Page 56 of Dublin Debacle

Emily turned toward the front window, overlooking the pub across the street. “We’ve had some incidents of vandalism at the Tap & Tankard.”

Daniel shook his head. “I’d heard your uncle was attacked. Is he all right?”

“He’s recovering after sustaining a few broken ribs and a mild concussion.” Emily turned back to Daniel. “What we want to know is, in your renovations, did you install a video surveillance system?”

The man’s face lit up. “As a matter of fact, I did. I have the monitors set up in the back, and I can access the live feed and recorded footage from my cell phone if I’m not at the store.”

Emily’s heart skipped a few beats. “Is it possible for us to review the footage from last night. Someone spray-painted my car. I was hoping I could get a clear image of him coming out of the alley to give to the Garda.” Her brow furrowed. “They haven’t come by to ask to see the recordings, have they?”

Daniel shook his head. “No one has been here asking for anything so far this morning. I expect traffic to pick up soon. If you like, follow me to the back, and I’ll let you look through the historical data.”

Emilly fell in behind Daniel, and Jack followed her. She had a hard time concentrating on the man in front of her when she’d just been kissing the one behind.

The back of the shop was nothing like the front with its bright lights, glass cases and beautiful displays. Instead, there were desks and workbenches probably as old as the building itself. Lighted magnifying glasses hung over workstations, and tools lay on most surfaces. The newest equipment took up a small corner in the back with a large monitor, desktop computer and keyboard.

Daniel tapped the touchpad, and the monitors blinked to life with an array of views in and around the shop. “Fortunately, I had the technician install wide-angle cameras on the exteriors. I was surprised at how much area it picked up.” He sat in a rolling desk chair and clicked on one corner of the array, making the view take up the entire screen. “This is a live view of the front of the store.” He pointed toward the top of the image. “You can see the pub, the building next to it and the shadowy area is the alley.” He clicked keys on the keyboard. “I got you into the recordings of the past twenty-four hours.”

A bell jingled from the front of the store.

Daniel stood. “Take as long as you need. I have to see to my customers.”

Emily waved a hand toward the chair. “Do you want to drive?”

“You’ve done a great job driving so far,” he said with a grin. “Go ahead.”

She sank into the office chair and moved the mouse to the arrow on the screen controlling the moment in time they were viewing. She slid the arrow to an hour before they’d closed the pub and fast-forwarded through the footage, looking for movement to or from the alley.

“He could’ve entered the alley from the rear,” Jack said.

“Maybe, but if it was the Flamethrower who tagged my car, he would’ve had to leave through the front first.”

Emily could tell the exact moment when she’d announced the Garda was on its way. Customers streamed out of the pub, some staggering, some still throwing punches, others laughing out loud.

Many of them wore team colors, and their faces were clearly visible when Emily paused and zoomed in to study them. She recognized a lot of them as regulars who came every game night at the pub. But there were a lot more faces she couldn’t recall.

A short guy emerged in the middle of the crowd, hands in the pockets of his jacket, the hood pulled up and his chin down. Emily zoomed in on him but couldn’t make out his face because it was hidden in the shadow of his hood. As soon as he was outside, he broke away from the rest and moved quickly along the sidewalk, away from the pub.

Something about that jacket and hood made Emily back up and look at him again.

She felt like she’d seen this guy in the pub before, sitting in the booth furthest away from the bar.

“Recognize him?” Jack asked, leaning over her shoulder.

“Yes and no. Maybe just the jacket with the hood. On random occasions, I’ve seen a customer sitting alone with his hood pulled up. I remember because it struck me as odd that he’d keep the hood up while in the pub. But then, we have had stranger customers. And I’m so busy working, I don’t pay as close attention as I should.” She made a note of the time when the guy in the hooded jacket exited the pub and continued watching as the people left, the Garda arrived and an ambulance pulled up minutes later. For several minutes of footage, nothing moved outside the pub.

The medics loaded the two men into the back of the ambulance. When the ambulance drove away, it passed the alley. A shadowy movement caught Emily’s attention at the same time Jack said. “Wait. Stop there.”

She halted forward movement. “You saw it, too?”

“Back it up a few seconds,” Jack said.

Emily slid the arrow backward and stopped where the ambulance had reached the corner of the pub, about to pass the alley. She slowed the speed to a crawl and played the video with her cursor hovering over the pause button.

A figure appeared detached from the shadows as the ambulance crept by.

“It’s the guy wearing the hooded jacket,” Emily whispered as if she were seated in a library. As she zoomed in on him, the image got grainier.

When the guy raised a hand to adjust the hood, pulling it further over his face, Emily touched the pause button a second too late.

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