“Kinda what?’
“Have you ever met him?”
“I’ve seen him. He’s not friendly, but that doesn’t matter. We have a job to do.”
SIX
Monday 1301 hours
Katie and McGaven drove back to the crime scene, which was busy with activity. John and Eva were still searching and documenting the area, and two patrol officers remained to maintain the integrity of the property.
The detectives parked near to where they had previously. Katie saw a dark sedan—a detective’s vehicle—from the department. Next to it was a dark-haired man with a trimmed beard that readied a drone for takeoff. They walked up to him.
“Detectives Scott and McGaven. Thank you for coming out on such short notice,” said Katie.
Without turning around, the detective said, “You’re late.”
“Well, it looks as if you haven’t started,” she said.
“It doesn’t change the fact that you’re late.” Detective Rogers turned around and pointedly stared at the detectives.
“Sorry for inconveniencing you,” said McGaven.
Katie found the conversation a waste of time; it was all a game on who was to blame. She wanted the drone in flight so they could compare the landscape to the maps or findsomething that would provide a clue for the investigation that might help explain what had happened.
Without saying a word, Rogers began diligently pressing buttons on a large remote. The drone had four distinct propellers, making it look like a quad helicopter as it slowly rose from the ground. The sound it made went from low to medium, and then finally to a high pitch as it climbed even higher. The detectives watched as the drone quickly got to the desired altitude, about thirty or forty feet, and took off to the left. Rogers watched the screen as he directed it.
Katie glanced over to the crime scene and watched as John loaded the forensic van with specialized boxes to transport the bones. The third body was mostly intact, so the medical examiner’s office had transported it in a large bag and gurney.
The drone whizzed back and then disappeared as it did a grid route. Due to the efficiency of the technology, it wouldn’t take long to scan the entire property. Detective Rogers concentrated and remained quiet, not offering any information on what he was seeing on the camera or engaging in conversation. He was definitely a one task at a time type of person.
“That’s pretty cool,” said McGaven, gazing at the sky.
“Yep,” Katie said.
“C’mon, this is the stuff that used to be in sci-fi movies and now we’re using it.” His big smile clearly showed his awe and admiration for the technology.
“I suppose.”
“You suppose? This is totally cool.”
Katie chuckled, wanting to poke fun at her partner, but before she could Detective Rogers finally spoke.
“Huh? That’s unusual,” he said.
“What?” said Katie.
“There’s a type of anomaly.”
“A glitch?” said McGaven.
“Doubtful. I’m finishing the scan of theproperty.”
The detectives watched the sky, waiting for the drone to appear again. They could hear it and as the sound became louder, soon the drone was in sight, buzzing like a swarm of bees.
Rogers sighed as if he was bored and annoyed that he’d had to leave the comfort of his desk to perform the task for the detectives. He’d had no questions for them and didn’t seem interested in the case—no curiosity whatsoever. Katie wanted some answers or clues to the why and she didn’t care about a quirky antisocial detective. She assumed he was more comfortable with numbers, statistics, and aberrations than with people and cases, but it was still frustrating.
Finally Rogers flatly stated, “Done. Anything I recorded is your problem now.”
