Ryan scrubbed a hand over his face. “People warn you about what parenthood will be like, but man, they don’t do it justice. Both ways. The bad and the good.”
“How is the little man?” Reid asked.
“Doing all the things a baby should do.” Ryan stifled a yawn. “Of course, he’s advanced at all of it.” He laughed.
“Mia said Austin already has you wrapped around his little finger,” Russ said. “You just proved it.”
Ryan didn’t try to argue but gave a satisfied smile. “You know how it is, right?”
“I do.” Russ’s fond smile was likely for his son Zach. “And good news is, you forget the sleepless nights.”
“I mean you’re so tired, how can you remember them?” Ryan laughed. “So what’s been happening?”
Reid brought them all up to speed, including his meeting with Toby. “The guy seemed on the up-and-up.”
Jack’s gaze sharpened, and he sat forward. “He’s clear. Background checks out. The locals also took his prints and a DNA swab for elimination purposes. They recovered only his prints in his van. DNA is processing.”
“Thanks, Jack,” Reid said, resisting spouting off what he really wanted to say. He’d hoped that van would provide a lead, but he wouldn’t bring the guys down with a negative comment. He would be sure to get with the hospital administrator at some point to tell him Toby was in the clear.
Reid turned to his brother’s picture on the screen. “Russ, I need you to get with the police on the inventory recovered from Santa’s van. They put a blue stocking cap on the list. Toby says it’s not his and no one else has access to his van. He also remembers grabbing something after he was hit. Could’ve pulled this cap off Fowler’s head, and we might get a hair for DNA.”
“Why would Fowler leave it behind?” Micha asked, his dark brows drawing together, reminding Reid of how he was often the most serious one on the team.
And the one Reid had more in common with. “I don’t know. Seems sloppy, but one thing’s for sure. He couldn’t wear it while impersonating Santa.”
Russ arched an eyebrow. “He could’ve planned to retrieve it when the party was over, and we prevented that from happening.”
“Could be,” Reid said. “No matter what, they need to consider it evidence and process it for DNA. Also the cap could be unique in some way, and we can trace it to where it was purchased.”
“Sounds possible,” Russ said. “FYI, the locals also processed the business card that Santa put in Jessie’s pocket. They located one print and ran it against AFIS, but didn’t return a match to Fowler. To anyone in the system. Not surprising as the Santa impersonator wore gloves.”
Not at all what Reid expected. The Automated Fingerprint Identification System was a database managed by the FBI and held prints of most people who’d been incarcerated so Fowler’s prints would be in the database.
“Prints could belong to the person who gave the card to Fowler,” Jack said.
“Could be, but whoever it is, we don’t have their ID.” Russ frowned. “I also got Gleason to add Fowler’s ball cap and the business card from Megan’s house in the package going to Veritas for DNA processing. Prints didn’t return a match to anyone on the system either, and I figured Veritas would get DNA results faster, and they would be more thorough too.”
“Good thinking, bro,” Reid said, though he had to admit disappointment that the cap didn’t have Fowler’s prints on it. Reid could understand the card, but if Fowler wore this cap on a regular basis, his prints should be on it.
“I get that not locating the guy’s prints is a letdown, and we still have no concrete proof that Fowler is in the area,” Russ said as if reading Reid’s mind. “But I do have one other thing. One of the deputies I had canvassing the hospital area located a potential witness who has the incident on video.”
“Way to bury the lead,” Micha said.
Russ rolled his eyes. “The father caught the abductor hit Toby over the head outside his van when he was filming his wife putting their new baby into the car. The incident occurs in the background but it’s far away and not clear. Also doesn’t show the face of Santa’s assailant, but I’ll forward it to everyone. I’ve also informed the locals so they can follow up with him.”
It might not be the lead Reid expected, but it was something. “You think I should interview him?”
Russ shook his head. “I talked to him on the phone, and he didn’t see the attack. He was too focused on his wife, but she noticed it when he showed the video to her. Since he didn’t see it, I honestly don’t think it’s worth your time, but you can be the judge of that after you review the video.”
“Now that we know about the cap,” Jack said. “We can watch for it in the video.”
“Good thinking,” Russ said, issuing one of the few hard-earned compliments he ever gave out. “Looked like he was wearing a cap, not sure of the color though.”
“Get it to me ASAP,” Reid said.
“Doing it right now.” Russ looked down.
Reid told them about the key at Fowler’s motel. “We think it’s for a storage unit, and Russ is trying to run that down.”
