"I'll show you." Mrs. Walker replied as she walked towards the right corner of the back fence.
"The people who had the home before us had three young children. The people who live behind us have two children. The two families were great friends. Actually I think they still are good friends. They had the gate installed so the children could easily go back and forth to play. The reason this home was put on the market was because the father received a promotion, at work, but it meant the family had to move to Seattle. When we first moved in the children, in the house behind us, use to use the two gates as a short cut to go back and forth to school. Sometimes they would leave the gate open."
The back gate was not easily noticeable to the naked eye as a beautiful mature garden was growing in front of it. It was not until the agents were on top of the gate that they were able to notice the door and latch.
"Don't go any closer." Callen said as he gently grabbed Mrs. Walker by the arm and pulled her back.
"There are footprints in the earth around the area of the gate, and the bush in front of the lock has a couple of broken branches."
The imprints were too large to belong to Mrs. Walker.
"Has your husband or a gardener been back here within the last couple of days?" Sam asked.
"No. We don't have a gardener. We do all the yard work ourselves. I haven't been out here for a couple of days and Matthew, my husband, has been out of town."
"What size of shoe does your husband wear?"
"Size 9."
Sam was crouched down examining the shoe prints.
"These were made by a size 11 shoe." He stated.
"I'll call the LAPD lead detective. We need a forensic specialist here." Callen said pulling out his phone from his back pocket.
Callen phoned as Sam took a few photos and downloaded them to Eric and Nell. He was hoping they could analyze the tread of the shoe print, and match the tread to a specific brand of shoe. If the tread turned out to be unique to an expensive type of shoe, then only a handful of stores in the LA area may sell them. It was a long shot, but one that if it panned out could perhaps help identify the kidnapper.
"Callen."
"Yea."
"Come here and tell me what you see."
Callen walked over to where Sam was standing which was about midway between the side and back fence gates.
Looking past the back fence, the neighbour's backyard, down the side of the neighbour's home, past their side gate, and across the street to the home on the other side, Callen realized what Sam was viewing.
"Everything is directly in line with the Coverman's home. That is the Coverman's home we are staring at."
"Yea, they parked in front of this house. Those footprints are of our kidnapper."
"Let's hope they left more evidence than just those. Let's hope they left some finger prints on the gates."
Kensi and Deeks spoke to as many people at the park that they could possibly speak to.
"What do you think?" Kensi asked.
"We don't seem to be getting anywhere. We have spoken to everyone in site. People recognize Cassie and her mother's photo, but no one seems to have noticed anyone watching them." Deeks replied.
"No one seems to remember spotting someone who seemed to be out of place at the play park. Someone, who was alone, sitting on a bench, just watching the kids play." Kensi added.
Kensi scanned the vicinity. The play area was located only a few feet from the main entrance to the park. Across the street, from the entrance, were a number of small businesses. The majority, were small boutiques, but there were a couple of bistros and coffee shops.
"What are you thinking Kens?"
"Let's go talk to some of the store employees, maybe get a coffee or something."
"I'm with you." Deeks replied as the partners walked out of the park and across the street.
The Walker's home was a centre of activity. Forensic specialists were combing every inch of the back and front yards. Even the road, in front of the home, was being examined for tire treads.
Callen and Sam were standing, on the side walk, in front of the Walker's home speaking to the lead LAPD detective. Examining the map, the agents had been using, the three law enforcement personal marked off the most probable route the kidnappers took to both arrive and exit the neighbourhood. It was mutually agreed that the LAPD would remain on site at the Walker home and continue to look for clues, while the two NCIS agents took a walk along the probable "get-a-way" route. Experience had told all three that the route needed to be walked to get a proper perspective on everything. There maybe something that could only be noticed by actually walking and viewing things directly with the native eye.
Sam and Callen headed off.
Kensi and Deeks had made inquires at every shop along the street in front of the park. Not a single employee was able to give any useful information. Several of the stores had visible motion sensor security systems, but none sported video surveillance cameras. Finally, feeling frustrated, they had decided to return to a small independent coffee house and purchase a couple of coffees and brownies. The patio, in the front of the store, was not busy and the two detectives decided to take a table and have a short break to review the case.
"We're not getting anywhere." Kensi sighed.
Deeks sat back in his chair, folded his hands behind his neck, and looked around.
