Chapter 8 - The new padlock
The padlock mattered.
Not because fingerprints solved the case.
They did not.
Police found several partial prints.
One likely Derek’s.
One unidentified.
But the lock was a common hardware-store item.
The useful evidence was the purchase.
Derek used his own debit card at a hardware store three days earlier.
Bought:
One brass padlock.
A small chain.
Work gloves.
Electrical tape.
Total:
$31.42.
His attorney later said:
“Derek buys hardware constantly.”
True.
He worked in construction estimation and did weekend projects.
No crime in buying a padlock.
Then surveillance video showed him leaving with that exact brand and package.
Still not proof it went to our basement.
But a link.
More important was his phone location.
Not pinpoint magic.
Cell-site and application-location data suggested his phone had been near our building during the relevant period.
His defense challenged accuracy.
Correctly.
Then a neighbor’s doorbell camera captured his truck parked half a block away.
No image of him entering our building.
Still another piece.
Then came the service-key problem.
The landlord, Mr. Alvarez, admitted Derek had received a temporary basement key two years earlier.
No formal log showed it returned.
Derek claimed he had returned it.
Mr. Alvarez could not prove otherwise.
Again:
May you like
Fragments.
The case would be built by fragments agreeing.
