Chapter 11 #2
“That sounds like a plan.” Kane slipped an arm around her shoulder, peered both ways through the windows into the hallway, and then pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“It was great yesterday, wasn’t it? I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed sitting down wrapping Christmas gifts so much before.
Toasting marshmallows in front of the fire with the boys will stay in my heart forever.
” He looked deep into Jenna’s eyes. “Having a family like we have has always been a dream of mine. I’d pushed it so far to the back of my mind I never thought it would be possible. ”
Smiling, Jenna leaned into him. “Yeah, sitting there in front of the log fire was like being in one of those holiday movies. When you say diamond days, I know exactly what you mean. We’ve had quite a few of them since we’ve had the boys, haven’t we?”
“There were a few before.” Kane turned toward the door. “The day I asked you to marry me and our wedding were very special.” He cleared his throat and smiled at her. “I hope no one is recording us at the moment. We don’t look very professional, do we?” He winked at her and headed for the door.
When they arrived at the principal’s office, Jenna requested the handwriting samples.
He spoke to his secretary and then took them down the hallway and into a control center, where the security guard watched the monitors.
Jenna watched with interest as a man pushing a floor polisher stopped outside the classroom, went inside for less than three minutes, and then came back out again and continued along the hallway.
Playback was stopped at that point and Jenna turned to the principal. “Who is that man?”
“I have no idea.” The principal folded his arms across his chest and stared at the screen, his eyebrows raised. “Our janitor is in his late sixties and it’s obvious that’s a younger man.”
“Rewind the tape and zoom in on the man’s face.” Kane leaned on the table and stared at the screen. “The way he has his ball cap pulled down it’s hard to distinguish his features.”
Jenna moved closer to the screen and shook her head.
By the way the man kept his head down the entire time, he knew about the CCTV cameras.
He wore gloves and a pair of coveralls, and it was impossible to even make out the color of his skin.
She looked up at the principal. “Does this super AI security system use facial recognition or the barcode on the ID cards?”
“The barcode.” The principal shook his head slowly. “Not one of my employees would hand over their ID card. To do so would be instant dismissal. The safety of the students is our priority in this school.”
“This means that one of your employees won’t be able to enter the building if the card was stolen from them.
” Kane straightened. “I noticed the time stamp on the footage was seven-fifty, so if you keep a record of when the staff enter the building, we should be able to pinpoint whose card has been appropriated.” He turned his attention to the principal.
“You do keep a record of who is entering the building and at what time, don’t you? ”
“Yes, and I’ll ask someone in the office to do a search. They have all the software on their computers. If you’ll give me a few moments, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find.” The principal went to leave but Kane stopped him. “Is there anything else?”
“Yeah, maybe check to see if the janitor is here today.” Kane frowned at him. “If he hasn’t arrived, he might be in trouble. If so, we’ll need his details so we can do a welfare check on him.”
The principal gave him a curt nod and headed back to his office. Jenna glanced at the security guard and indicated to the screen. “Can you follow that guy and see where he goes?”
“I already have but I can show you if you like.” The security guard forwarded the tape and then jumped to another camera feed to follow the man.
“He dumps the bucket in a closet and heads out of the front door. I ran the tape on a little to see if I could glimpse his vehicle leaving the parking lot.” He indicated to the screen.
“It’s not very clear but I do believe that is a silver SUV. ”
“Thanks.” Kane pulled a thumb drive from his pocket. “Can you copy the vehicle footage and the part outside the classroom onto this for me? I’ll get the FBI to run it through their software.”
“Not a problem.” The security guard went to work.
Once the copy was made, Jenna and Kane headed back to the principal’s office. They waited for him to finish a call and Jenna looked at him and raised one eyebrow in question. “Have you been able to get the information we requested?”
“My secretary is putting it on a thumb drive as we speak.” The principal’s eyes narrowed and he leaned back in his chair staring up at them.
“The janitor didn’t come to work today, so I called him.
He is at home and did call in this morning to say that his truck wouldn’t start and he’s waiting for someone from Millers’ Garage to drop by to look at it.
I asked him to go and look for his ID card.
He usually leaves it in the glovebox of his vehicle and of course it’s missing. ”
Jenna exchanged a glance with Kane. “So I assume whoever stole the card did something to his truck so he couldn’t get here this morning.”
“It sure seems that way.” The principal ran a hand down his face. “I just wonder how the person who wrote the message on the whiteboard knew that the janitor kept his ID in the glovebox.”
Ideas buzzed around Jenna’s head. “There are a million options on how he got that information. I gather the janitor’s been working here for a long time?”
“Yes, maybe fifteen years or so.” The principal clasped his hands and stared at her.
Nodding, Jenna straightened. “This man might have even been employed by the school and had gotten to know the janitor and maybe seen him put his card or keys in the glovebox.” She sighed.
“We’ll look into it. We’ll need those handwriting samples.
I’ll send a deputy over to collect them, if you could give me a call and let me know when they’re ready.
” She handed him her card. “Thank you for your assistance. If anything else unusual happens, call 911 right away.”
Jenna led the way out of the office and waited at the secretary’s desk for her to hand her a thumb drive.
After thanking the woman, she turned to Kane.
“I figure it’s time to visit Aunt Betty’s Café and we’ll go over the information we’ve discovered and then decide what to do next.
For now, we’ll leave Ellie at the Her Broken Wings Foundation residences.
She’ll be safe there. I don’t want to risk her going home until we have this sorted. ”
“Okay, Aunt Betty’s it is.” Kane pulled down the rim of his Stetson and headed out into the snow.