PART III Chapter Twenty-four
PART III Chapter Twenty-four
Kate was still looking through the files when Megan returned from her date. Kate didn’t ask about the date, she figured that Megan would tell her when she wanted to.
Kate asked, “Can you get the GPS coordinates from the images on this drive to verify they were shot at the apartment?”
Megan replied, “I can if they didn’t have the location turned off on their phone.”
Megan opened a program she had, that extracted GPS data from photos. Kate knew if Megan found the info from one or two the others were taken in the same place. It didn’t take long for Megan to extract the coordinates and then she plotted the coordinates and gave the address to Kate.
Kate recognized the address as the apartment the bank kept for clients. It wasn’t a surprise to Kate that that apartment was used by Tim, she remembered what the apartment looked like and thought it resembled what she saw when they searched the place.
Megan said, “Take a look at all of these photos, they were shot from the same angle with the same background.”
Kate didn’t disclose that she had already figured out about the same angle and background.
Kate said, “I think these are the photos from those hidden cameras at the apartment that the bank had.”
Megan replied, “That has to be what they are. There is no way Tim could have set the camera up in exactly the same way every time. A hidden camera makes perfect sense.”
Kate and Megan decided to go back to the bank apartment to take another look around. Kate knew there would probably not be any murder connection there but she believed in following every lead, no matter how minor. They had just gone through the apartment for evidence just a few hours earlier. Megan framed the scene in her mind and looked in the opposite direction to figure out where the camera might have been placed.
There are built-in cabinets across from the bed and Megan saw what looked like a hole in one of the doors on the cabinet. Kate opened the door and saw two cameras on tripods. One was a video camera and one was a still camera.
Kate looked at Megan and said, “There must be video somewhere. It isn’t on the hard drive with the still photos.”
Megan said, “Maybe we can ask Tim where the videos are?”
Kate replied, “Let’s take the video camera with us and let the lab check it to see if any videos are there.”
Megan put the camera in an evidence bag. She took the other camera and placed it in the bag as well.
Megan said, “I will give the cameras to Jordan. If anyone can get info from them he can.”
Kate and Megan took the evidence bags and prepared to leave. They didn’t find any wired connection to recording equipment. Megan checked for Wi-Fi connections that could have transferred files to a digital storage either onsite or cloud based. They found a router and modem in an office next door to the bedroom. Megan found a laptop which she thought would have been used to set up any file transfers.
Megan said, “I will have Jordan check out the laptop along with the cameras. We will find the videos and see if they tell us a story we don’t know.”
Kate and Megan went back to their house and left the evidence bag locked in Kate’s car. It was late and both women were ready to go to bed. They knew they could get the evidence checked out at the lab the next day.
Kate usually went to bed early because she never knew when she would be woken in the middle of the night. Kate allowed time for a run in the mornings before going to work.
Kate woke up while Megan was still asleep. Kate put on her running shoes and headed out her front door. The air was crisp and the breeze hitting her face helped her to clear her head. When she came back through the front door, Megan had finished making breakfast.
Megan asked, “How was your run?”
Megan knew her mother was in excellent physical condition and the runs helped her keep it that way.
Kate replied, “The run helped me get a clear head. I am trying to put together what we know and how to make the pieces fit.”
Kate and Megan ate their breakfast and finished getting ready before heading to work together. The first thing on their agenda is to get the camera and laptop evidence to Jordan to see what he can extract for them. They had no expectations that there would be any murder connection in the evidence but they wouldn’t know until Jordan finished with the digital equipment.
Kate and Megan separated after arriving at the station. Megan went to the lab and Kate went to her office to look through the evidence she had and to think about everything they had found. While she was thinking about her case, Kate received a call from Jordan.
Jordan said, “I found the transfer file commands and traced the files to an offsite cloud storage. It is password protected but the laptop had the passwords stored and I was able to go right to the site. There are hundreds of videos there and Tim had them all stored in individual folders.”
Kate knew she had proof that Tim was a sleaze ball but not one item that proved murder. Kate thought that she should talk to Tim’s wife one more time and show her the evidence of Tim’s activities. Kate set up an appointment with Christine and would bring her evidence with her when she went there to talk.
When Kate arrived at Christine’s home there was a car parked in front. When Kate was invited in, she noticed Christine’s brother there visiting when she entered. It was apparent that Christine and her brother Alan had been in a heated discussion before she arrived but they were both quiet and relaxed when she got inside the home.
Alan excused himself and left as Kate and Christine went to the den to continue their conversation. Kate began with small talk before opening the folders and showing her the photo evidence showing Tim with many other women, including the two victims. Christine did not appear to be surprised by what Kate had laid out on display. Kate hoped that there was evidence hidden somewhere and if Christine was pushed with jealousy she might reveal where it was hidden.
Christine’s apathy toward the evidence Kate showed her was surprising, however, Kate was beginning to move away from Tim as their suspect and move toward Christine getting revenge for her jealousy. During searches of the house there had been no evidence found implicating Tim or Christine, but Kate knew it was possible the evidence was hidden somewhere else the couple owned. Kate would get Megan to do a search of property owned by the couple that could be used to hide evidence.
Kate asked Christine a few questions but she had already written off the interview after witnessing Christine’s response to the evidence she had presented to her. Either Christine was not upset by the evidence shown to her or she was a very good actress. The only thing that made sense to Kate was that Christine already knew about all of the other women. Kate excused herself and headed back to the station to get Megan looking for other possible property.
Megan wasted no time once Kate made the request. Their search was productive and several properties were discovered. Three turned out to be rental properties but there was one cabin that seemed to be used for family getaways. Kate wasn’t sure she could get a warrant to search the cabin but because of the location she would be going before a different judge to get it. She would use the same evidence to convince the judge. The judge reluctantly signed the warrant and Kate got a search team ready.
Kate insisted that Megan be a part of the team, since she was familiar with the type of items they were looking for. Kate wasn’t specific about the items to look for but they had already talked about what they needed several times. At the top of the list was a murder weapon, boots that matched the footprints they found at their first victim’s home.
Megan asked if Jordan could be a part of their search team, in case there was electronics found at the cabin. Kate thought that Megan just wanted to be around Jordan but she agreed that since he had been part of their investigation so far he should be included. The other members of the department were patrol officers who would be assigned to secure the area to prevent any cross contamination.
While the search members gathered to prepare for executing their warrant Kate spoke to all before they loaded into their vehicles. She cautioned about being too careless and contaminating the scene. They all got into their vehicles and followed Kate down the highway and out through the long gravel road that led to the cabin. The search group slowly maneuvered around the winding curves of the road making their way over the hills that led the way to the cabin.
There were no lights on at the cabin and no sign of anyone being home. The cars all parked behind Kate, who had led them to line up on the road leading to the cabin. Kate walked ahead of the other team members with a copy of the warrant clutched in her hands.