Chapter 29: The Strange Drone

As we drove in the car, I pondered over everything. About him. About this case. About Kate, whom I decided to let go. And even about Julia. All of it came crashing down on me today, and like a snowball, it gathered into a huge lump that seemed to weigh heavily on my head.

The more I thought about it, the more my head throbbed. I searched for a method in my mind to calm myself down. I began to think about what I would do in the end, after finishing the case. Since I couldn't go back to the precinct and had decided not to bother Kate anymore, I had to come up with something.

It turned out to be easier for me to think about my future job and the place where I would live than to think about everything that had piled up on me today. Realizing that I had no idea where to go from here, I decided to focus on tonight. What to wear and how to behave. And so, I arrived at the workshop, having completely forgotten about the case.

Samuel led me to the workshop, and I followed him, wondering what would come next. Upon entering the workshop, we were greeted by the slightly overweight master. He looked at us and asked, "Hello! Did you come here for a drone or for a car?"

"Hello! We're not here for a drone or a car. I'm Agent Samuel Nats, and this is Detective James White," he said, showing his FBI credentials, and I showed my badge under my jacket.

After looking at our documents, the master of the workshop introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm Trevor. And I don't think I've done anything illegal. So I ask you to leave my workshop," he said.

"We're not here to arrest you, but to ask some questions. We have information that you have fixed several drones. We need to obtain the owners' data," Samuel said.

"Please help us. It's a matter of people's lives," I added.

He looked at us and sighed. "I was right after all," he said, waving us over.

As we walked, he began to speak. "More than a month ago, or more precisely, two months ago, someone brought me a drone with a pierced bottom and bloodstains visible. The owner of the drone said he lent it to a friend, who accidentally hit a bird, causing the drone to crash," he said, leading us to a computer.

"I was skeptical at first, but after observing his behavior, I decided not to report it. However, just to be safe, I saved recordings of that day and the day he picked up the drone," he said, opening a folder of recordings.

"I can send you the camera footage," he said.

"Thank you for that, but we would like to have recordings of all the owners who had their drones fixed here. Perhaps you're right about that particular drone, but perhaps not. We cannot afford to make mistakes here," I said.

"Mm...yes, you're right. I have a list of clients. I'll send it to you. And for how long do you need the recordings?" the workshop owner asked.

"A few months, maybe three months," I replied.

"Then no problem. I keep recordings for six months. I'll send you the footage, just leave your email address," he said.

I wrote down my email, and we continued to ask him questions about the other owners of the ill-fated drones.

"We know that there are still 4 more drones with similar malfunctions. Ones like punctured hulls and damaged body from hitting the ground. Do you have any thoughts on them?" Samuel asked.

"Actually, there are quite a few of those drones. These ones are just from the last 2-3 months. In general, there were more than 10 of such drones last year. Unfortunately, they sometimes get shot down. Drones also get caught on wires or trees with their propellers, causing them to fall," he said.

"Trevor, right?" I asked.

"Yes?" he replied.

"We understand that such accidents happen, but we have evidence that a drone fell at the crime scene. Perhaps one of these drones was the one," I said.

"Well, I don't particularly remember. As I said, I remembered that incident because of the blood drops. Let me tell you what I do remember," Trevor said.

"Anything you remember will be helpful," I said.

"Then listen. 2 drones with punctured hulls were among those that were shot. Apparently, the drones were trying to rob or were robbed. Robbery isn't that common, but it happens. As I said, people shoot down such drones. These drones often transport orders or mail," Trevor said.

"Robbed?" I asked.

"Yes, it's not unheard of. But as a mechanic, I can say that they were shot at quite a bit. Perhaps an entire clip, at least on one of them. The second one was less damaged. I think it made it back, but the one they found had a severely dented hull at the bottom of the drone, aside from the bullet holes," he said.

"I see. And what about the remaining drones?" Samuel asked.

"As for them, drones are just drones. One had a damaged wing, causing it to fall on its belly," Trevor said.

" And the second one?" I asked.

"As far as I remember, the client said that the controller failed, which caused the drone to crash. I don't fix controllers, so I can't say for sure whether that's true or not," he said.

While he spoke, he rummaged through papers on his desk. Finally, he pulled out a small stack and handed them to me.

"These are copies of the contracts. They contain key information about the drone owners," said Trevor.

I was about to leave when Samuel asked, "Is it possible that the drone owner shot it down himself?"

"Why do you think that?" asked Trevor. "Who would want to spend money on repairs, especially when they're not cheap?"

"But still, what damage did the drone sustain from the bullets?" asked Samuel.

"Which one are you referring to?" asked Trevor.

"I'm talking about the one that was shot with a full magazine. Did the bullets hit vulnerable parts of the drone or safe ones?" asked Samuel.

"Oh, yes, I just remembered. Almost the entire magazine was spent on the area where the drone's battery is located. So, the repair was not as difficult as it usually is," said Trevor.

Samuel jotted down his words in his notebook and then asked about the owner of that particular drone.