Part 34 (1/2)

The third time around, I pulled into the lot, into Ruby's empty parking spot, and got out to look around on foot. There were no cameras. I smacked the side of the truck with my hand and said some very unlibrarianlike words.

The truck was hard and cold and my hand hurt. I stood there rubbing it and looking around in frustration, when I realized I could see part of Everett's office building. If I could see the office, then the office could see the lot.

I got back in the truck, turned around successfully in the small lot, and drove up to Henderson Holdings' offices.

Lita was at her desk. She smiled when she saw me. ”Hi, Kathleen. You're about five hours early for the meeting.”

I smiled back. ”Hi, Lita,” I said. ”This is going to sound a little strange, but do you have security cameras on the building?”

She nodded. ”Yes, we do.”

How was I going to explain that I wanted to look at the footage to see if Justin had taken Ruby's truck?

”You want to see the footage from last Wednesday night,” she said.

”The police were already here, weren't they?” I dropped onto the chair in front of her desk.

”The cameras don't show the old school at all. I'm sorry. There was nothing recorded that could help Ruby.”

I rubbed the s.p.a.ce between my eyes. Nothing was working. I couldn't exactly go to Marcus and explain that I knew Justin killed Agatha because he had elastics on his arm and smelled like hair gel.

I stood up. ”Thanks, Lita,” I said. ”I'll see you this afternoon.”

There was a plaque by the door and I would have missed it if I hadn't dropped my gloves and bent to pick them up. I had the same simple plaque in the library. The school gave one to every business that partic.i.p.ated in the student work-experience program.

I stood there with one hand on the door, my thoughts falling over themselves. Kate, my co-op student, had been working on a mixed-media art project with a couple of her friends. The kids had mounted webcams on a rotating base at various spots around town and were editing the footage to create a dizzying 360-degree look at Mayville Heights.

That's why there had been a camera in the second-floor storage room for the past ten days. They kept having trouble with the signal and feed. They hadn't been able to get all the cameras working at the same time.

”Kathleen, are you all right?” Lita asked.

I turned around and walked back to her desk. ”I'm fine,” I said. ”Lita, do you have a co-op student?”

”Yes. Brandon.”

I let out the breath I'd been holding. The universe was back on my side. Brandon was one of Kate's friends.

”Did he ask you about setting up a webcam for a school project?”

She laughed. ”That child is persistent.”

”And did you say yes?”

”I did,” she said. ”He was extremely persistent, Kathleen.”

”Where's the camera?”

Lita pointed up over our heads. ”Up in a little closet we use to store office supplies.” Her expression changed then. ”Do you think that camera might have recorded the parking lot down at the studio?”

I held out both hands. ”I don't know.”

Lita stood up. ”Let's find out. I'll get Brandon.”

Waiting for her, I thought about calling Marcus. What would I tell him? I didn't know if the webcam had recorded anything useful at all.

Lita came back with Brandon, whom I remembered from the setup in the library.

”h.e.l.lo, Ms. Paulson,” he said. ”Mrs. Gray said you want to look at what we've been recording.”

”Please, Brandon. I do.”

He shrugged and set his laptop on Lita's desk. ”Sure thing.” He hit some keys and muttered to himself, then tilted the screen back a bit more, s.h.i.+fted sideways and said, ”There you go.”

Lita and I both leaned in. The live image feed was clear and mostly showed an area of the downtown and the water.

”There,” Lita said, pointing to the bottom right corner of the screen.

I could see a slice of the studio parking lot. ”That's it,” I said. I touched the corner of the screen. ”That's part of the back wall of the building.”

She nodded. ”There is the edge of the door. Those are the first three parking spots.” She turned to me. ”Which one is Ruby's?”

”Two,” I said. I turned to Brandon, who seemed to be trying not to look bored. ”Brandon, were you recording last Wednesday night?”

”Yeah,” he said.

”Is there any way to look at what you recorded?”

He gave me that pitying look that computer-savvy kids give to adults like me. ”Sure. What time?”

Agatha had died sometime between two and three a.m. Eric had met Justin about ten.

”Try nine thirty,” I said. Brandon started hitting keys again.

Lita gave me a smile and held up two crossed fingers.

”Okay, here is Wednesday night at nine thirty.”

Lita and I exchanged glances and I looked at the screen. There it was. Ruby's truck, or at least the back end, in the bottom corner of the image.

”Can you fast forward that?” I asked.

”You mean advance the time?” Brandon said.

I nodded.

”Where to?”