“Fantastic.” His lips turned up into a smile. “I’m all yours, Baby. Tell me what to do.”
“By the way, how long have you been missing your front license plate?” she asked.
“I don’t know, a week or so. The first time I noticed was when I was getting in the car to go and pick you up for the engagement party. I figured it fell off or some teenager thought it would be fun to steal it. Before I could order another set, all hell broke loose. With the arrest and all that’s happened since that night, I’d totally forgotten about it.”
“Maybe that’s the plate on the Jeep in the security photo.”
Colin’s eyes widened.
“Are you ready?” Mr. Barbour called out.
“Let’s talk about it after the experiment.”
“But, Emily?”
“After the experiment, please. Put this ball cap on and walk up to the door. Mr. Barbour is waiting.” Emily handed Colin a plain red hat. “He will enter the code into the keypad and unlock it. As you pull the door open with your left hand, do like this.” She demonstrated the next step. “Put your right hand up to the brim of your hat like you’re going to pull the hat off, shielding your face from the camera. Go on inside, then turn around and come out with your hat on, looking down at the ground.”
“What is that going to prove?”
“Please, Colin, just do it.”
Emily stood back from the building, out of camera range, and watched as both men did as she instructed.
When Colin came out, he kept his head down and walked over to her. “Now what?”
“Hold on a second.” Emily took a couple of steps toward the building. “Thank you, Mr. Barbour!” she called to the man. “Can I get a copy of that video now?”
“Give me a few minutes,” he shouted back, then disappeared into the building.
“Can you tell me now?” Colin asked.
“Yes, once we get Mr. Barbour’s video, we take it with us to meet with the FBI tech. We’ll have the guy compare the two—this one and the one from the night of the murder. It should prove the man on the first security video couldn’t be you. If the killer is Kevin Bates, as you suspect, he’s several inches shorter than you. So, if I’m right, it should be obvious.”
“That’s right.” With a satisfied grin, he draped an arm around her shoulders and kissed the side of her head. “You’re one smart cookie, Emily Parker.”
“Now, let’s talk about that missing license plate.”
~*~
Emily and Colin met Isabel in the foyer of the FBI building in downtown Boise and she took them upstairs.
“Buzz is waiting for us,” Isabel said as they entered the secure elevator. “I’m glad he could squeeze us into his schedule. We have a lot of cases going right now.”
They exited the elevator and Isabel escorted them down the hall to a room filled with every type of techno-gadget imaginable. “Knock, knock,” she called out as she opened the door to his workspace.
“Come on in,” Buzz replied, swiveling his chair around to face them. He looked to be in his late twenties with curly red hair and black-framed glasses.
“You all know each other, don’t you?” Isabel asked.
“Yes,” Emily replied, “from the McCall case. Nice to see you again, Buzz.” She shook his hand, as did Colin.
“Isabel says you have a security video you need enhanced.”
“Actually, three.” Emily dug the various thumb drives and discs out of her handbag. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Isabel pursed her lips. “Where did the other two come from?”
“The first one, as you know, is from the security camera outside the entrance of Allison Laraway’s condo the night of the murder.”
“That’s the one I thought you wanted enhanced,” Isabel said.
“Yes, I do, but I also have a similar one we got today, with Colin entering the building just like the killer did. I’m hoping it’ll prove they’re not one in the same.”
“Okay,” Buzz said, taking the media from her. “What’s the third?”
“It’s from a nanny cam at the flower shop where I believe the killer purchased some flowers for Allison the day she was killed. You can’t really see the man’s face, but there’s something on his right hand that I’m hoping you can enlarge and sharpen the image.”
“What for?” Isabel asked.
“It might be a scar, or a tattoo, or something,” Emily said.
“I get it.” Isabel nodded. “Something Colin doesn’t have.”
Buzz put out his hand, palm up. “Let me do that one first. It sounds like the easiest.”
