Page 84 of Justice Delayed

“All righty then.” Daisy repositioned her chair to face the computers. “I have a hot date tonight, so enough with the chitchat.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Livingston chuckled. “Bob indicated the device was pretty degraded. Were you able to recover any audio?”

Daisy snorted. “Bob’s an idiot. The device was just fine for its age and location stuffed inside a rabbit.”

“Where was the device in the bunny?” Brogan pulled out his notebook.

“Smack in the middle of the bunny’s chest.” Daisy held up a small, square black box. “As you can see, it’s a pretty basic voice-activated recorder with a twenty-hour recording capacity.”

Melender stared at the device, just over an inch square. “That was inside Blue Bunny?”

“You betcha.” Daisy clicked some keys. “It’s a continual loop mechanism, so it’s set to record over itself.”

Brogan looked up from his notebook. “So it filled up the twenty hours, then started recording again?”

“That’s right. But it always recorded the date and time, so you can tell which part of the recording is from which time period.” Daisy fiddled with some of the console controls.

“Melender, any idea where the bunny came from?”

“I gave it to him on his first birthday.” An image of Jesse hugging the small stuffed animal tightly to his chest after opening the gift came to her mind. “But I had no idea it contained a recording device.”

“The packaging didn’t say so?” Livingston asked.

She bit her lip as she dredged up the memory of where she’d purchased the toy. “I bought it second-hand at a thrift store. No packaging, but it did have the original price tag on its ear, so I thought it must have been brand new.”

“Can you tell if the recordings were ever listened to?” Brogan leaned around Melender and took a closer look at the device.

She drew in a breath as the scent of soap and cedar teased her nostrils. After this case ended, she would forever associate that smell with Brogan. The knowledge ushered in a wave of sadness. Once they solved this mystery, he would politely say goodbye. After all, he had a career to resurrect, and when he had her story, there would be no need for him to stick around.

“It appears the recordings could be downloaded, but I haven’t had time to decipher if any were.” Daisy threw Livingston a look over her shoulder. “A certain someone has been pushy about hearing the audio.”

Livingston held up his hands in a who-me gesture. “Hey, I’m just trying to solve a crime.”

“A crime that’s already been solved,” Daisy shot back. “I know your reputation. You don’t like unanswered questions.”

Livingston shrugged. “I prefer hard proof to support circumstantial evidence.”

“Then you’ll be interested in listening to what I’ve managed to pull off the recorder.” Daisy put her earphones back on and hit a few buttons. “I think this little bunny recorded the murder.”

ChapterThirty-Three

Brogan nearly dropped the notebook at the lab tech’s statement.

“There’s about an hour relating to the night of the child’s abduction,” Daisy said. “I’ll play that part.”

Brogan snuck a look at Melender, whose gaze remained fixed on the computer screens. Her pale face and rigid shoulders spoke of her tension. He wanted to put his arm around her, but something about her stillness warned him it wouldn’t be welcome. Shifting close enough that their arms brushed, he prayed for God’s peace to wash over her.

An automated voice announced the date of Jesse’s disappearance and the time of nine o’clock. A toddler’s cries filled the room.

“That’s Jesse,” Melender whispered. “That’s Jesse,” she repeated in a louder voice.

Jesse’s cries continued for several seconds, then a muffled child’s voice attempted to quiet the toddler. “No cryin’, Jesse.”

“Jillian,” Melender supplied.

Jesse wailed louder. “What’s going on?” A male barked.

Brogan didn’t need Melender to identify the man as Jared, but she confirmed it anyway.

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