Chương 4
They reached the guest corridor.
Elena’s suite door stood partly open.
Adrian stopped before touching it.
Daniel caught up.
“Wait.”
“For what?”
“For once in your adult life, a thought.”
Daniel pulled out his phone and started recording.
“Now.”
Adrian pushed the door open.
The suite appeared empty.
Elena’s garment bags hung from the wardrobe.
Shoes were lined beneath the windows.
An open suitcase rested on the bed.
The red folder was gone.
Adrian stepped farther inside.
A drawer had been pulled open.
Several jewelry boxes sat on the dresser.
Daniel pointed toward the bathroom.
Water was running.
“Elena?”
No answer.
Adrian moved toward it.
The bathroom was empty.
The faucet ran over a white porcelain basin.
Beside it lay a pair of diamond earrings.
The window above the tub was open three inches to the rain.
Daniel turned off the water.
“She left in a hurry.”
Adrian looked at the open suitcase.
Half the clothing had been removed.
Her passport was gone from the travel case.
So was the laptop she kept beside the bed.
Daniel’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then his face hardened.
“What?”
Adrian asked.
Daniel held up one finger.
“Say that again.”
He listened another few seconds.
“Do not touch anything.”
He ended the call.
“That was Evan.”
Adrian waited.
“He found three audio files on the recorder.”
“And?”
“The newest one is from this afternoon.”
Adrian glanced at the doorway.
Daniel continued.
“There are two older files.”
“How old?”
“One from Tuesday night.”
Adrian had been in the office Tuesday night with Elena.
They had discussed the guest list, his mother, and the argument he was having with the board over the Vancouver acquisition.
“The other?”
“Last week.”
“With whom?”
“Evan hasn’t listened through it.”
“Then what do we know?”
Daniel looked at him.
“The file metadata says the recorder was already active before Lily saw Elena put it under your desk today.”
Adrian said nothing.
Rain tapped against the bathroom window.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“If that metadata is accurate, Elena didn’t plant the recorder.”
Adrian looked at the empty suitcase.
“No.”
He turned toward the hallway.
“She was replacing it.”
Daniel stared at him.
“That would mean someone else had access before today.”
“Or Elena has been using the same device for a week.”
“Then why remove it and put it back?”
“To copy the files.”
“Or swap the hardware.”
Adrian walked back into the bedroom and looked at the empty space beside the suitcase.
“Elena took the red folder, her passport, and her laptop.”
Daniel stepped behind him.
“That does not make her innocent.”
“I didn’t say it did.”
“She may be running because she knows we found something.”
“She may be running because whoever she was working with told her to.”
Daniel watched him carefully.
“You’re doing that thing.”
“What thing?”
“Moving from facts to a theory because the theory hurts less.”
Adrian turned.
“You think this hurts less?”
“I think betrayal by one person is easier to understand than betrayal by a system of people you trust.”
A door closed somewhere down the hall.
Both men looked toward the sound.
Adrian stepped into the corridor.
The door at the far end opened again, and a housekeeper emerged carrying folded towels.
She froze when she saw him.
“Did Ms. Marlowe pass you?”
The woman shook her head.
“No, sir.”
“Anyone?”
“Mr. Hale.”
Adrian stopped.
“Simon Hale?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Maybe five minutes ago.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Simon Hale was Cross Maritime’s chief financial officer.
He had been with Adrian for eleven years.
He had attended Adrian’s mother’s funeral.
He had signed the card on the flowers in the hospital room two days before she died.
“What was he doing up here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he go into this suite?”
The housekeeper hesitated.
“I didn’t see.”
“That means you saw something.”
She looked miserable.
“He came out of the stairwell, sir.”
“Which stairwell?”
“The service stairs.”
Daniel moved closer.
“Was he carrying anything?”
“A jacket.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“In his hands?”
She nodded.
“Folded over his arm.”
“Anything under it?”
“I couldn’t tell.”
Daniel thanked her before Adrian could ask more.
The woman left quickly.
Adrian stared after her.
“You think Simon took the folder.”
“I think Simon was on the same floor.”
“He wasn’t supposed to be upstairs.”
“Neither were half the caterers.”
“Simon doesn’t wander.”
“No one wanders in your house because everyone is terrified of being accused of wandering.”
Adrian ignored that.
He called Simon.
The call rang four times.
Then voicemail.
Adrian called again.
Voicemail.
Daniel said, “Do not leave him a message.”
Adrian ended the call.
His phone vibrated immediately.
A text from Elena appeared.
I NEED AIR.
DON’T FOLLOW ME.
Daniel read it over his shoulder.
“That is almost offensively convenient.”
Adrian typed nothing.
Another message came.
PLEASE.
He stared at the screen.
The elevator chimed downstairs.
Voices rose in the foyer.
The rehearsal dinner guests were beginning to arrive early.
Daniel glanced toward the staircase.
“You cannot lock down the house without making this public.”
“I can lock down the service exits.”
“And if Elena has already left?”
“Then we find out how.”
Adrian called the head of residential security.
No answer.
He tried the deputy.
The deputy picked up immediately.
“Mr. Cross.”
“Where’s Mason?”
“Front gate.”
“He isn’t answering.”
A pause.
“I’ll locate him.”
“Has anyone left the property in the last ten minutes?”
“Staff?”
“Anyone.”
Another pause.
“I’d have to check.”
“Check now.”
Daniel held out a hand.
“Ask about cameras.”
Adrian did.
The deputy hesitated.
“The east driveway camera is offline.”
“Since when?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“We had a network fault earlier.”
“Which cameras?”
“I need to look.”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“Look.”
He ended the call.
Daniel exhaled slowly.
“That is not encouraging.”
“No.”
“Still not proof.”
“No.”
They returned to the office.
Evan had moved the recorder beside his laptop and connected it through an evidence interface.
May you like
He looked up as they entered.
“You have a problem.”
