Grimm: The tale of a Grimm and a Hexenbiest

A New Lead

Nick drove to the precinct with adrenaline coursing through his veins. He was determined to whatever it took protect his family. He arrived at the precinct, parked his car, and walked in looking for Wu, who was conveniently waiting for Nick at Nick's desk.

"Wu. What do you have for me?" Nick asked as he approached his desk taking his coat off. Wu set his laptop down in front of Nick and pulled surveillance videos from the four stores that Adalind was at.

"Watch." Wu directed Nick. Nick watched all of the tapes but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Is there something I'm supposed to notice? If there was I didn't notice it." Nick said after watching the videos. Silently, Wu tapped a couple buttons on his laptop and each of the tapes zoomed in to different parts of the store.

"Watch now." Wu said. Nick watched and this time he saw something he hadn't notice before, a man.

"Is that a man? How did I miss this?" Nick asked.

"Well, I don't blame you. I mean the guys is covered head to toe in black standing in the darkest part of the store and he avoids the cameras as if he knows exactly where they are. Unless you were specifically looking for him, you wouldn't even see him." Wu replied trying to reassure Nick. Nick kept watching, trying to figure out how he missed it when something in one of the tapes caught his eye.

"Wait! Pause it." Nick yelled. Wu paused the video.

"Now zoom in on this one and rewind." Nick said pointing to the tapes from the last store Adalind was in." Wu zoomed in, rewound the tape, and pressed play. Nick watched and paused the video.

"Is he sending a text?" Wu asked. Nick pulled out his phone and pulled up the fake message from Rosalee, which was received a minute after the man sent the text in the store, according to the time stamps.

"Not just any text Wu. This one." Nick showed Wu his phone.

"Why?" Wu asked.

"I have no clue." Nick said as he went back to watching the tapes. As he watched the tapes of all four stores, he noticed another pattern.

"Wu, how long was Adalind at each store?" Nick asked.

"Umm, let me see," Wu tapped his laptop vigorously, "She was at the first three for 15 minutes and then about 45 minutes to an hour at the fourth one. Why?"

"Adalind never spends more than 30 minutes at that store." Nick whispered.

"What?" Wu replied.

"The fourth store that she went to. Adalind never spends more than 30 minutes there." Nick replied.

"Okay. Why is that important?" Wu asked.

"How long after Adalind got to the store was the message sent?" Nick asked. After some more vigorous typing, Wu answered.

"About 30...minutes. That's not a coincidence. Is it?" Wu asked.

"No. It's not. Whoever this "man in black" is, he knew that Adalind never spent more than thirty minutes at that store. So he sent the text when he knew Adalind would be heading to the next store to lure me out. Adalind was never the target. I was." Nick replied.

"Then we need to put a protection detail on you." Wu replied.

"No. I can take of myself. I need to you find out who that man is. Is there any usable views of his face for facial rec.?" Nick asked.

"Unfortunately, no. This guy is scary good at avoiding the cameras." Wu replied.

"What about security footage from the fifth store?" Nick asked.

"Adalind never made it to that store." Wu replied.

"No, but I'm betting our mystery man did. I mean, he tried to lure me out. He sent the text. See if you can security footage from the store and see if our "man in black" made a mistake. I didn't show up when he texted so there is a chance that he may have slipped up and revealed himself." Nick replied.

"You got it." Wu replied as he walked away. Nick leaned back in chair and took a deep breathe. He finally felt a little relief knowing that had a lead, however, small it may have been. As thought about what to do next he got a message from Rosalee.

Spice Shop. Now. Adalind and Kelly have been kidnapped.

Thinking it was there mystery man, Nick brushed it off. He put his phone on his desk and at that moment it started ringing. It was Rosalee.

Nick: Hello? Rosalee?

Rosalee: Nick, that text was from me this time. Adalind and Kelly are gone.