Hinesville: Welcome to Savannah (Part 8)

“Unit 7, Unit 5,” Major Myers called out.

Major Myers was officially in charge of the Major Case Squad, and was a twenty five year veteran of the Georgia State Police.

Vivian grabbed Lane’s arm as he passed by. “Lane, that was fast.”

“Yeah, Viv, I can’t wait to work with you again.”

“Me, too.” Vivian grinned as they walked.

The two crews followed Major Myers in one of the conference rooms. They all walked into the large room that had a long table with several chairs around it. At the far end of the room was a large screen on the wall to display video.

Myers pointed to several boxes on the table.“I have a cold case for you guys. Seven people killed including a five year old and his mother, in Lamar Heights, near downtown Savannah. Several witnesses, but none will talk.” He looked over the group. “Look it over, see what you can find.”

The poker crew along with the Savannah Metro Unit dove into the case.

They laid out the crime scene photos and pulled the videos out.

Vivian and Cooper lingered behind to look at the photos last.

“Did you notice all of them had no more than three hits, but these two?” Vivian asked Cooper as she continued to look at the photos.

“Yeah, and then it was over kill.” Cooper examined all of the photos laid out before them.

The lights were turned off at the end of the room the screen was located, and they all turned to watch the video from thirty seconds before the event to the time it ended.

“Do you have from ten minutes before to ten after.” Cooper looked over at the Savannah crew.

“Sure.” Det. Grant Carson from Savannah started the video from ten minutes before the incident.

The group watched it up to the first shot.

“Rewind it again,” Vivian requested.

“How far back?” Carson looked over at her as he held the remote.

“Ten minutes.” She glanced over at him and looked back at the screen.

They all watched it again.

“Rewind it again.” Mason spoke up and stepped closer to the screen.

“To 15 minutes before,” Vivian added.

Carson sighed and they rewound it again.

“You see that?” Vivian turned to Mason and Cooper.

“Yeah, he starts pacing right there.” Cooper looked up at the video.

“He’s looking over here,” Mason said and walked to the screen. “At this guy,” Mason mentioned and pointed to the screen.
                                                 
“Show us what you guys see.” Lane thought he knew what they were talking about, but wanted to make sure. This had not been his case, so he was seeing most of the evidence for the first time himself.

Vivian, Cooper, and Mason walked up to the front.

“Rewind it again,” Vivian said and Carson sighed again. “I know, I know, bear with us.”

The three stood up front and waited.

Mason pointed to the screen.  “This guy comes into view.”

“And starts pacing,” Cooper interjected and glanced at the rest of the detectives.

“Here.” Vivian pointed to the screen. “He gets on the phone and then starts staring hard as hell at this guy across the street.”

“The man, who we believe is the intended target, notices the guy on the phone.” Cooper indicated the intended victim. “He watches him without it being obvious. He waits for the guy on the phone to turn away, and then disappears around the corner of the building.”

Vivian points to a man that walks out of the corner store, “Unfortunately for this guy, he’s dressed similar, and has a similar build.”

“He then walks over to the man on the corner and starts talking to him, with his back to the man on the phone.” Mason mentioned.

“Here’s where the car comes in and the shots are fired,” Cooper finished.

“Do we have any other camera angles?” Vivian turned to the Savannah detectives.

Carson shook his head. “No, we checked with all the businesses around, nobody had anything.”

“Where did this video come from?” Mason turned to the Savannah detectives again.

“Savannah has cameras around the city in high crime areas, and at some intersections.” Lane spoke up for the group.

“No shell casings?” Ben questioned, as he dug through the evidence boxes again.

Carson looked out at the detectives,“No, it appears that they shot from within the vehicle, or someone policed the brass.”

They continued watching the video until the police arrived. The injured were tended to and the scene was taped off, and the video ended abruptly. They didn’t see the crime scene investigation.

“Can we still get more on the video?” Nate looked over and questioned the Savannah crew.

Carson sighed seeming to be the spokesman for the group. “No, they cycle it out every six months.” This bothered Vivian, why wasn’t the video secured within twenty four hours? They easily could have grabbed the video from a full day before the even to a day after.

The group began to discuss things to do as the boxes were dumped on the table. No shell casings in the evidence, which disappointed them, but it wasn't surprising.

The poker crew looked over everything that was presented in the case file.

“I know it’s been 18 months.” Vivian looked down at the paltry display of evidence, especially for a multiple homicide. 

“But you want to walk the crime scene,” Lane smiled and turned to her.

“Yeah.” she looked up and smiled back at him.

“I’m going to jump in a unit with you two.” Mason stepped toward the door with them.

“I can ride with you two.” Lane asked Ben and Nate, “If you want me to?”

“Sure.” Ben nodded and followed Lane out.

The group headed over to the supply room and were issued gear bags. Each bag contained a camera of very high quality which could also shoot video, a digital audio recorder, a container with several latex gloves, pens, note pads, batteries, and various other odds and ends. They all grabbed a bag, and left on their journey to Savannah.

