Callen and Sam stood in front of the Coverman's home having completed their walk of the area. They had their map spread over the hood of their vehicle studying the various markings they had placed on it.
The markings had been made with a black marker. With a green marker the agents were crossing off sections of the neighbourhood that they believed would not yield any clues to Cassie's kidnappers or to the child's whereabouts. Experience and education told both men that they were dealing with a person or persons who were very smart and well organized. Obviously, time had been taken to plan the kidnapping down to the smallest detail.
"LAPD are going door to door. They are assuming that Cassie was taken by either a neighbour or someone the family knew. They have that angle covered. Let's take the approach Cassie was taken by someone else. Someone outside of the immediate area who may or may not be known to the family." Sam said.
"If the child was taken by someone not associated with the neighbourhood, they would need some type of vehicle. To bring themselves to the area and then to transport Cassie out once they had her."
"That means they needed a place to park." Callen replied
"I wouldn't park in front of the Coverman's home. Too risky. Look around the neighbourhood. Everyone has their cars parked in their garages or driveways. A vehicle parked on the street, late at night, would draw attention. All it would take is either a neighbour coming home late at night or someone up late to look out their window before going to bed to spot the vehicle. Subconsciously, it is committed to their memory. Cassie goes missing sometime that night. That neighbour is going to remember the vehicle." Sam answered.
"The vehicle parked on another street may bring some attention, but chances that a witness is going to associate Cassie's disappearance with it are low. The crime did not occur on their street, they are not going to even think the vehicle they saw was involved." Sam continued.
"We need to locate that spot. It could yield a wealth of information."
"Let's start by eliminating all sections of the neighbourhood that are lit by street lights. These people are smart. Kids usually have a good pair of lungs on them. If Cassie woke up somewhere between being taken out of her bed, and the waiting vehicle she would probably make noise. Carrying a screaming child attracts attention. Whoever has her would know this. If I was the kidnapper I would not want to park too far away from the Coverman's home. At the same time I would not park a vehicle, near a street light, where it or any activity around it could easily be seen by someone looking out of their window." Callen stated.
Carefully the two agents began to study the map laid out in front of them.
"G…cross off the homes, and the sections in front of the homes, with motion sensor lights above garages and front doors. They would not park in front of any home where the vehicle could be illuminated. It's risky. They could be seen too easily."
"Of the streets left let's focus on the ones with few stop signs. If I was the perpetrator, and I have what I came for I would want to get away as fast as possible. The fewer stop signs and street lights I have to deal with the better." Callen reasoned out loud to Sam.
"That eliminates this street, this street and this street." Stated Sam as Callen marked their map.
"That leaves us with three sections. I would eliminate this area since there is a secondary school located half way along the street and we know the school has security lights on each of its four corners." Callen said.
"That leaves us with two possible parking spots G."
Studying the map carefully the two agents both pointed to the exact same spot simultaneously.
"It's there." They exclaimed together.
"Only one stop sign, before exiting the neighbourhood onto the main thoroughfare. It's a small entrance onto the thoroughfare. There are no traffic cameras at that location. In fact it looks like there are no traffic cameras for at least a couple of miles in either direction." Sam said using the web browser on his cell phone to check the location of the city's traffic cameras.
"We need to go back to that location to have a better look, and to talk to some of the home owners." Sam said.
Kensi and Deeks were progressing through the play park. They had spoken to several parents and children, with not much luck. Many of the children knew Cassie either from the day care or from playing with her at the park, but none seemed to remember anyone trying to talk to her. Several parents knew Jessica Coverman, and admitted speaking to her in the past, but could not say they noticed anything suspicious the last few times the mother and daughter had visited the park.
They spotted the city garbage collector, quietly took his photo and approached him. He had city I.D. and had been assigned the park route for the last ten months. Kensi had Eric and Nell check him out, and everything was legit.
The hotdog stand owner and the ice cream cart owner both had city licenses and according to the parents, Kensi and Deeks spoke to, were regular park features. Inconspicuously, Deeks did take photos of the two vendors and had them downloaded to the NCIS ops along with their city ID permit numbers. .
Eric and Nell had just completed a search of the security company the Coverman's system was monitored by when Hetty walked into the ops centre.
"What have the two of you discovered to date?"
Eric and Nell revealed what they had learned of Cassie's family and the cleaning lady.
"We have just completed a business search of the security company." Eric stated.
"It appears to be a well respected company that formed in the LA area 36 years ago. The company began to expand within the State of California 6 years later, and into other States 5 years after that." Nell responded.
"Although they now operate sales offices throughout the country, they maintain only two monitoring stations. One is located here in LA and the other in Tampa, Florida."
"I want to have a look at the code for the monitoring system. Normally I would hack in, but this is a security company. It may not be as easy to get in and out quietly without being noticed." Eric said.
"Do not worry Mr. Beale. The company's president has just been handed a search and seizure warrant. LAPD techs are on sight now ready to give you access to any part of the system. This is the number to call and set everything up."
"I…will get right on it." Eric said as he picked up his phone to start the process.
Sam and Callen returned to the street where they suspected the kidnappers parked their "get-a-way" vehicle.
"There is a street light at that corner." Sam stated as he looked up and down the street.
"I would not park at that end of the street."
"The third and fourth houses, past the corner, and the one home across from them all have motion sensor lights above the garages and front doors. That eliminates that corner and that entire section."
"Which means they parked somewhere between this spot and the other end of the street." Sam said looking at Callen.
"We should eliminate the other corner. The first two houses on the corner both have solar powered lights throughout the front gardens. Those things give off light for most of the night."
"This street is one block south of the Coverman's house isn't it?" Callen asked.
"Yea, it is."
"Which houses are directly in line with the Coverman's home?" Callen asked.
"It would be those two on the south side of the street and those two on the north side of the street." Sam answered.
Looking at each other the two partners quickly walked down the middle of the street till they were standing in front of the four homes.
"The one house, on the south side of the street, has a "beware of dog", sign in the front window." Sam said.
"I wouldn't park in front of it or across from it."
"Neither would I G, neither would I."
"That leaves these two." Callen stated motioning with his hand at the homes in question.
"Check out the side gate of that home." Sam said.
"It is hidden from the street by trees."
Sam walked over to have a better look at the gate while Callen went to knock on the front door of the home.
The gate was secured, by a simple latch, not an actual lock. An interlock brick pathway led, from the gate, to a beautifully manicured back yard that was surrounded by a five foot white rod iron fence. Large, mature trees and gardens gave the yard privacy.
Callen appeared, in the back yard, a few moments later with the homeowner.
"This is Mrs. Walker. Her husband and she purchased this home five years ago. Her husband returned home last night, from a two day business trip, around 11:30. She greeted him at the door and did not notice a car parked on the street at that time."
"I noticed the gate at the side of your house does not have a lock, just a latch."
"Yes, we have been meaning to get a lock, but it just seems to be one of those things we never get around to doing."
"Have you noticed if your gate has been left opened lately? Maybe when you came out in the morning to go to work, or when you have returned from an outing to the grocery store or somewhere?
"No, I haven't. We haven't had a problem with that for years now."
"You use to have problems?"
"Oh, yes. When we first moved in. It was because of children that live in the home behind us and the gate along the back fence."
"What gate?" Sam and Callen both asked simultaneously as their eyes moved back and forth across the back fence.