Page 64 of A Week Away
“Do you know how to operate it?”
“I do. I work for JCB. They manage this building, the storage units next door and then two buildings after that. I clean all of them and keep the security cameras running.”
“Do any of the buildings have security guards?”
“No, they’re all on the discount plan.”
“Which is you?”
“Pretty much.”
“Can you show me that video from yesterday?”
He shook his head. “Police took the whole computer. Somebody from the company is supposed to bring a new one by later.”
“Did you see the recording of what happened?”
“Not much. I mean, I got it running for the cops and then they kind of pushed me out of the way.”
“What did you get to see?”
He brightened, clearly thinking this might earn him the money. “They got the guy on video. That’s for sure. He was wearing a hoodie. Walked out the front door, shot the lady, took her purse, then looked around like something scared the crap out of him and he ran back toward the building.”
That sounded like he saw the whole thing.
“So he came out of the building and ran back into the building?”
“Yeah. That’s what the cops were saying. I didn’t get to actually see it myself.”
“Where were you when the shooting happened?”
“Unstopping a toilet on the first floor. Ladies room.”
“Did you hear anything that might be helpful around the time of the murder?”
“I was kind of busy. It was really gross, you know.”
I tried not to think about it. I glanced again at the pail with Joanne’s diluted blood floating around, and gave him the two hundred bucks. He hadn’t told me all that much, but his life sounded disgusting and I figured he deserved the money.
As I started to walk away, he said, “My name’s Rocky. I do a twelve-hour shift, Monday through Thursday. Seven to seven. The last hour gets a little dull.” There was a glint in his eyes that I recognized.
“Oh. Really… um, I’m flattered. I really am. It’s been a while. I have a partner, though.”
He pushed his cheek out with his tongue in a very suggestive way and said, “That’s too bad. I guess I’ll just be bored then.”
“Sorry about that.”
“If you change your mind, I always spend the last hour next door. First bay.”
I didn’t really know what he meant by that so I just smiled. And said, “Well, I’m going to take off.”
Afterward, just a little impressed with myself, I walked around the building again. The guy in the hoodie came out of the building. That little phrase meant a lot. I jumped to the conclusion that the target was Joanne. Not a big jump, really. But if the killer was really after her car he’d have been in the parking lot watching the car, waiting for the driver. It sounded like he followed Joanne out of the building. Like he was waiting for her.
He followed her out of the building, shot her and went back in. Then what? He’d have to get rid of the hoodie and the gun. Then, once a crowd of people had formed, he could join the crowd, then eventually return to the vehicle he’d come in.
On the east side of the building, there was a narrow parking lot, and a patch of grass between the lot and the storage company next door. I walked the length of the building, looking closely at the grass. My guess was the killer was a least a little familiar with the building. He knew there were cameras, since he was wearing a hoodie, and he knew where they were. So it was likely he’d parked a vehicle on the east side of the building where there wasn’t a camera. Or he’d parked in the lot for the storage units next door and walked across. Or he’d driven into the lot and then across the relatively level grass to leave via a different parking lot. None of that was supported by the grass, though. I didn’t see any evidence of footprints or tire tracks. The grass looked completely undisturbed.
Then I walked around to the back of the building. There was a bit of landscaping. Prickly bushes, but they weren’t difficult to get behind. The camera was aimed at the cars, so if you stayed close to the wall and got behind the bushes you could have entered and left the building unnoticed.
