be a great help. I wish everyone kept such good records.”
“Better than Bo. He was absolutely useless.” She pointed out the window at a snoozing form which might have been a very fat dog or a small calf. “He’s an English lab. They’re much stockier.” Holly’s assessment put the dog twenty pounds overweight.
“Can you give me an approximate timeline? Anything at all.”
“We’re not even sure when it happened. They came in from their trip at midnight Saturday and just went to bed without noticing that the window had been opened. Nothing in the room indicated anyone had been there.”
Holly did a brief survey of the perimeters, looking past Jean. “You’re pretty closed in. Could the neighbours have seen anything?”
“I asked. No luck. The dirty rat, pardon my French, could have snuck through the shrubbery. There’s a vacant lot on the other side. Kids take the path to the ocean at Scorpion Beach, a little cove. It’s odd. We moved here for the quiet. Never had a break-in before when we were in Langford.”
“It’s becoming a crowded little island, at least along the edges, and with that comes trouble. You’d be wise to get one of the alarm services. Most people on private lots do.”
“It all seems so expensive, though I suppose it’s a tax write-off.”
“Very true. The cost is nothing next to the peace of mind. Or you can set up motion detector lights. That should scare someone off if you’re out.” Or get a German shepherd, she thought. Her dad had a fake protection shield sign stuck in the cribbing at the gate. Some generic name like Guard-All which wouldn’t fool a savvy thief.
As Holly closed her notebook and tucked it away, a curious frown crossed the woman’s bright face. She fooled with the end of one strand of hair. “Aren’t you going to...what do you call it... dust for prints?”
Holly suppressed a smile. Thanks to television and films, everyone was a detective these days. And results, even of DNA, were expected wrapped in a silver package between commercials. “How many nights are you booked each month?”
“Mmmmm. In a good season, fifteen, even twenty. It’s been slow this year with gas prices so high.”
Holly’s palms went up in surrender. “That’s my point. Over two dozen people could have come through, and your place is cleaned daily, I’m sure. It’s nearly impossible to solve crimes like this in a hotel or motel setting, even if we had the resources and the prints were on file from a known felon. Your best hope is that the camera or watch turns up in a hock shop in Victoria. We’ll get a bulletin out this afternoon to the dealers.” She recalled what Bill had said about Derek “winning” the device. Camcorders were ubiquitous, but perhaps because of the proximity there was a connection.
Jean blew out a long, disappointed breath. “Oh dear.”
Feeling as if she should try to do more, Holly gave the list of particulars another quick scan. “I see it’s a Sony. We might have good news for you.”
Back at the detachment, Holly grabbed a coffee and went to her desk. Then a call from Pirjo Raits at the weekly Sooke News Mirror came in. Fatal accidents in their community were rare, but they did happen. Two teenaged boys had recently perished in a crash. The utility pole still bore traces of their descanso, which was filled with seasonal flowers. Meeting Pirjo once at the Village Market and recognizing her picture, Holly had learned to pronounce the woman’s melodic name. Like vireo.
“I’m planning an article on the homeless, including what happened to that poor man at Bailey Bridge. Won’t make me any friends, but we have to deal with realities. Too many ‘we should’s’ and not enough ‘we will’s,’” Pirjo said. “We’re into a development boom, and more housing should be geared toward lower incomes. Instead, it’s going the other way.” Across the island, hundreds had become homeless when their trailer parks had closed and their
“Better than Bo. He was absolutely useless.” She pointed out the window at a snoozing form which might have been a very fat dog or a small calf. “He’s an English lab. They’re much stockier.” Holly’s assessment put the dog twenty pounds overweight.
“Can you give me an approximate timeline? Anything at all.”
“We’re not even sure when it happened. They came in from their trip at midnight Saturday and just went to bed without noticing that the window had been opened. Nothing in the room indicated anyone had been there.”
Holly did a brief survey of the perimeters, looking past Jean. “You’re pretty closed in. Could the neighbours have seen anything?”
“I asked. No luck. The dirty rat, pardon my French, could have snuck through the shrubbery. There’s a vacant lot on the other side. Kids take the path to the ocean at Scorpion Beach, a little cove. It’s odd. We moved here for the quiet. Never had a break-in before when we were in Langford.”
“It’s becoming a crowded little island, at least along the edges, and with that comes trouble. You’d be wise to get one of the alarm services. Most people on private lots do.”
“It all seems so expensive, though I suppose it’s a tax write-off.”
“Very true. The cost is nothing next to the peace of mind. Or you can set up motion detector lights. That should scare someone off if you’re out.” Or get a German shepherd, she thought. Her dad had a fake protection shield sign stuck in the cribbing at the gate. Some generic name like Guard-All which wouldn’t fool a savvy thief.
As Holly closed her notebook and tucked it away, a curious frown crossed the woman’s bright face. She fooled with the end of one strand of hair. “Aren’t you going to...what do you call it... dust for prints?”
Holly suppressed a smile. Thanks to television and films, everyone was a detective these days. And results, even of DNA, were expected wrapped in a silver package between commercials. “How many nights are you booked each month?”
“Mmmmm. In a good season, fifteen, even twenty. It’s been slow this year with gas prices so high.”
Holly’s palms went up in surrender. “That’s my point. Over two dozen people could have come through, and your place is cleaned daily, I’m sure. It’s nearly impossible to solve crimes like this in a hotel or motel setting, even if we had the resources and the prints were on file from a known felon. Your best hope is that the camera or watch turns up in a hock shop in Victoria. We’ll get a bulletin out this afternoon to the dealers.” She recalled what Bill had said about Derek “winning” the device. Camcorders were ubiquitous, but perhaps because of the proximity there was a connection.
Jean blew out a long, disappointed breath. “Oh dear.”
Feeling as if she should try to do more, Holly gave the list of particulars another quick scan. “I see it’s a Sony. We might have good news for you.”
Back at the detachment, Holly grabbed a coffee and went to her desk. Then a call from Pirjo Raits at the weekly Sooke News Mirror came in. Fatal accidents in their community were rare, but they did happen. Two teenaged boys had recently perished in a crash. The utility pole still bore traces of their descanso, which was filled with seasonal flowers. Meeting Pirjo once at the Village Market and recognizing her picture, Holly had learned to pronounce the woman’s melodic name. Like vireo.
“I’m planning an article on the homeless, including what happened to that poor man at Bailey Bridge. Won’t make me any friends, but we have to deal with realities. Too many ‘we should’s’ and not enough ‘we will’s,’” Pirjo said. “We’re into a development boom, and more housing should be geared toward lower incomes. Instead, it’s going the other way.” Across the island, hundreds had become homeless when their trailer parks had closed and their
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