Mason leaned forward to talk to Vivian and Cooper in the front.

Vivian turned to Mason.“Yeah, I noticed.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed him standing in the back,” Mason responded with a sigh, thinking of the head of the division standing in a far corner of the conference room while the group examined the evidence.

“You know what’s bad?” Cooper looked at Mason in the rear view mirror. “Me and Viv have been paranoid since we got here.”

Mason leaned back. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who is.”

Everyone arrived at the crime scene. It was a long city block with businesses on the ground level, and apartments or offices above the businesses.

Cooper, Mason and Vivian hit one side of the street while Ben, Nate and Lane covered the other side. Viv, Coop and Mason talked to a few of the business managers. No one had anything to say until they walked into a small dry cleaner. Vivian waited at the counter, and was met by an older lady, obviously of Asian decent.

“Hi, I’m Detective Vivian Foster,” she began as the woman approached the counter. “I wanted to talk to you about the shooting that happened just down the street, about a year and a half ago.”

An elderly gentleman came from the back and began yelling at the lady in Chinese.

Vivian turned to the man. “Pardon me, sir,” Vivian said in prefect Mandarin. “I mean you no disrespect," Vivian told him with a slight bow. "I would just like to honor the families of the dead.”

The man turned to her shocked, stunned into silence for a moment.

“I just have a few questions about that day,” She continued speaking in Mandarin. “I will not take your names.”

“You may ask.” the man looked at her suspiciously.

“No one else here, besides you and your wife, speaks Chinese?” Vivian questioned, still speaking Mandarin.

The man wondered what she was getting at.“No, no one else."

Vivian then proceeded to ask the man and woman what they had seen or heard in the neighborhood. They explained and then the man left to go take care of some business in the back.

The woman watched the man walk to the back and then looked at Vivian, narrowed her eyes, and whispered in English, “Come, back tomorrow, we will both talk to you then.” She turned and looked behind her, as if checking to see if the man was returning, and then glanced back at Vivian. “And I will have something for you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Vivian said and turned to walk out. “Thank, you.”

Mason started giggling as they stepped out on to the sidewalk. “Vivian, you never cease to amaze me.”

“You know Chinese?” Cooper was shocked, as they continued walking down the sidewalk.

“I got bored one summer, and got a bunch of those tapes from the library.”Vivian looked to see a small market with fruit bins on the sidewalk ahead.

“How many languages do you know?” Mason looked over at her with a grin.

Vivian bought an apple from a market. “Several.”

The men laughed and went inside the market. "No on knows that and I'd like to keep it that way."

Cooper and Mason nodded in an indication that they understood, and began to speak to the owner of the market in their rounds of the neighborhood.

First thing the next morning Vivian, Mason, and Cooper headed to Savannah to speak with the Chinese couple.

They followed the older gentleman in the back to a small, cramped office, “We have been saving this for someone to come by and get it.” The man turned and pulled a video out of his desk.  “You are the first ones to talk to us.”

“Thank you.” Vivian thought quickly as she stepped out of the office, and turned to look at the man. “Would it be better for you if when we left here, it appeared confrontational?”

The man smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

The three left shouting threats of search warrants at the couple.

The couple stepped outside yelling at them in return, in Chinese.

Vivian climbed in the back seat, put her head down, and started laughing as the two men got in the front.

“What were they yelling?” Cooper asked with a smile.

“That we should all come back for some dumplings when the case is finished,” Vivian chuckled and sat up.

The men laughed, and they started their drive back to the office.

Vivian hopped out ahead of the men, and ran in to talk to Lane

“Have you identified the intended victim?” Vivian stopped him as they crossed paths in the hallway.

“I have.” Lane looked over at her, wanting to tell her more, but needing some privacy to do so. “I want to go talk to him; I know him fairly well.” Lane moved the conversation over to a quiet corner. “But I don’t want anyone else coming, or to know where we’re going.”

“Something you want to share?” Vivian raised her eyebrows, and Lane knew that look, she was going to get to the point real fast.

Lane sighed and turned to see the two men walking up. “I've had a bad feeling about something with this case, but I don’t want to say anything until I have a little more to go on than my gut.”

“We just got back from Savannah, but we can head back with you,” Mason offered.

“I’d appreciate it, let me grab my gear.” Lane opened the door to the squad, and walked in.

“I might run up to the state police crime lab, to take care of some things.” Cooper looked over at Mason and Vivian.

“We, can take my unit. You and Lane meet me there.” Mason turned to Vivian, who nodded. 

“Not a problem.” Vivian opened the door to the squad, as Mason walked out.

Cooper walked back into the squad room, and over to his desk to complete a few reports before heading back out on the road.

Lane grabbed his gear and talked to one of his co-workers before meeting Vivian at the door. “Let’s get out of here.”

The two headed to the parking lot to meet Mason.