"We have four cameras," he said, clicking through different views."Two covering the main floor, one on the bouldering section, and one covering the gear area where people store their bags."
"I need to see footage from the main floor and the gear area last night, when Lisa was here.”
“Yeah, I think she usually rolls in around 6:30.Let’s see…”
Reeves pulled up the footage and set the playback to double speed.Kim watched as the timestamp in the corner advanced through yesterday afternoon, starting at 6:00.At 6:35, Lisa Anderson appeared on camera, walking across the main floor toward the bouldering section.She wore black leggings and her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail.She set her bag down in the gear area and pulled out climbing shoes.
"Can you slow it down to normal speed?"Kim asked.
Reeves adjusted the playback.They watched as Lisa chalked her hands and approached one of the more difficult routes marked in red tape.She started climbing with smooth, controlled movements.Her technique was impressive even to Kim, who knew nothing about rock climbing.Lisa moved up the wall like it was natural, finding holds that Kim would not have seen and using her momentum to reach the next grip.
Other climbers in the gym stopped what they were doing to watch.Kim could see them glancing over, tracking Lisa's progress up the wall.A few pulled out their phones to record her.A little creepy, Kim thought, but it made sense.She was practically destroying the course.
"She's really good," Kim said.
"One of the best we've had.She's climbed some of the hardest routes in the country."Reeves pointed at the screen."That's a V9 problem she's working on.Most people who've been climbing for years can't do that."
Kim focused on the other people in frame.Several climbers watched Lisa from different positions around the gym.Most of them were openly staring, clearly impressed by her skill.But one figure caught Kim's attention.A person in a dark hoodie stood near the edge of the camera's view, partially obscured by one of the support pillars.The figure was not climbing.They were just watching.
"Can you switch to the gear area camera?"Kim asked.
Reeves clicked to a different feed.The timestamp showed 7:03.Lisa was still climbing in the background, visible through the doorway.She was a bit out of focus from this range.Her bag sat on the floor near a bench where several other bags were lined up.
The figure in the dark hoodie appeared in frame.They moved quickly, glancing around to see if anyone was watching.Then they crouched down beside Lisa's bag and reached for something beside it.
It was a water bottle.
The figure pulled a small object from their pocket and twisted the cap off the water bottle.They added something to the liquid inside, then replaced the cap and set the bottle back where it had been.The entire action took less than five seconds.And with that done, the figure started to walk away.
Kim leaned closer to the monitor."Can you pause it right there?"
Reeves froze the playback.The figure's back was to the camera, the hoodie obscuring their head and shoulders.Kim could not see a face; she couldn’t even determine if the person was male or female from this angle.
"Can you go back a few seconds?I need to see if we get any other angle."
Reeves scrolled the footage backwards and played it again.This time, Kim watched carefully as the figure moved through the frame.For just a moment, as they turned to look toward the climbing area, the left side of their face came into view.
"Stop.Right there."
The image froze.Kim could see a partial profile.Male, probably in his twenties or early thirties.Pale skin.The edge of a jaw and cheekbone.Not enough for a clear identification, but more than they had before.
"Can you export this frame?"Kim asked.
"Sure."Reeves clicked a few buttons and saved the image to the hard drive."I can send that to you via text or email.Do you need any other footage?"
"Let me see what happens after Lisa finishes climbing."
They watched as Lisa came down from the wall and walked back to the gear area.She picked up her water bottle and took a long drink.Within minutes, she gathered her things and left the gym.
The figure in the hoodie followed about thirty seconds later, staying far enough behind that it did not look suspicious but close enough that they were clearly tracking her movements.Kim felt a cold certainty settle in her stomach.This was their killer.This was the person who had drugged Lisa Anderson and sent her into the sky to die.
She thought about Miles, about how he would process this information.He would want to know every detail, would analyze the footage frame by frame looking for additional clues with his patented obsessive nature.She had been working with him long enough now to understand how his analytical approach worked, how he built profiles and connections from small pieces of evidence.
Kim had only been on the team since the Portland case, but she had spent enough time around Miles to recognize his dedication to these investigations.They had gone out for drinks twice after particularly long days of work.Both times had been strictly as colleagues, just two people decompressing after intense casework.But somewhere during those conversations, Kim had developed what she could only describe as a schoolgirl crush.
It was ridiculous.She was a professional FBI agent with years of field experience.She had no business developing feelings for a colleague.Especially one who was still clearly processing grief over his dead fiancée and who seemed completely oblivious to anything beyond the cases they were working.But there it was anyway.The way Miles listened when she talked actually engaged with her ideas instead of just waiting for his turn to speak.The rare moments when he smiled, usually at something self-deprecating or absurd about the work they were doing.The intensity he brought to everything, the refusal to give up even when leads went cold.
Kim shook off the thought and focused on the screen.This was not the time for personal distractions.
