Nate's lips tightened as he thought about it. "Matt… Matt Malloy."
"Do you know if he filed a formal complaint?"
"Yes. Deputies interviewed Dustin. They came here and interviewed me. DCF showed up as well. We pulled the security footage, and they reviewed the tapes. Last I heard, they declined to press charges. There was no evidence on video that Dustin acted inappropriately." He paused. “To tell you the truth, I think the kid’s story changed a little as time went on.” After another brief pause, Nate said, “I hate to even say this, but you know how it is in this day and age. I started to think that maybe Mr. Malloy had the girl fabricate the story. Maybe he was looking to sue the mall for a few extra dollars.” Nate frowned and shook his head. “I don’t want to think that way. I want to believe that people are good and honest, but something happened. It’s not the same world we used to live in.”
“I need to see that footage as well as the footage from today,” I said.
Nate pointed to the head of security. “Talk to Darryl. He can hook you up.”
“Have you had any other trouble recently that we should know about?” I asked.
Nate thought about it for a moment. “Well, there was this one guy last week. This was when Dustin was still working. The guy went off, screaming and yelling. I called security. He said he was going to kill the bunny. Said the bunny was the devil and was putting bad thoughts into his head. Totally crazy. I’m telling you, man, some of these people are off the deep end.”
“You don’t happen to have that guy’s name, do you?”
Nate took his head. “Security escorted him out of the mall. I haven’t seen him since.”
“Do you remember what day that was?”
He told me.
I thanked him for the info and offered my condolences once again. I gave him a card before we caught up with Darryl. I made introductions, and he escorted us to the security office and pulled up the video feeds.
I texted Isabella along the way and asked her to identify all cell phones in the area during the time of the shooting. There were probably a lot, and the shooter would have to be a complete moron to carry a live cell phone during the attack. But some of these guys aren’t nuclear physicists.
In the security office, Darryl cued up the footage. Several large flatscreen displays showcased multiple camera angles. Darryl scrubbed through the timeline to the point just before the shooting.
Just as Nate had described, a man wearing a weathered black baseball cap that was frayed and faded, mirrored sunglasses, and a surgical mask approached the bunny. He wore a black or navy blue long-sleeve surf shirt with a wave logo on the front. The long sleeves probably covered tattoos. There were no other identifiable features. He tossed a smoke grenade to the ground. It clattered and bounced around, then popped and started clouding the area. Wisps of smoke drifted.
People didn’t know what to make of it.
The assailant drew a pistol and shot the bunny.
Onlookers screeched in horror and scattered. Children cried, and parents panicked.
The shooter approached the bunny and searched for something. The smoke and haze quickly obscured the view. He took off, disappearing into the mist.
We pulled up other camera angles and followed the assailant as he escaped through the mall. He sprinted past stores, weaving through unsuspecting shoppers, and exited into the parking garage.
In the garage, a camera picked up the shooter as he exited the mall, but that was the only coverage. The perp hurried out of frame.
I asked Darryl to scroll back to the beginning, then follow the feeds back to the shooter’s point of entry.
Darryl scrubbed back through the timeline, and we watched the shooter enter the mall via the same route.
I told Darryl to export the clips and send them to my phone. “I also need to see the footage of the incident with Dustin.”
He had that handy.
"And I need to see the footage of the lunatic who claimed the bunny was satanic.”
Darryl nodded, and I handed him my card.
I added, “Before you do that, let’s go back to the shooting. I want to see the footage leading up to that. Let’s take it from 10 to 15 minutes beforehand.”
I just wanted to get a sense of what had been going on. Perhaps the shooter had cased the area first, then came back to do the deed.
Darryl pulled up the footage, and we watched intently. Something odd stood out right away.
