was damn cautious about staying out of the camera’s view.”
“That makes me think he set this tape up before he left.” Risa’s voice was expressionless. And her face had regained the color that had leeched out of it when they’d first begun viewing. “Or maybe that’s when he changed tapes. At any rate, you’re right, he would be careful about not exposing himself that way.”
“Let’s go over the end of the tape again, the part that shows those men,” Morales said. His suit was rumpled and his eyes red rimmed. Nate could only imagine that he looked the same, or worse. “I’ll call Loomis and tell her to focus on where that neon sign reflects on the window in the door.” They’d stared at that portion of the tape until their eyes bled, but could only make out what they’d agreed was a z and a p . “Until and unless IT can figure out how many voices are heard in that segment, we can’t know the number of men sitting around that table.” His voice went hard. “And we can’t discount the fact that any one of them could be the suspect we’re after.”
Chapter 6
It felt more than a little anticlimactic to Risa to be standing in her mother’s living room staring out the window at barely six thirty P.M. She’d imagined they’d be working the case until late. She’d welcomed the possibility. Long hours meant exhaustion, which sometimes led to a deep dreamless sleep.
She hoped so. She couldn’t afford to avoid sleep in an effort to evade dreams that came without her consent, sneaking into her subconscious like a thief in the mist.
Broodingly, she stared at the near-empty street. She’d committed to this case for better or worse. And God help her, things couldn’t get much worse than they had over the last few months. It was as if she’d become stuck in place, while time passed her by. If she didn’t want to become a still life, she had to move forward. And if that thought still had the power to strike fear in her heart, at least she was moving toward something.
That would have to suffice for now.
She watched a dented-up navy compact drive slowly by, only to be forced to turn around at the cul-de-sac at the end of the street. The house she’d
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