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"So, these logs," he said. “Explain to me more about what they are.”
"They're the actual activity logs," Cami said. "So, if you were a site admin, you could go in and see who'd been doing what and at what time."
Cami sighed. “The problem with the lax security on this site is that it also didn’t vet people very well. So, for some of the users, there isn’t much information on them apart from a username. Others are either interacting under their real name or have provided more info. But I should be able to get an IP address for all of them, at least.”
“If I recall, that will help us track them.”
“If it’s trackable, it will.”
Cami went in, checking the logs, looking for the threads where the victims had mentioned their trips and travels and seeing who had seen what was there.
"I am getting a couple of names, and I'm going to go through them all," she said. Looking at the relevant threads, she narrowed it down to three people in common, who had lurked but not spoken. So, who among those three was the neighbor that Nick had mentioned?
One of the IP addresses didn't have an identity linked to it. Another was one of the site admins themselves, a sixty-year-old woman who seemed not to work but to run the site as her full-time job.
And the third one was identified as Mario Donde.
"Mario Donde? Who's he?" Cami muttered, opening yet another window. Even her extra-large gaming screen was now looking crowded. She wished she could work off dual screens, but here in this cramped unmarked car, there was no other screen available. Only an increasingly impatient looking Connor.
"Is he the ex-neighbor? I'm going to call the office and get some addresses. Now that you know who he is, that might be faster."
He took out his cellphone and punched the keys. A moment later, he said, loudly, "Ethan?"
Cami jumped at his name, feeling excited, listening carefully as Connor said, "So, you're back? All good?"
There was a crackle from the other side as Ethan updated him. Cami could imagine him at his desk with his laptop open, his folders stacked up, his phone acting as a paperweight, and most probably, some sort of energy drink wedged in between the chaos. But yet, despite liking to work in a cluttered environment, unlike Connor's clear desk, Ethan could always put his fingers on what he needed in a moment.
Like now, as Connor asked him, "We need address details, past and present, for Boston resident Mario Donde."
He switched the phone to speaker, and the response was instant, as though he had everything laid out in front of him. "Sure, here you go," Ethan said. Cami literally heard the clattering of the keyboard and felt a surge of admiration.
He read out the past address. Quickly, Cami checked her records and nodded as she realized that this was the man Nick had referred to.
“It’s him,” she whispered to Connor. “He was Tracy’s neighbor.”
"Present address is a smaller place. He's living in an apartment block south of downtown as of about six months ago." Ethan read out that address too. Then he hesitated and added thoughtfully, "Want me to check if he has a record?"
"Sure," Connor said.
While Ethan checked, Cami went back to her laptop and got to work, pulling up the relevant chat logs. She studied them intently, looking for connections between the victims and the neighbor.
"He's very much a lurker," she said. "I don't think he's made a single comment on this site. But he clearly stayed on it after he moved out of the area, and he's definitely been interested in what Tracy, in particular, was saying. He's followed all of her threads."
Cami wondered if this was pointing to obsession. Had this neighbor, Mario Donde, moved away so that he wouldn't have an obvious connection with Tracy before deciding to make his deadly move?
As Connor started the car, Cami went checking further, looking into other sites to get more background on Mario.
"I can't find any connection with Caroline, apart from having read a lot of her threads, but there is a connection with Shiree," she said. "I see here on his CV that he worked for the same company as her a few years ago."
This was definitely pointing to the likelihood of a man who remained obsessed with his targets even after he moved away. Cami was starting to feel excited. She thought this man sounded promising. When they arrived at his front door, she felt sure that they would start to get answers. They might even find themselves facing down the killer.
***
Mario Donde lived on the first floor of a shabby apartment block that backed onto a row of industrial buildings, motor spares shops, and factories. As soon as she and Connor approached along the road and she saw their destination, Cami wondered if he'd had a change in his circumstances, to have moved from a comfortable neighborhood to this much cheaper and more run-down area. What had gone wrong?
And just as she had that thought, Ethan called. Connor glanced at the caller ID and immediately put it on speaker.
“Yes, Ethan?” he asked.