Emily, Colin, and Isabel watched over his shoulder as he loaded the video and it began to play on the oversized computer monitor.
“There!” Emily yelled when the man’s hand came clearly into view.
Buzz paused it, performed his magic, and before long the sharpened image of a hand almost filled the screen. “What is that?”
“It’s still a bit grainy, but it looks like a tattoo,” Colin said.
“A six and a tiny flower,” Isabel added.
Emily leaned in a little closer. “Not just any flower—I believe it’s a cyclamen.”
Isabel scratched her head. “We know you don’t have one of those, Colin.”
“No, I don’t, but you know,” Colin paused as he studied the screen, “it does look kind of familiar for some reason.”
Emily turned toward him. “I thought so, too.”
“Although, I can’t place where I’ve seen it before,” he said.
“Me either.”
“I’m kind of short on time here, guys,” Buzz said. “So can we move on to the next one?”
“Sure, go ahead,” Emily replied.
Buzz loaded the security video from the night of the murder and pushed play. They all watched as the man and Allison reached the main entrance.
The camera was high and on the right, shooting down at an angle toward the door. After Allison punched in her numbers on the keypad, the man opened the door for her with his left hand and let her enter first. He kept his head down, protected from the camera. As he went through the door, he put his right hand up to the bill of the cap, as if he was taking the hat off as he went in, which shielded his face from being photographed.
“Freeze it!” Emily called out, and Buzz obeyed. “Right there, look.” She touched her finger to the screen. “I think there’s something on his right hand. Can you enlarge that area?”
Buzz once more enlarged and enhanced the upper half of the man’s body.
“Closer in,” Emily directed. “We need to clearly see his hand, see if he’s the same guy from the flower shop.”
Buzz enlarged and enhanced the photo once more, bringing into view the same tattoo.
“That’s it!” Isabel screamed. “That proves it wasn’t you, Colin.”
“You think the DA will see it that way?” he asked.
“I don’t know why he wouldn’t,” she replied.
“Do you still need me to upload the third video?” Buzz asked.
“Yes, I’m hoping it will confirm the fact that it couldn’t be Colin.” Emily pulled up a chair next to Buzz. “However, I would like to see the third one next to the second one. You can do a split screen, can’t you?”
“Can I do a split screen?” Buzz repeated with a sarcastic huff. “Is the Pope Catholic?” He stuck the video in and waited for it to upload.
The others watched as he played the two simultaneously on a split screen. “Tell me when to pause them.”
“There!” Emily pointed to the video on the left, the one from the night of the murder, and it immediately froze. A second later, she called out again and Buzz paused the video on the right. “Now look at the two of them side by side. What do you see?”
“The one you shot today shows Colin is taller than the killer from Thursday’s footage,” Isabel said.
The words Mountain View Towers was vertically printed on the large glass door in g
old and white lettering. The top of Colin’s head reached above the word Mountain, while the man on the left only came up to the bottom of the word.
“You know what that means?” Emily turned around to face Colin.
He dropped down into a nearby chair and expelled a long sigh. He leaned forward, with his elbows balanced on his knees and buried his face in his hands.
Emily crouched beside him and ran her hand comfortingly over his upper arm. “It’s over, sweetheart,” she said softly. “We can take this evidence to the DA and they’ll have to drop the charges.”
“Too bad it’s after five on a Friday,” Isabel said. “You won’t be able to see the DA until Monday, but let’s get it to Alex, anyway—let him handle it.”
Emily stood. “Yes, let’s take it to Alex. Then we can relax over the weekend, knowing you’re off the hook.”
Colin raised his head and looked up at Emily. His hands went limp between his knees. “I do feel relieved, but…” he paused and slightly shook his head, “it’s not over.”
“What do you mean?” The joy in Emily’s voice deflated.
“I mean the real killer is still out there.”
“Do you think it could be Kevin Bates?” Emily asked.
“Who’s Kevin Bates?” Isabel questioned.
