|
|


Roger started by transferring the recording to a high quality digital file. He and Spike then used his primary workstation to playback the audio file. This kept the recording from degrading while they worked on it. The first time through, it didn't seem like they had too much to go on. But Roger and Spike applied filters and enhancement effects on the sound to bring out voices and background noises. As he went, Roger saved enhanced pieces of the recording in smaller separate files. Each one time stamped for its location in the original sequence. The improved sound was enough to give Nancy the chills as she thought about the men and Roger's powerless, unconscious state. After playing some pieces over and over again they had labeled the series of identifiable events as follows:
- Van doors closing
- Electric motor and chain link fence rattle
- One stop and go
- Voice saying "Get on at Powell"
- Acceleration to freeway speed
- Tollbooth "thank you"
- Three stops and starts
- Final stop at Roger's
- Dropping Roger in bedroom.
Total drive time had been 35 minutes. But the last half of the recording didn't matter much because their first break was in picking up the sound of a tollbooth collector. That meant one of the bridges. The Golden Gate Bridge was eliminated first. It was too far for the drive time to work. The San Mateo was probably out too. You could make the time work but it'd be hard in a van. Especially with all the construction on the Northbound side of 101. The Bay Bridge was by far the most likely. It had been four and a half minutes of constant freeway hum on the recording prior to the tollbooth. That translated into a freeway radius of about four miles from the Bay Bridge toll collection area. Nancy found a "Powell" entrance to the I-80 in Emeryville. It was the perfect distance to fit the recording duration on a low traffic, late night drive. It was time to get on the road.
Roger and Nancy took a hand-held cassette player with a copy of the last few sounds. The recording had just three minutes of drive time prior to the freeway entrance and included only one "stop and go." Engine noise during the rest of the three minutes was low, but constant. The best bet was a long, main street with a stop sign, or traffic light close to the freeway. Powell runs west through Emeryville to the marina. No brick buildings there. Spike was looking at his area map and talking to Nancy via cellular phone. He could see the warehouse area south of Powell and suggested they make a timed drive into that neighborhood. After passing through a blinking red signal, they proceeded without another stop for just over three minutes. Spike's map showed two square blocks of small warehouses.
They were brick buildings from the World War II era that had once been textile and manufacturing businesses. Now most were redone into small business offices. A couple of them looked abandoned. One had been converted into a set of yuppie lofts. Nancy had even been there once before. She had a friend who was thinking of buying one of the lofts when he got a job at Sybase a couple years ago. Roger and Nancy drove through the streets and alleys while Spike checked Pacific Gas & Electric records on the 22 buildings. One of the abandoned properties showed enough power consumption to be more than just a security system and automatic outdoor lights. It had a chain-link fence with a motorized gate. When Roger saw the shape of the arched brick windows, he knew they had found the place.
They circled the block a couple times, but the building looked dead. Roger hopped the fence and went up to a window to look in. It had been sealed from prying eyes by a coat of flat black paint. The only thing left to do was open one of the doors and see what happened. Roger got his lock picking kit ready but when he tried the door next to the loading dock it swung open without any trouble. A sinking feeling was telling him they were too late. A look inside confirmed it. The place was empty. Absolutely no sign of life anywhere. Not even any of the internal walls that Roger had seen just 24 hours earlier. The building was no more than a shell. He hit the activate button for the front gate so Nancy could drive in and see for herself.
The dead-end at the Emeryville warehouse took the wind out of their sails. Spike wasn't too surprised by the news that they struck out and he didn't let Nancy know how much it worried him. She was suddenly very tired. It was too late to chase lease records for the empty building anyway. That would have to wait until tomorrow. She dropped Roger at his place and went home hoping to get some good sleep in spite of the circumstances.
  
ISYS Idea System, Inc. designed and implemented the Spike Webb (tm) site, including all content and artwork.
Copyright © 1995 ISYS Idea Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of ISYS Idea Systems, Inc. is prohibited. Spike Webb and the Spike Webb logo are trademarks of ISYS Idea Systems, Inc.
|