Page 23 of Shadow Angel
Unable to shake the feeling of being watched, Beth shook her head. “Maybe he’s perched up in the mountains somewhere?”
“Maybe, but there’s still the timing.” Styles shrugged. “It’s not feasible unless he suspected we’d be here and from all accounts he believed we wouldn’t search here again. If it hadn’t been for the crows no one would have disturbed him. It’s just as well the forest warden is on the ball.”
Having a sudden thought, Beth pulled out her phone and checked the bars. “I have a strong signal here. If he’s set up a motion detector camera and it goes straight to his phone, he’d be able to see everything we’re doing and be able to hear everything we’re saying.” She stared at him. “They run on a tiny solar power panel. He could set it up and leave it. Plus, if he wanted to check out the victim, he’d be able to access the camera via his phone.” She stared at him. “He wouldn’t risk uploading to a computer or the cloud. It would be too risky, and anyone can hack it. He’d use a storage chip in the camera, or on a phone.”
“Yeah, I agree.” Styles shuddered and shook his head. “So, for him, he could look at his handiwork anytime it pleased him. He might have cameras set up all over and enjoys watching his victims decay.” He turned to her. “If we find the camera, would you be able to trace the feed back to the phone?”
Beth shook her head. “Unlikely because the moment he knows we’re onto him, he’ll destroy the phone. He’ll know because the phone will alert him we’re here.” She sighed. “It won’t be his regular phone either. No one is that stupid. It will be a phone he’d picked up from somewhere, or from one of the victims, but if it’s on a memory card, he’d be changing that regularly.” She shrugged. “Security cameras are easily hacked and controlled. He’d know that, so I’m thinking wireless and the video is stored on his phone or it could be in the camera. If we find it, we can take a look, but leaving a memory card in a camera is reckless and from what we’ve seen so far, he’s the opposite.”
“Well, I’ll be.” Styles shielded his eyes from the sun. “This place has a loft.” He pointed to the roof. “With a window.” He turned to her. “Do solar panels work through glass?”
Nodding Beth followed him to the door. “Yeah, if the window is clean but if dirty, it diminishes the efficiency to some extent, although a camera doesn’t use much power.” She glanced at him. “The camera will have a rechargeable battery, so it will work twenty-four hours.”
“So, do you figure he filmed the murder?” Styles’ eyes flashed with interest.
Excitement shivered through Beth. “Yeah, I bet he did. He’s sick enough and so darn sure he can’t be caught he probably shares the images on the dark web. Many of them do. It’s like a snuff movie club and there’s a ton of them on there.”
“If we find the memory card, and he’s on the video, we’ll be able to identify him.” Styles headed away from the cabin. “I’m going to hunt down a solar panel.”
Excited, Beth hurried after him. “The problem is, if he’s sharing the footage, he’ll be covering his face.” She moved to his side and stared at the roof. “I’ve seen plenty of terrible images on the dark web and it’s very rare for the perpetrator to show his face. They know law enforcement keeps it under surveillance and it would only take a trace of code to catch them. They’re not that stupid.”
Inside the cabin, Beth skirted around Wolfe’s team and followed Styles. She stood to one side as he checked the ceilings in the hallway. The cord was hanging down between the bedroom doors and the steps to the loft came down smoothly when Styles pulled on it. “Hold up. What if he’s hiding up there?”
“Hmm.” Styles pulled his .357 Magnum from the shoulder holster and headed up the steps. “FBI, don’t do anything stupid.”
Heart pounding, Beth followed and, hearing Carter and Jo running toward them, she turned. “Look for a camera. It will be very small. We think the solar panel is in the loft.”
“Gotcha.” Carter turned on his heel and headed back to the family room with Jo close behind.
“No one is up here.” Styles peered back down the steps. “It’s a very small loft. I’ve found the solar panel right where you figured it would be under the window. I’ll disconnect it and feed the wire back through the hole in the floor. Go back to the family room and I’ll wiggle the wire. You should be able to locate the camera by backtracking the wiring.”
