Wings from Death

Chapter Eight

We had arrived back at the crime scene. The day had moved on as the sun sat above us, not low on the horizon. The forensics team had cleared up the area, all the relevant markers were still set up, it seems they got all the information they needed. Walter and I didn't look at the ground this time. We turned our heads upwards, scanning the walls for any signs of cameras that might have captured the horrific scene that occurred the night before.

"Over there on the western side," I called as I pointed at the camera.

"I can't find any others, I'll check the other streets, see if they could have caught any of the chase," Walter turned, walking towards the corner of the block turning left when he reached it.

I was left to look over the scene. Even though everything was cleared, I still felt I could piece a few things together. I moved to where the marker for the shooter was and took a stance, imitating holding a rifle. I turned and faced where the body had been. Thirty metres. Three shots. I glanced down the imaginary gun I held. No one heard a thing. I squeezed the trigger. Bang.

"Dustin, I found two cameras that might..." he paused for a moment, "What the hell are you doing?"

I turned quickly and faced Walter. Our brows both furrowed in thought, although we were thinking different things. Nothing was heard.

"Well?"

"Shhhh!" I silenced the captain, "I'm thinking," All these thoughts were running through my mind. It was hard to concentrate with the outside world interfering. I closed my eyes. Three gunshots, no one heard it. "That's it!"

"What?" Walter seemed to be getting impatient.

"The rifle, the murder weapon. Do you know why no one heard it?"

"No I don't, Dustin, just get to the point."

"It was silenced. The rifle must have had a silencer or suppressor and low velocity ammo. The result: a quiet and deadly ranged weapon."

Walter appeared surprised. "Of course! It's a reasonable explanation. We haven't got any proof however. Dustin, I like your thinking, but its only a theory for now."

I nodded. "We best continue our search then."

We entered the building the cameras were situated on. As it was expected to be, another apartment complex. We approached the desk at the front of the room. A middle aged woman sat behind it, she typed away at a computer. A pair of glasses balanced on the end of her nose. Her attention turned to us shortly after we spoke.

"Captain Walter Jones and detective-inspector Dustin Carter. We'd like to speak to your manager."

"Oh alright, he'll be with you shortly," She said as she pressed a few buttons on the desktop.

"Thank you"

We waited for a few minutes before we were greeted by a man who introduced himself as Flint. He wore a shirt with his business's logo. We explained the situation to him shortly after our introduction.

"We'd like to view the security footage captured by your cameras last night. It may help in solving this case." Walter pressed.

Flint didn't hesitate in agreeing. He turned and lead us through doors and hallways until we reached a little room. It was dark and smelt of dust. Flicking a light switch, the room lit up after a few flashes from the fluorescent light tube that hung from the ceiling. Several computer monitors appeared in front of us, Flint quickly worked to turn them on and access the security footage. Walter and I waited patiently.

"Here's the footage from last night," Flint backed away, "I'll leave you too it," and he exited the room.

We stared at the screens waiting for any signs of movement. Walter watched the steets leading up to the murder scene. I sat back and waited for the action. After a minute or so, we found it. Mara was running along the footpath, the streetlights highlighting her way. She held her handbag tight in her grip. Mara kept looking back, someone was following her. She quickly turned into Rys Lane and Walter turned to focus his attention on a new screen. I watched and waited. The person that followed her was clad in black clothing, a hood covered their face. They apeared to be male. He held a gun close to his chest as he dashed to catch up to Mara. The pursuit continued for only a few more seconds, but the intensity of the situation made it feel like minutes. I watched on, as Mara Delwin ran and the hooded man aimed his rifle at her and fired. She collapsed on the ground after three consecutive shots connected with her back. The time stamp in the top right corner of the screen read 12:30am.

"Dammit," I hit the desk with a clenched fist. Still nothing.

The video rolled on. The man approached the body, snatched Mara's handbag and rummaged through it, while walking back the way he came. He grabbed something from it and threw the bag to the ground. He broke into a jog, quickly fleeing the scene.

"What do you make of that?" Walter swiveled on his office chair to face me.

I stared at the screen, the black and white image of Mara's corpse burning into my eyes. "Well its confirmed that the murderer has an automatic rifle," I turned to look at Walter, "Unfortunately we have no idea on what the murderer looks like, except gender, build and rough height. Concerning the handbag theft, I suspect he took her apartment key, seeing how it was broken into that night. We definitely need this back at the station for further analysis."

Walter nodded

"Also," I moved to operate the computer and back track on the video, finding the appropriate scene. "There," I pointed at the screen, "That enlarged section on the end of the gun's barrel can only really mean one thing."

Walter leant in closer to examine the electronic image. I watched his eyes widen as he slowly realised what I was pointing out.

"The weapon was silenced."