‘Let’s get back to the airbags,’ Hammer said.
‘Well, the MO remains the same in these most recent petit larcenies.’ Hanger avoided using the term CABBAGE. ‘Owner returns to his vehicle, finds a window smashed, the airbags gone. These same cars go in to one of the Russian body shops to get the airbags replaced and ironically the stolen airbags installed to replace the ones stolen could be the very ones stolen out of the vehicle in question. So you’re really paying for the same airbags twice, thinking you’re getting new ones for three hundred bucks apiece, when in fact you’re getting stolen ones. It’s gotten to be a pretty big racket all over the world.’
‘But if you’re getting your same airbags back, they’re really not secondhand because they were never owned by a second person,’ said Fling. ‘Does that… ?’
‘What are we doing about this situation?’ Hammer raised her voice.
‘We’re coordinating with investigations to get an undercover guy in at least one of the body shops,’ Hanger replied.
‘Are the airbags traceable?’ Hammer asked.
‘Not unless they start putting VINs on them,’ Hanger said, referring to the Vehicle Identification Numbers that were etched on the edge of all driver’s doors. ‘I was thinking maybe we could get some kind of grant to help out. Maybe NIJ would be interested.’
To help out in what way?’ Hammer frowned.
To do a study on the usefulness of ABINs.’
‘ABINs?’
That’s what we could call them,’ Hanger explained. ‘Air Bag Identification Numbers. Thing is, if your same stolen airbags are put back in your vehicle, then for sure the ABINs are going to match.’
True.’
That would make it pretty easy.’
Hanger nodded. ‘Not only could we start making cases here, but I’m pretty sure a lot of these stolen airbags are going overseas. So if we developed a system of ABINs, we could get Interpol involved, too. It might bring us some recognition.’
‘I see.’ Hammer fought a growing sense of hopelessness. ‘Anything else?’
‘Two more stolen Saturns. We got a pattern going on.’
‘How many so far?’
‘Twelve General Motors cars stolen in the past month.’
‘Any breaks?’ Hammer asked.
‘It appears several kids are involved. We think they bought master keys for Saturns from some kid named Beeper, supposedly in the area of Swansboro Elementary School on Midlothian Turnpike.’
‘Gang-related?’ Hammer asked.
‘Can’t say for sure,’ Hanger answered.
‘What does that mean?’
‘Well, all we got to go on is this one snitch who’s lied to us before.’
Hammer jumped ahead. ‘We just had another ATM robbery, I’m sorry to say. I’m going to let Deputy Chief West give the details.’
‘Victim is an Asian male, age twenty-two.’ West looked at her notes. ‘Pulled up to the Crestar ATM at 5802 Patterson. Nobody else was there. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, says duct tape was suddenly slapped over his eyes, a gun jammed into his back. A male, he couldn’t tell race, demanded money. By the time the victim removed the tape, the perp was long gone.’
‘The duct tape is different,’ Hammer said.
‘Absolutely,’ West said.
‘That makes six ATM robberies,’ Hammer said. ‘Four on Southside, two in the West End. An average of one per week since early February.’
‘Let me just say that I’m extremely concerned about this latest one, assuming it’s related,’ West spoke up. ‘Let’s just go through it. We have the first four ATMs late night or early morning when it’s dark. There’s a male-female team. She diverts by asking the victim where the nearest post office, pay phone, whatever, is. The male appears, opens his jacket just enough to show the handle of a gun and says, / want the money you took out of the machine. Maybe the gun’s real, maybe it’s not. The perp takes the money and runs.
‘Then we have a fifth ATM in Church Hill. Again, when it’s dark out, but this time the male perp actually displays the gun. He gets into the victim’s car, turns out the interior light so the victim can’t see his face. Threatens if the victim ever tries to help cops ID him, he knows the guy’s plate number and will find him and kill him. Then he forces the victim to drive several blocks. The perp jumps out with the money. Now we’ve got an ATM in the West End, and this time it’s daylight. I’m seeing a possible pattern of escalation here. An escalation that could end in violence.’