He returns to the camera, giggling. “Oops. I do believe I gave the poor lass a bit of a scare. Well, I guess that’s my cue to dash out of here. You, kids, be good now,” he says, waving into the camera.
If he’s this reckless, he wouldn’t care about cameras in the lobby. That being said, I wonder how he snuck that axe in here.
I glance at Sullivan. “Let’s go have a look at the surveillance.”
“Lead the way, Lobos,” he says.
***
We stop at the security desk where an old security officer is sitting, playing Angry Birds on his phone. I flash my badge. “Detective Lobos and Lieutenant Sullivan. We need to see your security tapes.”
He glances up from his phone. “Sure thing, Detectives. Right this way,” he says, leading the way to the security room.
The press was finally forced outside, good makes my job a hell of a lot easier.
We step into a small room, with various monitors sitting on a large desk against the wall. “You can go take a break if you want,” Sullivan says.
“Good, I have to take a piss anyway.”
I didn’t realize this was a day for sharing.
“Did you ever get what time the apartment manager found the victim?”
“Nope, she was catatonic by the time we arrived, but Crow told me the victim was likely killed around 9am.”
“Damn, it takes a special kind of fucked-up to do something this gruesome in the morning.”
“Yeah, really,” he says.
After watching the video a few more minutes, we see Drake stroll up to the front desk. He’s wearing sunglasses, carrying a long box tucked under his arm. And like most incompetent concierge staff, they point him right to the elevators. “Well, we know how he snuck the axe in here. And as for his plastic suit, he likely stuffed that in the box.”
“That cocky son of a bitch. Look at him. He just waltzes right in like he owns the place.”
“It’s all a big game to him. He thinks he’s smarter than us, and considering what Drake is, he just might very well be smarter than us. It’s a game he thinks he can win.”
“It’s a game I’m sick of playing with this, prick. Bag that disc as evidence. Let’s go see if the apartment manager came around yet,” he says, heading toward the elevators.
Arriving back upstairs, we see her sitting in the hallway covered in a blanket and sipping water.
I pull out my notepad. “Ma’am, are you ready to talk to us?”
She stands and leans up against the wall. “Yes, sorry for going out of it like that. It’s not every day you see a severed head.”
“It’s all right, Ms. Robins, we understand. Does Mr. Donnelly get many visitors?”
“Just people he worked with and a girlfriend here and there, but I’m, assuming they were just escorts because it was a different one every night.”
The doctor must’ve been a workaholic, or the thought of a relationship was too much hassle for him.
“Did he ever interact with anyone in the complex?”
“No, he pretty much kept to himself. He would wave at people if they said hi, but that was about it. He was pretty reclusive. I kind of liked him, to be honest, but men like Charles; you’re not going to get a committed relationship out of them.”
“You made advances toward him in the past?”
“Yes.” She smiles shyly. “But, he gently let me down, and told me he wasn’t interested.”
“Well, that was nice of him to not lead you on. Now, I want to ask you about your building’s procedure with visitors.”
Her hand trembles as she lifts the bottle to her lips. “When our tenants get visitors, they have to sign in at our front desk, from the time they arrive. To the time they leave.”
“Well, it must not be enforced because the killer walked up to the front desk and never signed in. Your concierge pointed him to the elevators without asking him to sign in.”
She cuts her eyes upward, letting out a groan. “Elliot, you stupid ass.” She hisses.
“Elliot is your concierge, I’m assuming?”
“Elliot Masterson. A college student we hired that is just here to pick up some extra cash so he can go get wasted with his friends in Ybor. He’s a good for nothing, I plan to fire his worthless ass after this.”
Sucks for Elliot.
“Do you think he would aid the Moonlight Killer?”
“No, god no,” she states confidently. “Aside from him being a lazy, worthless moron, he’s not a bad kid. I don’t think he would’ve let a killer go up on purpose.”
“Okay, thanks, ma’am. Give your number to the officer in case we have any more questions. And if you think of anything else that may
