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Maybe they were only props. Some businesses did that to discourage would-be thieves, without incurring the cost of a full video surveillance system.
But when he went up close to check them, he saw that wasn’t the case here. There were cables running from the back of the cameras, cables that had been cut.
As he walked into the shop, an older woman behind the counter smiled at him. “Good morning. How may I help you?”
Teddy flashed his fake police badge. “Detective Thompson. Santa Barbara PD.”
Her smile slipped as her eyes widened. “What can I do for you, Detective?”
“I’m looking into some vandalism that occurred in your neighborhood. I notice you have cameras in your parking lot. I was hoping I could get a look at your security footage.”
“Oh. That depends. When did this occur?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
“I’m so sorry. I don’t think I can be of any help. The cameras stopped working at some point yesterday. I haven’t had time to figure out what’s wrong with them.”
“Do you know exactly when your system went down?”
“I’m not sure. It was fine when I opened yesterday morning, but when I checked the monitor before I went home, there was only static.”
“Do you save your footage?”
“Yes. On a hard drive.”
“May I take a look? It’s possible one of the suspects was captured before your cameras glitched.”
“Sure. If you’d like.”
She led him into a small room in the back, where the monitoring equipment was kept. As she stepped inside, she sucked in a breath. “It’s gone.”
Teddy entered behind her. “What’s gone?”
“The hard drive. Someone took it.”
She moved to the side so he could see. Below the monitor was an empty slot, with a couple of unattached cables hanging through it.
“You didn’t move it?”
“No.”
“What about one of your employees?”
“I only have two, and they would have had no reason to come in here. But I’ll ask them when they get in.”
“Have you noticed anything else missing?”
“No. Nothing.”
“You said you checked the monitor before you left last night. Are you sure the drive wasn’t gone then?”
“It couldn’t have been. I would have noticed.”
“Did anyone leave after you?”
Another shake of her head. “I closed up last night and opened this morning.” She glanced at the empty spot.“Why would someone break in and only steal my hard drive?”
“That’s an excellent question. Since I’m on another case, I’ll call this in and have someone come out to investigate. Thank you for your time.”
