Next to that was a blowup of Dr. Basia Lopatinski’s Cause of Death summary withgamma hydroxybutyrateanddiazepamringed in red.
O’Brien was memorialized slumped in the corner of his balcony, Jamarcus Parmenter in gold-embroidered baggy black sweats, sprawled on his back with car bumpers visible on the periphery of the photo.
Night-dimmed parking lot.
Two other images featured Parmenter as a living being: a thirteen-year-old mugshot and a six-year-old DMV portrait. Five-six, a hundred thirty-eight. Had he survived, he’d be twenty-nine.
In the arrest photo, Parmenter wore long dreads and sported flat eyes and a sullen look. In the later image, his hair was neatly clipped,tattoos brocaded his neck, and he offered a crooked, almost boyish smile. But no additional nuance in the eyes.
On the next board was a photo of a red laser beam up-slanting from Paul O’Brien’s third-floor balcony to a window on the fourth floor of the prison-like building next door. Slightly rightward of the kill-spot.
That was followed by brightly illuminated views of a white-walled, black-floored room, empty but for a trio of large water heaters, a mass of HVAC equipment, and hefty ductwork, all to the left. To the right was open space, the front wall centered by a high, square window.
Below that, photographs of two double-width gray metal doors, one ajar.
The final illustration returned to the shooter’s lair and showed the single window open, a red beam arcing down toward O’Brien’s balcony.
Petra pointed to a single yellow marker on the windowsill.
“As you can see, this is all of it forensically and even this is just a little disruption of the dust where the rifle, a bipod, or a stand may have rested. But no prints, hair, skin flakes, zero.”
Alicia said, “Too bad the guy isn’t a shedder. Would the window be high enough for him to shoot standing?”
“If he was up to five-nine, he could be upright. Taller, there’d likely be some stooping.”
“Which could throw off aim,” said Sean. “That level of accuracy, some kind of rest was probably used.”
“From that distance?” said Moe. “That and a good nightscope.”
“Even with all that, it’d take a steady hand,” said Sean.
Alicia said, “Sounds pretty professional.”
Petra said, “If you’re wondering about someone with military experience, so was I. But I checked with a few sources and verified what I already suspected: Serious military snipers prefer hollow points or bullets they customize themselves in order to maximize internal damage. That doesn’t rule out a pro who downgraded because basicequipment was all he needed. Including choice of firearm: Winchester 70 Featherweight. But why go easy if you don’t have to?”
Hawes Buxby said, “I got one of those. Featherweights. Used it for deer, back when.”
“Exactly,” said Petra. “You and a gazillion other shooters.”
Milo said, “He could’ve downgraded because he is military and wanted to distract away from it. Not that civilian means unskilled. There’s a precise element to both shootings. Leaving nothing behind and hitting the neck off center, which Basia says would’ve maximized the odds of getting the jugular, the carotid, and the trachea with one shot.”
Buxby shook his head. “I was figuring a one-off gang deal on Mr. Parmenter. Now we’ve got a slick assassin?”
“Open season on sketchy guys,” said Alicia.
Silence.
Petra broke it. “Next issue: How’d the shooter get into a full-security building? Anyone want to guess?”
Sean said, “It wasn’t that secure.”
“Bingo. Despite the locked door up front and a gate across the sub-garage, there are two service entrances.”
She tapped the photos of the wide gray doors. “This one, on the southern wall perpendicular to the entrance, was dead-bolted, butthisone, on the rear wall, wasn’t. Both are key-op but the back door isn’t a dead bolt, just a latch. Which hadn’t been turned. We walked right in and this is what we found.”
Her next tap landed on a rising delivery ramp followed by a shot of a dim, cavernous space filled with cartons.
Petra said, “The ramp goes up two full stories, bypassing the garage and ending up in this cheerful place. It’s massive and windowless and a mess. Filled with the boxes you see here and here and here, along with tools, stacks of garbage cans and bags, rolls of insulation, replacement AC units.”
