Page 78 of The Smart Killer
The kid at the front desk had told them that Jim was quite a character with a mouth that would make any sailor blush. They entered the facility and were told to wait in a room plastered with aviation charts and posters. Noah and McKenzie were settled into plush chairs by the window, sipping on cups of coffee procured from a vending machine nearby. The hum of conversation from a nearby group of aspiring pilots added a lively undertone to the room.
A few moments later, the door swung open, and in walked Jim Devlin, holding a clipboard, oblivious to the unexpected guests. Noah rose and called out, “Mr. Devlin.”
Jim’s head turned; his eyes squinted against the sudden change in lighting. Noah pulled out his badge, holding it up for the flight instructor to see. Jim exchanged a few words with his student and then approached the investigators, his gaze bouncing between them.
“Can I help you?” he inquired, a hint of curiosity in his weathered voice.
“I hope so,” Noah replied, gesturing to the seat across from them.
Seated at the table with coffee in hand, Noah got straight into it. “I’m State Police Investigator Noah Sutherland, and this is Detective McKenzie from the Adirondack Sheriff’s Office. We were hoping to talk to you about your drone flight group.”
“All the details are online. We meet on Tuesdays between 7 and 9.”
“We’re not looking to join.”
“Oh,” he said, his eyes darting between them.
“I was surprised to find you here. I contacted Venture X, the shared office space in Elizabethtown, but they said you were here. I thought the flight school was there?”
“We meet there. It’s not really a school as much as a hobby of mine that I do for extra cash and because there are a lot of idiots out there flying drones into our airspace. I figured maybe I could kill two birds with one stone. My mother always said if you aren’t a part of the solution, you’re the problem. My real livelihood is made here, teaching people to fly planes.”
The conversation briefly delved into the world of aviation before Noah steered it back to why they were there.
“Alejandro Diaz was a member,” Noah stated.
Jim nodded thoughtfully. “Yes. For a long time. A good guy. He had aspirations of becoming a pilot. It’s unfortunate. I heard about his death and the things he was involved in.” He shook his head. “Never struck me as that kind of guy. Makes you realize you never really know anyone.”
Noah glanced at McKenzie before continuing, “How many members do you have?”
“Twelve. I can’t have any more than that. Originally, I had over twenty. It was a nightmare; too many to teach, too many to watch. Twelve allows me to have one-on-one time with each of them. Some come out to learn, others want to share footage and their experience, and the rest simply want to socialize with other drone operators. Many of them are photographers. Getting that bird’s-eye view is something else.”
“I bet it is,” McKenzie added, glancing at Noah as he sipped his coffee.
“If I showed you a drone, do you think you could tell me what brand it is and the kind of range a person would get while using it?”
“You mean, the range the drone can be away from the controller?”
He nodded.
“I can try.”
Noah handed him a tablet, displaying footage of the crime scenes taken by the media. He kept it focused on the small snippets of the drone as he didn’t want to get into a long conversation over where the drone had been seen, just in case Jim was somehow connected to the case. Jim studied it intently, peering through his glasses. “Um. It’s a little too far away to tell you for sure, but if I had to guess, I would say that it is a DJI Mavic 2 Pro Quadcopter. We sell several of them through the school. As for range. You are looking at around 15 kilometers, but you’d want to be closer. That’s like the upper limit of tire pressure. You don’t want to push it.”
“Just in case it malfunctioned and fell, right?” Noah added.
Jim grinned. “You’d be surprised at how often it happens. It makes for one hell of an expensive lesson. These aren’t cheap. Especially that one. A couple of thousand dollars. Only a few folks can afford them.”
“Your members. Anyone use one?”
“Yeah. But newbies don’t tend to shell out for one.”
“Like Alejandro?”
“Ah, he couldn’t afford one. We offered to let him rent one, but he was nervous about crashing it, so he bought a cheap one.”
“You rent them?”
He nodded. “The thing is, detective, some folks come out to the group just to check us out and then realize they don’t want to do it, others don’t want to spend money, and some don’t have it. I figured the best way to encourage people was to have a few available that folks could use.”
