approach the driver’s side of Donahue’s car. Her credit card records revealed that the better chance came later on Sunday. “Her credit card shows the purchase of a single ticket for
Iron Man 3
for the matinee on Sunday,” Mac stated.
Wire flipped through her notes. “Yeah, she went with a friend of hers we talked to last week. A movie and then they went for an early dinner and drinks.”
Mac searched the movie times at the theatre. “She bought the ticket at 2:44 P.M. and the movie started at 3:00. With previews running twenty minutes, plus the movie running over two hours, she doesn’t get out of the theatre until …”
“Close to six,” Wire finished.
The movie theatre was part of a large shopping mall near the Dover International Speedway. The mall itself had a large sprawling parking lot, needed, at least in part, to service the fourteen movie screens. The Dover detective took them to the mall’s security office. The mall had surveillance cameras pointed out to the surrounding parking lots although the coverage was less than stellar. The surveillance system recorded in grainy black and white. A member of the security team pulled up the surveillance video for eight days ago, “Sunday, right?” he asked.
“That’s right,” Mac answered. “Let’s start around 2:15 P.M. I know it’s black and white, but we’ll be looking for a bright yellow Audi A6.”
The security technician started bringing up video for that day. “Sundays are busy days here at the mall, particularly at the movie theatre. That parking area is likely to be full.” The tech had three monitors and he ran a replay for the cameras aimed at the common parking areas for the movie theatre. It took them an hour of scrolling through the video replay and a couple of false alarms before they found her. “I think that’s her,” Wire said, pointing to the left monitor. “Mac, what do you think?”
The tech rolled the tape back and then forward again. A light-colored Audi A6 pulled into the parking lot, about twenty parking slots out from the building. The car looked right and the woman looked like Hannah Donahue. “That’s her,” Mac answered. Then to the tech he said, “Let it roll.”
It took eleven minutes of video time. A man came walking from the left, in a dark hooded sweatshirt and what looked like the bill of a baseball cap sticking out from the hood. “Was it warm eight days ago?”
“It wasn’t sweatshirt and hood weather, if that’s what you’re asking,” the tech replied. “Everyone else we see on the video is in shorts and short shirt sleeves.”
The hooded man walked across the aisle and to the driver side of Donahue’s car. The man took a quick look around and then disappeared down below the car. A few seconds later, the man was back up and walked back the direction he came from.
“That’s our guy,” Mac said, a small air of satisfaction in his voice. Perhaps they had finally caught a break. “We’ve got a look at you now.”
“Not a great one though. Can we follow him?” Wire asked, her voice sounding calm, but she was a little amped.
The tech followed the man to the next camera. It was difficult to follow him as he walked farther out in the distance of the parking lot. It looked as if the man jumped into a white sedan and pulled away.
“Are there any cameras farther out?” Mac asked.
The tech shook his head. “No. I know they’ve talked about mounting cameras on the light polls but it’s never happened.” The man who took the key was so far in the distance at the far edge of the parking lot they couldn’t make out the model of car, let alone a license plate. Mac started jotting down notes, which led to more questions. To Detective Wente, Mac asked, “Do you know if there are any traffic cameras in the immediate area?”
“I don’t know that there are, but I’ll try to find out.”
The tech grimaced, “There are lots of ways out of this area. If he was smart, he’d avoid the
Iron Man 3
for the matinee on Sunday,” Mac stated.
Wire flipped through her notes. “Yeah, she went with a friend of hers we talked to last week. A movie and then they went for an early dinner and drinks.”
Mac searched the movie times at the theatre. “She bought the ticket at 2:44 P.M. and the movie started at 3:00. With previews running twenty minutes, plus the movie running over two hours, she doesn’t get out of the theatre until …”
“Close to six,” Wire finished.
The movie theatre was part of a large shopping mall near the Dover International Speedway. The mall itself had a large sprawling parking lot, needed, at least in part, to service the fourteen movie screens. The Dover detective took them to the mall’s security office. The mall had surveillance cameras pointed out to the surrounding parking lots although the coverage was less than stellar. The surveillance system recorded in grainy black and white. A member of the security team pulled up the surveillance video for eight days ago, “Sunday, right?” he asked.
“That’s right,” Mac answered. “Let’s start around 2:15 P.M. I know it’s black and white, but we’ll be looking for a bright yellow Audi A6.”
The security technician started bringing up video for that day. “Sundays are busy days here at the mall, particularly at the movie theatre. That parking area is likely to be full.” The tech had three monitors and he ran a replay for the cameras aimed at the common parking areas for the movie theatre. It took them an hour of scrolling through the video replay and a couple of false alarms before they found her. “I think that’s her,” Wire said, pointing to the left monitor. “Mac, what do you think?”
The tech rolled the tape back and then forward again. A light-colored Audi A6 pulled into the parking lot, about twenty parking slots out from the building. The car looked right and the woman looked like Hannah Donahue. “That’s her,” Mac answered. Then to the tech he said, “Let it roll.”
It took eleven minutes of video time. A man came walking from the left, in a dark hooded sweatshirt and what looked like the bill of a baseball cap sticking out from the hood. “Was it warm eight days ago?”
“It wasn’t sweatshirt and hood weather, if that’s what you’re asking,” the tech replied. “Everyone else we see on the video is in shorts and short shirt sleeves.”
The hooded man walked across the aisle and to the driver side of Donahue’s car. The man took a quick look around and then disappeared down below the car. A few seconds later, the man was back up and walked back the direction he came from.
“That’s our guy,” Mac said, a small air of satisfaction in his voice. Perhaps they had finally caught a break. “We’ve got a look at you now.”
“Not a great one though. Can we follow him?” Wire asked, her voice sounding calm, but she was a little amped.
The tech followed the man to the next camera. It was difficult to follow him as he walked farther out in the distance of the parking lot. It looked as if the man jumped into a white sedan and pulled away.
“Are there any cameras farther out?” Mac asked.
The tech shook his head. “No. I know they’ve talked about mounting cameras on the light polls but it’s never happened.” The man who took the key was so far in the distance at the far edge of the parking lot they couldn’t make out the model of car, let alone a license plate. Mac started jotting down notes, which led to more questions. To Detective Wente, Mac asked, “Do you know if there are any traffic cameras in the immediate area?”
“I don’t know that there are, but I’ll try to find out.”
The tech grimaced, “There are lots of ways out of this area. If he was smart, he’d avoid the
Similar Books
