Part 7
“Perhaps. Or maintenance was poor.”
“In this hotel?”
“Expensive buildings also have loose screws.”
“Ninety-four seconds of missing video, fresh adhesive, a false provenance plate, and a loosened pedestal.”
Jonas touched the photograph with one finger. “That is why you are dangerous when tired. You make four suspicious facts become one certain story.”
“And you make one story become four unrelated accidents.”
“That is why we work together.”
“Worked.”
He leaned back.
“The video gap was created through an administrator account assigned to Sabine Favre.”
“Did she use it?”
“She says no.”
“Can she prove where she was?”
“She appears on another camera during part of the gap.”
“Who has access to her credentials?”
“Three system engineers, Conrad Haldner, and his executive assistant.”
“Adrian?”
“Not officially.”
Mara looked toward Theo’s room.
“Who sent the threat?”
“Prepaid number. Activated today.”
“From where?”
“A kiosk in the rail station.”
“Camera?”
“Requested.”
Jonas folded his hands. “You are going home at eight.”
“The roads may close.”
“They are open.”
“You checked.”
“Yes.”
“And the music box?”
“The auction director now says it was an insurance copy placed on display to protect the original.”
“Where is the original?”
“He claims it is in a climate vault beneath the west wing.”
“You haven’t seen it.”
“We are waiting for judicial authorization.”
“Why? The hotel invited inspection.”
“The invitation was withdrawn after your badge appeared.”
Mara looked at him.
“My badge did not create the counterfeit.”
“No. It alerted people who may now move the original.”
“You have security on the service exits?”
“Yes.”
“The underground loading tunnel?”
Jonas’s mouth tightened.
Mara had studied the hotel’s architectural records before the trip. The Haldner Grand had been built around a tuberculosis sanatorium, and the oldest service tunnel opened behind a maintenance depot beyond the main security perimeter.
“You forgot,” she said.
“I did not forget.”
“You said service exits.”
“We have a team at the tunnel.”
“When did they arrive?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“The box fell three hours ago.”
“Mara.”
“Did any vehicle leave?”
“One laundry truck.”
“You searched it?”
“We lacked authority at that time.”
She pushed the tablet back toward him.
“I am not making four facts into one story. I am watching your procedures arrive after the evidence leaves.”
Jonas’s face hardened. “And I am watching you use fear for your nephew to justify staying close to a case you should leave.”
The words found their mark.
Mara sat still.
He regretted them almost immediately, but he did not withdraw them.
From the bedroom came the faint rustle of sheets.
Neither spoke until the room was quiet again.
Jonas lowered his voice. “You protected him in the conservatory. Now protect him from what comes next.”
“What comes next?”
“The hotel has issued a statement.”
He turned the tablet around.
The Haldner Grand regretted “a distressing misunderstanding involving an unattended minor and a privately owned display object.” The statement said Adrian’s words had been “selectively characterized during an unauthorized law-enforcement confrontation.”
There was no mention of the charity investigation.
No mention of the altered video.
No mention that Theo had been standing beside an intentionally loosened pedestal.
Below the statement, a forty-second video had already been posted by an anonymous account. It showed Adrian pointing at Theo and delivering the sentence. It ended just before Mara opened her credential wallet.
Theo’s face was visible.
Mara stared at the screen.
The clip had been filmed from the left side of the semicircle. In the foreground, the edge of an emerald bracelet flashed near a silver sleeve.
Margaret Sloan.
“She recorded it,” Mara said.
“Or someone beside her did.”
The account had no prior posts. The clip had accumulated eighty thousand views in nineteen minutes.
Comments identified the hotel, Adrian, Mara, and within minutes, Theo.
Someone had found a photograph from a public school fundraiser in Queens. His full name appeared beneath it.
Mara closed the page.
“Get it taken down.”
“We are requesting removal because he is a minor.”
“Request faster.”
“That is not how—”
“Do not explain the internet to me.”
Jonas’s anger returned. “This is precisely why you leave.”
“No. This is why I stay until I know who put his face online.”
“You cannot investigate everyone who harms him.”
“Watch me.”
The bedroom door opened.
Theo stood there in hotel pajamas, hair flattened on one side.
“Is my face online?”
Mara closed her eyes once.
He had heard enough.
“Yes.”
“Did I look stupid?”
“No.”
“People at school will see.”
“Maybe.”
“They will.”
Mara rose and went to him.
“I’m sorry.”
“Did you post it?”
“No.”
“Did the old lady?”
“We don’t know.”
“Everybody says that tonight.”
He returned to the bedroom and closed the door.
Not slammed. Closed.
The restraint hurt more.
At seven the next morning, snow had stopped falling, but the mountain road was closed by a minor avalanche two kilometers below the village.
Theo ate dry cereal from a coffee cup because he did not want room service to enter. He wore gray sweatpants, sneakers, and a hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head.
Mara called the school. The principal promised to monitor messages and remove any shared images from student accounts, then gently suggested Theo remain offline.
As though the internet were weather and children could simply stay indoors.
Evelyn called to say the video had reached U.S. news sites. The bureau would issue no comment. Mara was ordered not to identify herself publicly or discuss the investigation.
“Was the leak Margaret?” Mara asked.
“We don’t know.”
“Her bracelet is visible.”
“So are six other people.”
“Have you listened to my full recording?”
“Our lab is enhancing it.”
“Why enhancing?”
“There is background audio before Adrian’s statement.”
“What audio?”
“We’ll call when it’s clear.”
Mara looked at Theo. He was sorting cereal pieces by shape.
“Is it Daniel?”
“I said we’ll call.”
“Evelyn.”
“You are not on the case.”
May you like
Mara ended the call before she said something permanent.
A paper had been pushed beneath the suite door.
