Chương 5
Adrian shut the door.
“Pick one.”
“The oldest file was not recorded by this device.”
Daniel stepped toward the desk.
“How can you tell?”
“Codec profile and timestamp structure.”
“Could it have been copied onto it?”
“Yes.”
“From what?”
“Another recorder, phone, computer, cloud file, anything.”
Adrian looked at the waveform on the screen.
“Play it.”
Evan shook his head.
“I haven’t completed acquisition.”
“Play it.”
“No.”
Adrian leaned both hands on the desk.
Evan did not move.
Daniel stepped between them.
“Let him work.”
Adrian straightened.
“How long?”
Evan ignored the question and pointed at the laptop.
“The Tuesday file appears native to the device.”
“And today?”
“Native.”
“The oldest?”
“Copied.”
“So someone loaded an earlier recording onto it.”
“That’s what it looks like.”
“Why?”
Evan shrugged.
“Could be storage convenience.”
“Could be bait.”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked at Daniel.
Daniel said nothing.
Evan continued working.
A minute later, the office phone rang.
Adrian stared at it.
Almost nobody used the house line.
He answered.
“Cross.”
A male voice said, “You should stop asking questions.”
Adrian became very still.
Daniel saw his expression and moved closer.
“Who is this?”
“You have enough problems for one weekend.”
The voice was distorted electronically.
Not sophisticated distortion.
Something cheap and digital, as if processed through an app.
Adrian covered the receiver and pointed toward Daniel’s phone.
Daniel started recording.
Adrian returned to the call.
“You called my house to tell me not to ask questions?”
“You’re not as funny as people let you think.”
“People don’t let me think anything.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
Adrian’s hand tightened around the receiver.
“What do you want?”
“Have the wedding.”
Daniel’s eyes lifted.
Adrian said, “Why?”
“Because everyone is expecting you to.”
“Who is everyone?”
“Put the documents in front of you Sunday night and sign them.”
“What documents?”
The caller laughed once.
“You already know.”
Adrian looked toward the recorder.
“Where’s Elena?”
The silence on the line changed.
It was barely perceptible, but it was there.
Then the voice said, “Safe.”
“Did she leave willingly?”
“Ask better questions.”
The call ended.
Adrian kept the receiver to his ear for another second.
Daniel lowered his phone.
“You pushed him.”
“I asked where she was.”
“He didn’t like it.”
“No.”
“That tells us something.”
“It tells us he wanted me to believe he controls her.”
“Or he does.”
Evan turned from his laptop.
“You should notify law enforcement.”
Adrian looked at him.
Daniel nodded.
“He’s right.”
Adrian walked away from the desk.
“If I bring police into this house now, the wedding leaks before dinner.”
Daniel stared at him.
Adrian caught himself.
The sentence sounded obscene aloud.
Not because it was false.
Because some part of him still cared.
The invitations.
The press.
The board.
The market opening Monday.
The photographs already scheduled for publication.
His mother had spent the last month of her life telling him not to postpone happiness because of her illness.
Elena had promised her she wouldn’t let him.
Now he was standing in the same office where his mother used to nap on the sofa during treatments, worrying about financial headlines while he had no idea whether Elena was frightened, guilty, or in danger.
Daniel’s voice softened.
“This is not about the wedding anymore.”
Adrian looked at him.
“I know.”
“Then act like it.”
Adrian picked up his phone and called the Seattle police non-emergency line.
The deputy from residential security called before he finished explaining who he was.
Adrian switched calls.
“What?”
“We confirmed Ms. Marlowe left the property.”
“How?”
“Vehicle.”
“Which vehicle?”
“Black Range Rover.”
“She doesn’t own one.”
“No, sir.”
“Plate?”
“We’re pulling it.”
“When did she leave?”
“Six minutes ago.”
“Who was driving?”
“We don’t have the east camera.”
“Front gate.”
“It didn’t use the front gate.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“The service gate?”
“Yes.”
“That gate requires a resident security credential.”
“I know.”
“Whose?”
“We’re checking logs.”
Daniel mouthed, Put it on speaker.
Adrian did.
The deputy’s voice filled the office.
“There’s something else.”
“Say it.”
“Simon Hale’s credential was used.”
No one spoke.
The deputy continued.
“At 3:42 p.m.”
Adrian looked at the clock.
3:51.
“Was Simon in the vehicle?”
“We can’t confirm.”
“His car?”
“Still parked here.”
Daniel asked, “Can a credential be cloned?”
The deputy paused.
“Technically, yes.”
“How easily?”
“Not by accident.”
Adrian ended the call.
Evan leaned back in his chair.
“Now you definitely call the police.”
This time Adrian did not argue.
The first officers arrived twelve minutes later through the service entrance.
Daniel met them downstairs while Adrian remained in the office with Evan.
The house continued pretending to be a wedding venue.
A violinist practiced in the ballroom.
Someone opened champagne in the dining room.
A waiter carried a tray of miniature crab cakes past two uniformed officers and almost dropped it.
Adrian stood behind the closed office door listening to ordinary sounds fight with catastrophe.
His phone rang again.
Simon.
Adrian answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
Simon sounded out of breath.
“Your greenhouse.”
Adrian glanced toward the windows.
The greenhouse sat on the western edge of the property beyond the lower terrace.
“Why?”
“Because somebody locked me in.”
Adrian’s anger vanished so quickly it left him cold.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“How long have you been there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who locked you in?”
“I didn’t see.”
“What were you doing there?”
Simon hesitated.
Adrian’s voice sharpened.
“Simon.”
“I got a text from Elena.”
“What did it say?”
“She said she needed to talk privately.”
“When?”
“About twenty minutes ago.”
“Show me the text.”
“When you get me out.”
Adrian was already moving.
He stopped at the door and looked back at Evan.
“Call Daniel.”
Then he took the west stairs down.
A security officer joined him at the terrace.
Rain had thickened into a cold sheet over the lawn.
May you like
Adrian grabbed an umbrella from the stand and abandoned it after three steps because the wind turned it inside out.
By the time he reached the greenhouse, his suit was soaked through.