“Now more than ever. That tattoo, the little six alongside the flower.” Colin slowly rose from the chair.
Emily recalled Kevin Bates’ six-year-old daughter and Maggie’s mention of the meaning of a cyclamen. Colin must have remembered too.
“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Isabel planted her fists on her hips, gazing from Emily to Colin. “Who is Kevin Bates?”
“Emily, would you mind staying and explaining things to Isabel? Tell her about the license plate, too. I’ve got to get out of here.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll leave it to you to get these videos over to Alex.” Colin gave Emily a quick peck on the cheek before slipping his jacket on. “I need to meet up with Ernie and see if we can find Kevin Bates—that is, if he’s still hanging around to see the results of his handiwork. Thanks for all your help, Buzz.” Colin waved a hand in the air as he rushed out of the room.
Isabel crossed her arms, shifted her weight, and glared at Emily. “I’m waiting.”
“Do you ladies think you could take the party somewhere else?” Buzz spun around in his chair and handed Emily the recordings. “I still have a bunch of work to do before I can go home for the weekend.”
Isabel opened the door and motioned for Emily to follow her out into the hallway. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
Chapter 25
During the elevator ride to the lobby, Emily explained the story of Kevin Bates and Colin’s involvement in his incarceration.
“Sounds like a good suspect,” Isabel agreed as they stepped out. “What made Colin think of him?”
As they stood in the lobby talking, Emily tried to step around their quick trip out of state. She began by telling Isabel about her FaceTime interview with the medical examiner and how he explained the manner in which Allison had been stabbed. For demonstration purposes, he had said, he displayed the kind of rage that Norman Bates stabbed the young woman with, in the shower scene in the old Hitchcock movie, Psycho.
“Oh.” Isabel grimaced. “I saw that movie as a teenager. It gave me nightmares for weeks.”
“Me, too,” Emily nodded. “But the mention of the name Bates jogged something loose in Colin’s memory, and he recalled the case of Kevin Bates.”
Emily went on to explain that before Colin had a chance to check out Kevin Bates’ whereabouts, he had spoken with another convict whom his SFPD detective friend had uncovered. “The man told Colin things that pointed directly to Kevin Bates as a strong suspect, confirming what we had already thought.”
Isabel wrinkled her brow. “You believe this informant is credible?”
“Colin seems to think so.”
“Well, let’s head over to Alex’s office. I think my husband will be excited to see those videos.”
“Yeah, but Detective Roberts probably won’t be,” Emily said. “From my experience with him, Roberts is not a man who likes to be caught with egg on his face.”
“The DA either, but so what? The truth is the truth—that should matter more.” Isabel hooked her arm through Emily’s and led her through the large glass doors and out into the chilly evening air. “What did you want to tell me about a license plate?”
~*~
The sun was setting as Colin walked into the Paradise Valley police station, looking for Ernie.
“Hello, Stella,” Colin said as he strode up to the receptionist’s desk and leaned on the counter.
“Colin.” Stella’s eyes flashed with surprise. “So nice to see you.” She folded her arms on her desk and smiled up at him. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s okay, Stella. You don’t have to be so sweet to me.”
“I was just—”
“I know, tiptoeing around me. Totally unnecessary.” He shot her a quick grin. “Listen, I’m kind of in a hurry. I’m here to meet with Ernie.”
“Sure, he’s expecting you.” She pushed the button mounted on her desk that unlocked the secure door to the back office. “As a matter of fact, you’re late.”
Colin heard the click of the door unlocking and pushed it open. “Thanks, Stella,” he called over his shoulder as he stepped through it.
He marched down the hall and around the corner to his office. There he found Ernie seated behind the desk, leaning back in the large leather chair with this feet crossed on top of it, and his fingers laced behind his head.
“You’re looking awfully comfortable in my chair,” Colin joked.
“Just keeping it warm for you, boss, ‘til you get back.”
