garage with the car safely up on a lift. A tech took pictures and then carefully removed the key holder, which was tucked under the fiberglass molding of the car and attached to an exposed piece of metal on the frame. More pictures were taken and a tech began dusting for prints. Another tech opened the key holder and there was a key inside. The tech held the key under a swing-arm magnifying glass.
“We’re thinking a duplicate was made,” Dara speculated. “What do you think?” she asked the tech.
The tech looked closely. “I think you’re right, Agent Wire. This key was duplicated and recently. There are still some small minute shavings in the grooves.”
“How about prints?” Mac asked, looking back to the forensic tech dusting for prints on the under carriage of the car. “I’ve got prints,” he answered, inspecting them closely. “However, it looks like only one set.”
“Which are probably Donahue’s,” Wire sighed.
“Maybe we’ll do better on the key or key holder.” The tech dusted the key and key holder. “Shoot. Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Mac asked with his arms folded.
“Wiped clean, I’d say,” the tech answered. “You can tell it was duplicated, the marks are there with some small shavings, but there are no prints on the key or case, so if your guy touched this thing, he wore gloves or wiped it down before he put it back.”
Wire looked to Mac dejected, the elation of the last four hours draining quickly from her face. “I got excited there for a minute.”
“Don’t give up so easy,” Mac answered evenly. “I’m not surprised. Our guy is
real
careful. There’s a reason we don’t have
any
forensic evidence on him. Leaving prints behind was a long shot. You know what I’m interested in figuring out, though?”
“What?”
“From the time Hannah Donahue used the key to get back into her house until her death creates a four-day window of time in which our killer grabbed it and duplicated it. So when and
where
did he do that?”
At the Dover Police Department and over a lunch of sandwiches and chips, Mac and Wire quickly set about once again reviewing the last four days of Donahue’s life. On the whiteboard, from the Friday night of drinks until the Monday night she was murdered, Mac and Wire went through every detail of her life.
“Assuming Friday night, after Jonas takes her back to the bar and Hannah drives home, that probably is it for the day, don’t you think?” Wire asked.
“I think so. That’s when he discovers the existence of the key, that’s where we start from,” Mac answered. “He could have, I suppose, gotten into her garage and stole the key that night, but that’s kind of risky. I’m banking that’s not when he did it, and if he did? Well, then we’re screwed.”
Saturday was not a work day. Hannah had gone to hot yoga for an hour session early Saturday afternoon. Her credit card records showed that after yoga she stopped at a coffee shop for a large iced coffee and then stopped at a local clothing store where she purchased a blouse and a pair of designer jeans. There was no further financial activity on the credit card. Her cell phone records showed four calls on Saturday, none after 6:30 P.M. It appeared that she low-keyed it and stayed home on Saturday night, as she rented the movie
Safe Haven
on her home pay-per-view.
On Sunday, she went to yoga again and once again grabbed a post-session iced coffee. “He could have grabbed the key then,” Wire speculated.
The yoga studio was located in a new strip mall which had video surveillance of the parking lot. On both Saturday and Sunday, Donahue arrived a few minutes before her noon class, parking in the second row in front of the studio both days. Probably part of a pattern as people tended to park in the same places, go to the same places, it was human nature, all routine.
“The bright yellow makes it easy to see her car,” Wire noted.
On neither Saturday nor early Sunday did anyone
“We’re thinking a duplicate was made,” Dara speculated. “What do you think?” she asked the tech.
The tech looked closely. “I think you’re right, Agent Wire. This key was duplicated and recently. There are still some small minute shavings in the grooves.”
“How about prints?” Mac asked, looking back to the forensic tech dusting for prints on the under carriage of the car. “I’ve got prints,” he answered, inspecting them closely. “However, it looks like only one set.”
“Which are probably Donahue’s,” Wire sighed.
“Maybe we’ll do better on the key or key holder.” The tech dusted the key and key holder. “Shoot. Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Mac asked with his arms folded.
“Wiped clean, I’d say,” the tech answered. “You can tell it was duplicated, the marks are there with some small shavings, but there are no prints on the key or case, so if your guy touched this thing, he wore gloves or wiped it down before he put it back.”
Wire looked to Mac dejected, the elation of the last four hours draining quickly from her face. “I got excited there for a minute.”
“Don’t give up so easy,” Mac answered evenly. “I’m not surprised. Our guy is
real
careful. There’s a reason we don’t have
any
forensic evidence on him. Leaving prints behind was a long shot. You know what I’m interested in figuring out, though?”
“What?”
“From the time Hannah Donahue used the key to get back into her house until her death creates a four-day window of time in which our killer grabbed it and duplicated it. So when and
where
did he do that?”
At the Dover Police Department and over a lunch of sandwiches and chips, Mac and Wire quickly set about once again reviewing the last four days of Donahue’s life. On the whiteboard, from the Friday night of drinks until the Monday night she was murdered, Mac and Wire went through every detail of her life.
“Assuming Friday night, after Jonas takes her back to the bar and Hannah drives home, that probably is it for the day, don’t you think?” Wire asked.
“I think so. That’s when he discovers the existence of the key, that’s where we start from,” Mac answered. “He could have, I suppose, gotten into her garage and stole the key that night, but that’s kind of risky. I’m banking that’s not when he did it, and if he did? Well, then we’re screwed.”
Saturday was not a work day. Hannah had gone to hot yoga for an hour session early Saturday afternoon. Her credit card records showed that after yoga she stopped at a coffee shop for a large iced coffee and then stopped at a local clothing store where she purchased a blouse and a pair of designer jeans. There was no further financial activity on the credit card. Her cell phone records showed four calls on Saturday, none after 6:30 P.M. It appeared that she low-keyed it and stayed home on Saturday night, as she rented the movie
Safe Haven
on her home pay-per-view.
On Sunday, she went to yoga again and once again grabbed a post-session iced coffee. “He could have grabbed the key then,” Wire speculated.
The yoga studio was located in a new strip mall which had video surveillance of the parking lot. On both Saturday and Sunday, Donahue arrived a few minutes before her noon class, parking in the second row in front of the studio both days. Probably part of a pattern as people tended to park in the same places, go to the same places, it was human nature, all routine.
“The bright yellow makes it easy to see her car,” Wire noted.
On neither Saturday nor early Sunday did anyone
Similar Books