"This is definitely the kind of place where people who want to watch kids would hang out."
"Deeks, we have to be missing something. I know we don't seem to be making any progress here, but I'm not ready to give up on this angle. My gut is telling me to keep searching here."
"Then we stay and keep searching. I learned way back when I was a rookie, in uniform, to always trust your gut."
Kensi glanced over at Deeks, and gave him a small grin.
"Yea, you would have worn a uniform at one time. That never occurred to me before."
"Did you have your hair short?" Kensi asked with her grin still present and a slight twinkle in her eye.
Deeks sat forward again and gave her a mischievous grin. A grin that matched the one she was giving him.
"I did have it short, and I was clean shaven."
Kensi bit the bottom of her lip and sat watching Deeks, with that twinkle in her eye.
"Damn Deeks. Why did you have to put that image in my head? Deeks with short hair, clean shaven, and in a uniform. I've always had a weakness for great looking guys in uniform. Must be from growing up military."
"Ohh Miss Blye. I think I may have just found your one real weakness. What did I do with those uniforms of mine? I'll have to check my closets. Next time Hetty needs someone in a uniform, for a case, I think I'll volunteer. Crap Ray, I do have a "thing" for Wikipedia."
"Why? You have a thing for guys in uniform?" Deeks asked while maintaining that mischievous grin.
Kensi stopped biting her bottom lip, but the twinkle in her eye was still obvious. She looked away from Deeks and remained silent. It was as if she was at a lose for words.
"You so totally do."
"Do not!"
"You so totally do." Deeks repeated while sporting a full blown smile.
Kensi licked her lips.
"Damn Kensi. How are you going to get out of this one? Come on, think fast."
She was about to turn her head to face a goofy smiling Deeks when something caught her eye.
"Deeks"
"Yea"
"The bakery next door."
"What about it. Don't tell me you want more sweets. You just had a huge brownie that I swear was made in heaven. It was almost as good as sex."
Kensi whipped he head around to face him.
"No, I don't want more sweets."
"You want sex then!" Marty asked, still giving her his famous smile and clearly enjoying where this conversation was heading.
"No! … Would you stop smiling at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like you've found one of my buttons to press."
"Have I?"
"Have you what?"
"Found one of your buttons to press?"
"No!"
"You sure?"
"Yes! Deeks…focus please!" Kensi stated, clearly becoming flustered.
"Right, focusing. What are we focusing on?"
"The bakery next door."
"We focusing on the sweets or the sex part of the bakery?"
Kensi looked up, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.
"Why am I getting flustered? I know my period is due soon, but it is still too early for it to be having this type of affect on me. Besides, men don't tend to fluster me…No, no, no…no way. Damn it Ray. I do have a "thing" for Marty Deeks."
Kensi opened her eyes, took another deep breath and faced Deeks.
"Would you look at the two coach lights, on either side, of the bakery, and tell me what you see, please."
"Okay, they're bronze colour, clear crackled glass, attached to the brick wall, clear colour bulbs, solar powered, and it appears that you change the battery and bulb by unscrewing the bud, on the top, and removing the upper section. Um…wait a minute…what's that. That button thing on the bud. Is that a small camera?"
"Yea...lt is. There's one positioned on both coach lights. The one closest to us points out towards the sidewalk and street in front of the store. The camera lens, on the other light, points sideways and focuses on everything in front of the store as well as the entire stretch of sidewalk. They capture everything occurring along this stretch of the area."
"We need to go back in there. We didn't ask about security camera footage when we went in earlier because we had no indication that a system was present on the premises."
"The owner wasn't there when we first went in, only a few employees. Chances are the employees don't even know the system is in play. We have to get a hold of the owner and talk to them. They're probably the ones who installed it and are the only ones who have access to it."
"If those cameras are active, we need to have a look at yesterday's footage. There could be a video of Jessica at the park with Cassie yesterday, and possibly someone watching them."
Deeks took the last gulp of his coffee.
"Ready to go Kens?"
"Yea."
"By the way Kens…I like how you have your hair today. The French braid down the back is hot."
Kensi stopped, looked at Deeks, and then headed towards the bakery with a smile on her face.
"Thanks Deeks."
For some reason, a smile seemed more appropriate right now than the usual rolling of her eyes response.