“That should be sooner than later. Emily has dug up some evidence that’ll prove I wasn’t the killer.”
“She has?” Ernie shot up out of the chair. “What is it?”
Colin explained what he had uncovered about Kevin Bates and what his story was. He also described what Emily had discovered. “She’s on her way to Alex’s office to drop the videos off. I’m hoping by end of day on Monday this whole thing will be a done deal.”
“So why did you want to meet with me? I would have thought you’d be out celebrating with Emily.”
“I’m meeting her later, but I want you to help me find this Kevin Bates. I’m hoping he’s staying around to see me get my just desserts, so to speak.”
“You really think he’d stick around after committing murder? ‘Cause I know I wouldn’t.”
“The only reason he killed Allison was to punish me. If he left before the trial, he’d miss out on getting that satisfaction.”
“You might be right. So where do we start looking?”
“On my way over here, I called my contact at the SFPD and asked them to email you a photo of this guy.”
“Let’s see if it came yet.” Ernie sank back down into his chair and began clicking around on the computer. “Here it is.” He opened the attachment and swiveled the monitor toward Colin. “Is that him?”
It was the mug shot from Bates’ arrest. The man had dark blond hair and blue eyes, and he wore the typical arrest-photo scowl.
“Yeah, that’s him, but that was almost six years ago. He could have altered his appearance by now. Put a smile on the guy and a new haircut and no one would recognize him based on this picture.”
“Hmmm.” Ernie chewed on his bottom lip. “Did the guy have any birthmarks or tattoos?”
Colin scanned over the physical description at the bottom of the photo. “Wait a minute! A tattoo.”
Ernie pulled the monitor back in his direction. “It doesn’t say he has any tattoos.”
“The barista.” Colin’s heart rate quickened, thumping in his chest.
“What?” Ernie’s brows grew together into a quizzical frown.
“The killer has a small tattoo on his ri
ght hand,” Colin said, remembering the videos. He ran his left index finger over the area on his right hand. “A six and a small flower.”
“How do you know that?
Colin ignored Ernie’s question—he had his own. “Why didn’t I remember it sooner?”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ll explain on the way. Grab your coat.”
~*~
Colin and Ernie burst through the door of the noisy coffee shop, Moxie Java, and marched up to the busy counter.
“Excuse me, excuse me,” Ernie said as he nudged people out of the way. “Sorry, police business.”
Colin squeezed up to the crowded counter next to him. “Is Andy here?” he asked the young woman over the din.
“No, he’s gone for the day,” she replied.
“Is there a manager we can talk to?” Ernie asked.
The woman leaned back and yelled into a small office off to her left. “Sally!”
A thin middle-aged woman with short black hair emerged from the room.
“The police,” the barista pointed at Ernie and Colin, “they want to talk to you.”
The manager waved them back to her office.
“Sorry, sorry,” Ernie said as he pushed past a few customers, trying to get to the manager’s quarters. Colin stayed close behind.
“What’s this about, Officer?” the manager asked.
“It’s Detective,” Ernie corrected. “We’re looking for Andy.”
“He’s gone for the day, finished his shift a few hours ago.”
“Can you tell us Andy’s full name?” Colin asked.
“Do you mind my asking what this is all about?”
“We’re working on a case and he may have some vital information for us. So we need to talk to him as soon as possible,” Ernie said.
She glared at the two of them for a moment, as if she was trying to decide whether she should help them or not. “I don’t want to get him in trouble or anything. He’s a nice guy.”
“Are you interfering with our investigation, ma’am?” Ernie asked.
“No, no, not at all. I’ll have to look up his full name. We’ve always just called him Andy. Give me a minute to look in the file.”
She jotted some information down on a small piece of paper and handed it to Colin. “His checks are made out to Colin Anderson, and there’s his address.”
The Pursuit of Lies, A Romantic Suspense Novel (Book #4, Paradise Valley Mysteries) Page 18