Page 52 of Mann Hunt
“One more thing. Do you remember where Ian parked that night?” Declan asked.
“He always parked down by the tall spruce tree near the end of the drive. He said it made for an easier getaway.”
“If it’s okay with you, we’d like to just look around the area where the cars were parked,” Declan added.
“Be my guest.”
“Thank you, Mr Prescott, Mr Williams,” Charlie added, giving them a crooked smile and shaking their hands.
As they walked back towards the car, Declan said, “You made quite an impression on Mr Williams.”
“I didn’t lead him on, did I? I just wanted to get the most out of the interview.”
“You did well.”
“I noticed that when you were interviewing Sheldon and Robert, you didn’t mention that they’d found Ian’s body.”
“Sometimes the hope of saving someone is a stronger motivating force than that of dealing with something that can’t be reversed.”
They stopped to check out the area where Ian Mann had parked. Charlie put the batteries back in the camera. Declan had Charlie photograph the location and nearby gardens from different angles.
“Is there anything in particular we should be looking for?” Charlie asked.
“I’m just trying to get a feel for the last place Ian was known to be.” Declan wandered the area by the tall spruce, looking around. In the detritus under the tree, he found a gum wrapper. He asked Charlie for thecamera bag. From one of its pockets he pulled a small Ziploc bag which he flicked the wrapper into with the aid of a twig.
“You never know,” he said to Charlie. “It might be useful.”
He headed back to the van, Charlie in tow. As they drove towards the gate, Declan pulled over. “One more thing.”
Declan hopped out of the van.
“Where are you going?” Charlie asked.
“Stay put. I’ll be right back.”
Declan walked over to the property line on the side of the gate that Ian had parked on. He worked his way along the wall, carefully studying the ground. Ten feet in, well sheltered from prying eyes, he spotted what he was looking for—a deep set of shoe prints. He placed one of his own feet next to them, careful not to put any pressure on the soil and leave a print of his own. The prints were just about the same size as his shoe—a ten. He snapped a shot of the markings on his phone, with his own as scale. Afterwards, he looked up at the wall.Eight feet high, maybe more. The guy must’ve been pretty fit.
He made his way back to the vehicle carefully.
When he reached the van he said, “The thing we really want is that CCTV video. That’ll be gold, if we get it.”
* * * *
Declan and Charlie drove back towards the office.
“Don’t you ever get hungry?” Charlie asked.
“Why? Are you hungry?”
“Aren’t you?”
“A detective can go a day without food. It’s like camels and water.”
“But I’m an office assistant. Speaking of which, do I get a contract or something?”
“I’ll look through the files and find what I had drawn up for Mrs B. We can start with that until we know how long you’re staying.”
“That sounds good.”
