Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
After he’d finished texting with Danica, Noah sat on his bed and called Chase’s number.
“Noah?”
“Hey, man, sorry I missed your call.”
“How’s your client?”
“She’s not my client anymore. She’s…my girlfriend. In reality now, not just my fantasies.”
“Damn. You pulled it off.”
“Any luck with your love problems?” Now that he was a romantic, Noah wanted a happy ending for everyone.
Chase groaned. “I wish. But we’ll have to catch up on my issues later. I have news about that surveillance video from the museum.”
“Listening.”
“I spoke to the patrol officers who responded to the scene. I found out who downloaded the surveillance video, and she’s a friend. But she was out sick for a few days, so I only caught up with her this afternoon.”
“Okay.”
“My friend, this patrol officer, she said the scene that Friday night at the museum was pretty chaotic. They were focused on the vehicles that tried to kidnap Danica. So nobody thought to grab the surveillance footage that night. Sometimes there are delays, you know? Especially with gathering evidence after the fact.”
“I understand.”
“So my friend went back on Saturday to download the surveillance clips. It’s just patrol who goes to get camera footage, not CSI or anything.
When we can, we load them on a flash drive.
It’s the easiest way. When my friend got to the museum, she had to find someone with an access password first, then review the footage to confirm it was the right date and time. ”
“So she saw the videos right there? At the museum?”
“Exactly. First person from West Oaks PD to have any access. But when I showed her the copies you sent me, of that man in the ball cap? She said there was no difference whatsoever. She hadn’t seen any neck tattoo on the original videos.”
“You’re sure she would’ve looked closely? It would’ve been just a short clip.”
“Absolutely. To me, a neck tattoo is the kind of thing a cop would notice. And this friend of mine pays attention. She’s good.”
“That means the alteration had to have happened before the video left the museum.”
“It’s possible. But honestly, it looked a little like a technical issue with the camera. I think that’s what Detective Murphy truly believed. Are you sure it was nothing like that?”
“Danica’s sure, and I believe her. But wait, who at the museum would’ve had access to the security videos? Did your patrol officer friend ask? Could it have been a curator named Anderson Nobis?”
The guy who’d revealed Danica’s schedule on social media. Maybe that hadn’t been an innocent mistake after all.
“Not sure about that,” Chase said. “Their surveillance system was encrypted with password-only access.”
“And who was it who showed your friend the video? Who had the password?”
“Uh, hold on. I made a note… It was the executive director of the museum.”
The executive director. Lindley Colter.
Who was downstairs with Danica right now.