Beth hurried back down the steps and went to the family room and joined the others. Everyone was staring around the room. Having used many surveillance cameras, she went to the front of the sofa. This area was the killer’s main point of focus. Any device would be centered on the victim and would be placed to catch every movement, so high on the wall or set at an angle. Her gaze went to an old clock hanging above the door to the family room. “Look up there.” She pointed and Carter stretched up and pulled down the clock. The long wire behind it moved as Styles pushed it from above. “That’s it. That isn’t a keyhole in the face, it’s the camera lens.” She took the clock and turned it over. She removed the backing and set in the back was a tiny camera. She pulled out the camera, turned it over, flipped open the back, and stared in surprise. “We have a memory card.” She looked at Wolfe. “Have you a small bag I can use to transport it and tweezers to remove it? I don’t want to touch it.”
“Sure, I’ll get one for you, but let me look at it first.” Wolfe nodded to her and held out his hand. “Ah, it’s a common card. I’ll be able to read it on my laptop.” He looked at his daughter. “Bring the laptop over here.” He removed the chip with care and slotted it into the microcard reader.
The video started to run and everyone stood transfixed as a naked man carried a woman through the front door and into the family room. The killer was a tall man wearing boots and a hideous mask. Beth stared at him, searching for any distinguishing marks, but he had none. The mask covered his head. Only a section of his mouth and eyes could be seen. The eye color was hidden in shadows. There was no way to identify the man on the screen.
“Just a minute.” Wolfe paused the playback and zoomed in on the victim. “Her thighs are bruised. He’s been holed up with her in another place. Look at her. She’s dirty and there’s ligature marks on her wrists.” He turned and looked at the body, moving around to examine the victim’s hands. “They’re not so defined as in the video, so he held her here long enough for the marks to subside prior to death. She’s been washed post-mortem as well. Even her nails have been cleaned. From the video she’s been on a dirt floor. In a root cellar maybe?”
“So, he has a nice little hideaway somewhere close by to keep them before he brings them here to kill.” Jo raised both eyebrows. “He obviously needs time to set up the camera before he risks bringing the victims here. You mentioned being drugged using fentanyl. Well that’s a powerful drug used in surgery. It’s no wonder they don’t wake up and escape.”
As the video played, Beth watched in morbid fascination as the naked man sewed the victim to the sofa and made the facial changes. When he was done, he used smelling salts to revive her and the horror went up a notch. There was no sound but she could imagine the woman’s terrified screams. Beside her, Ryder heaved and ran outside. After a few more minutes of violent depravity, Beth glanced at the stony expressions around her. Jo was shaking her head but hadn’t averted her eyes from the small screen. She cleared her throat. “I think we’ve seen enough. We can analyze it later.”
“There are hours of footage here.” Wolfe stopped the playback and removed the card. He dropped it into a small plastic container, sealed it, and offered it to Beth. “Send me a copy. It will clarify my autopsy findings and I figure Jo and Carter will want to see it. I think we’re done here.”
Beth waved away the container. “You take it. It’s evidence.”
“I’ll send you a copy.” He stared at Beth. “I’ll get the victim back to the morgue. This is an exact copy of the first murder. I’ll do an autopsy, and if I find anything new, I’ll call you. Unless you want to observe?” His phone rang. “Wolfe.” He listened for a while. “I’m in Rattlesnake Creek. I can be there in twenty minutes. Is there a place to land the chopper? Send me the coordinates.” He disconnected and looked at the team. “I have another homicide out of Running Water. They believe it’s connected to the recent murders around Billings. Same MO: a young woman, suspected rape and torture. Her body was covered with branches and grass clippings like the others.” He looked at Webber. “We’ll get Vicki Strauss into a body bag and into the casket. I have everything I need from the scene. Pack everything up. Get at it, people.”
A tingle of awareness raced up Beth’s spine. Her next victim, Bill, aka Levi Jackson, had been a busy boy.
TWENTY-SIX
Outside the cabin, Beth stripped off her face protector and took a few deep breaths. She turned as Jo Wells came to her side. “So what do you think?”
“I have the same conclusions as before.” Jo removed her gloves with a snap. “The main problem is he likes to enjoy his victims over time. Now that’s been interrupted, he’ll escalate and become careless. You’ll need to be careful.”
“Call us if you need backup.” Carter tossed a toothpick into his mouth and smiled around it. “We can be here in half an hour or so. Day or night.”
