According to them, Hannah Shire claimed the video she’d given me contained information on a “Phase 1” terrorist attack. I had no knowledge of such information being on that video—and I’d watched it numerous times. Neither had I received any such information from the technician I’d given it to. So it was imperative that I report to the substation right away and look again at that video.
MORSE: But you were not able to look at it. Were you?
WADE: Not immediately, no.
MORSE: Please tell this committee why.
We’re waiting, Sergeant Wade.
WADE: When I returned to the substation and spoke to our tech, Deputy Morris Landow . . . he couldn’t find the video.
MORSE: Couldn’t “find” it.
WADE: That’s correct. He agreed I’d given it to him that morning. He knew where he’d placed it in his office. But it was no longer there. We conducted a thorough search throughout the substation, but it could not be found.
MORSE: So you lost this crucial video. And, as I understand it, there was no backup. Correct?
WADE: There was no backup done by our department. Deputy Landow had not done that yet. He should have, but he didn’t. Needless to say, I was not happy about that.
MORSE: Had he even looked at the video?
WADE: He had looked at it numerous times, but had not had time to do an in-depth analysis on it. As it turned out, we didn’t have that capacity at our substation and would have needed to turn it over to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department.
MORSE: Why didn’t you do that right away?
WADE: As I’ve told this committee over and over, I could not have known at the time how critical the flash drive was, nor that it contained an encrypted message. And I was working on multiple homicides.
MORSE: But this is the crux of the matter. Because you’ve also told us when you first viewed the video along with Deputy Harcroft, you both knew the equipment in the scene was a power generator.
WADE: Yes. But a short clip of a generator falling apart in and of itself did not signal a planned terrorist attack. That would have been a big jump in logic at the time.
MORSE: It would have been the right jump, wouldn’t it, Sergeant Wade?
Chapter 37
Monday, February 25, 2013
I jerked back from the window, nerves searing.
“Hello?” A distant voice from the telephone reached my ear.
I punched off the line and threw the receiver on Aunt Margie’s bed.
The doorbell rang again. Followed by hard knocks.
I ran to the doorway of the bedroom and listened. My aunt’s footsteps sounded in the front hallway. The door opened.
“Margaret Dexter?” A man’s voice.
“Yes.”
“I’m Officer Turney. I’d like to talk to you about your niece, Hannah Shire.”
“Hannah? Is she all right?”
I could picture my aunt’s raised, innocent eyebrows.
“I don’t know. She’s missing.”
“Missing!”
“She left her house last night along with her mother. No one has seen her since.”
“They must be on a trip. It’s not like Hannah to just disappear. She’s far too reliable for that.”
“I’m sure. But the sheriff’s department in her area would like her to come in and talk to them about a couple of homicides. It’s been all over the news.”
My aunt hmphed. “I don’t watch much TV. And what in the world would Hannah have to do with a homicide?”
“That’s what the sheriff’s department needs to find out.”
“She certainly wouldn’t be responsible, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“If she talks to the sheriff’s department she can tell them that.”
“Of course.” My aunt paused. “Who’s dead? Someone she knows?”
Vaguely, I heard the policeman’s answer. My eyes had strayed to the closed bedroom door where Mom slept. If she happened to walk through it right now, it was over.
“Tell you the truth,” my aunt said, “I don’t see Hannah very often. We call once in awhile. And send letters at Christmas. But she doesn’t get down here much. Today’s a work day for her. Have you checked there?”
“Yes, I’m sure they have. Let me give you my card. Please call if you hear anything.”
“All right.”
“Before I leave, mind if I check around?”
I grabbed the doorway.
“In my house?”
“Yes.”
“Whatever for?”
“I’d just like to look around, if I may.”
My knuckles went white.
“You seem like a nice young man, but really, I see no need to let you snoop around my house. I’m just a widow, living here by myself.”