Page 67 of Girl, Empty
‘He’s not in our database at all.Can’t find his work history or nothing.But he definitely existed.I saw him with my own two eyes.According to my notes, he cleaned all three of those buildings back in March and April.’
‘Janice, you’re a lifesaver.Do you have the exact dates?’
‘And times too.He worked day shift and night shift.’
‘Could I get those details off you?I can send an officer down to pick your notes up, if that would be alright.’
‘Do that.I’m here for another two hours.Send me a handsome one, will you?’
‘Consider it done.Before you go, do you remember anything about this Zane Corvidale guy?Age?Looks?Anything distinguishable?’
Janice sighed down the line.‘Now you’re making me think.He was fairly young.I wanna say late twenties.Hair was buzzed, like a military man or a crackhead.He was one of those fidgety types, you know?’
‘You mean like twitchy?’
‘A little.Didn’t like eye contact.Sometimes went quiet when you asked him a question.I’m not sure of the term you’re meant to use these days.’
‘Oh, you mean autistic.’
‘Maybe.I’d give you the guy’s address but like I say, there’s no mention of him on the system.Can’t even find his original application.’
‘Janice, I’ll send an officer to pick that up right away.Thank you so much.You might have just helped saved a life.’
Ella killed the call and immediately pulled up the FBI database.She typed in the name: ZANE CORVIDALE.The search wheel spun for three seconds before returning exactly what she expected: nothing at all.
She tried different spellings.Zain.Zayne.Corvidel.Corvidale with an extra 'e'.
Nothing.
Maybe he'd never been arrested, never been fingerprinted, never done anything to land himself in federal records.Plenty of serial killers had been golden children until they committed their first murder.
She tried the State Police records, then the NCIC database.Nothing.The DMV didn't know him.Social Security had never heard of him.Even a desperate Google search turned up empty, which in this day and age was like not existing at all.
Zane Corvidale was a phantom, and the thing that suggested he wasn’t a fabrication was a handwritten name in a notebook.
But this son of a bitch existed, and Ella was going to find it even if it took her until dawn.
‘Game on, Zane Corvidale.Or whoever the hell you really are.’
***
An hour later, Ella had Janice’s list in front of her.The woman kept a simple log book.Nothing fancy, just dates and names in blue ballpoint pen, and that was enough to slot the pieces together.
March 14 – March 19.Morrison & Associates (8PM - 2AM).Maria Jansen, Edwin Park, Zane Corvidale.
April 3 – April 7.First National.(2AM – 6AM).Lucy Davies, Daniel Webster, Zane Corvidale.
April 19 – April 23.Blackglass.(8PM – 2AM).Lucy Davies, Daniel Webster, Zane Corvidale.
Zane Corvidale did indeed work all three buildings, and Ella had extracted every mention of his name from Janice’s notes.By Ella’s count, Corvidale had had access to all three buildings a total of 15 times each.That was more than enough for him to learn the layout and the security measures, especially if he was free to roam the place while all of the staff had disappeared.
But if she couldn’t find Zane Corvidale on any system in the state, then how was she going to put a face to the name?
She had one idea, and it ironically involved technology.
Time to beat this son of a bitch at his own game.
But as always, technology was just the tool.If she wanted real results, she needed the human touch.
