“Come on now.” Dev grinned. “I’ve heard Nick is the wonder boy, and he can do anything, just like the rest of you.”
Sierra rolled her eyes. “You all may think we’re superhuman, and we come close.” She chuckled. “But we’re just hard workers using the most current technology possible to help solve crimes, like any other forensic expert.”
“If you say so, though I’ve never seen other experts contribute to resolving investigations like you all do.” He smiled. “Is there any way to tell if the drone is registered but just failed to add the module?”
She turned it over again, then grimaced. “No registration number on the device, which is required by the FAA.”
Dev resisted letting his frustration get to him. “So we can’t track it that way.”
“Nick might be able to. Each drone has a remote ID serial number, so if it’s registered with the FAA, Nick might be able to use that number to do a reverse lookup in the registration database.”
“Odds are good, if we’re dealing with a criminal here, he won’t have registered the device.”
“Probably not. Happens more often than we like.” She went back to studying the aircraft. “I wish I could say there was something unique about this one, but it’s the sort of drone you can buy pretty much anywhere. One thing I will say for it, though, is that it’s on the pricier end of your routine drones and has a much better camera. If the memory card survived the fall, Nick should be able to read it and maybe find additional footage.”
“If this guy is as sharp as I think he is,” Dev said, “would there be any footage other than what was recorded of our compound last night?”
“You’d be surprised.” She set the drone back on the ground, likely for her assistant to bag. “It’s illegal for someone to take down a drone even when its violating the law, so drone operators can be pretty sure no one is going to shoot it down or otherwise bring it down.”
“Yeah, I thought of taking it down that way, but not as related to the kind of footage the memory card might contain. I just didn’t want it recording us.”
“Drone operators often do a test filming before launching their device. Criminals can be lazy by nature and not delete that footage. Sometimes it provides us with images of a building or landmark that can help direct us to them. We’ve even had it contain photos of the suspects themselves.”
Sierra was putting a far different spin on the information they could get from the drone than Dev had heard of, and his gut burned with excitement. “Why wait for Nick? Let’s go ahead and take the card out now and get a look at it.”
She studied him as she would evidence under one of her microscopes. “I know you’re eager for information, and I’d like to help you out. I really would. But the camera will have to be removed to reach the memory card, and manipulating the device runs the risk of smudging fingerprints or contaminating DNA. It first needs to go back to the lab for Emory to process DNA, and I’ll lift any prints. Only then will we give it to Nick.”
Dev wanted to ignore her answer. Scoop up the drone and pop out the memory card. But she knew what she was doing. The very reason he’d brought her here, and he had to trust her. “Then let’s get going so you can give this thing to Nick as soon as possible.”
She closed her evidence kit. “We’ll get your scene processed, and then I’ll take it back with me when we’re done.”
Dev nodded, but that wasn’t soon enough for his liking. Not nearly soon enough. They were going to waste the rest of this day with nothing happening with the camera when their suspect was out there, perhaps planning his next attack on Kinsley.
