Chapter 8 - the camera nobody remembered
The device above the door was a camera.
It did not connect to the hospital’s main security network. Its signal traveled through an old analog line installed before the building was renovated.
Owen had told the truth about one thing.
He did know the hospital system.
He simply had not expected anyone to find a system older than his authority.
A retired maintenance supervisor named Frank Delaney was called to the seventeenth floor shortly after midnight.
Frank examined the small lens and shook his head.
“I thought these were removed years ago.”
“Where does it store recordings?” Officer Reyes asked.
“It doesn’t. The old system transmitted to a monitoring room in the basement.”
Owen’s face appeared briefly in Frank’s memory.
“He ordered the basement room sealed after Mr. Vale died.”
Marcus stepped forward. “My father?”
“Mr. Malcolm Vale. He used the private suites for confidential donor meetings.”
“Did he use Suite 1708 the night he died?”
Frank glanced at Elaine.
She gave a small nod.
“Yes,” Frank said. “He asked me to keep the analog camera active. He said someone had been accessing the trust server.”
Elaine closed her eyes.
“You knew that?” Marcus demanded.
“No.”
Frank continued.
“After Mr. Vale died, Mr. Shaw told me the camera malfunctioned. He ordered the line disconnected.”
“Did you disconnect it?” Officer Reyes asked.
“I disconnected the monitor. I never removed the cable.”
They went to the basement.
Marcus wanted Khloe to remain in the suite, but she refused.
“I will stay in a wheelchair, and the doctor can come with us.”
“You need rest.”
“I need to know why someone used our baby to continue something that began with your father.”
Elaine supported Khloe’s decision.
Marcus looked surprised.
“She is right,” Elaine said. “The person behind this expects us to separate information. That is how they have controlled us.”
The basement monitoring room was located behind a metal door disguised as a storage cabinet.
Frank opened it with a mechanical key.
Dust covered the old equipment. Several monitors were dark, but one machine still displayed a small green light.
The recording unit had been active.
Officer Reyes connected a converter to the system.
Images appeared on the screen.
The video quality was poor, but the view of Suite 1708 was clear.
They watched Khloe arrive.
They watched Isabella pull her inside.
Then a figure entered the corridor wearing Elaine’s coat.
The face remained hidden.
The figure pressed Marcus’s old security card against the door.
Officer Reyes paused the recording.
“This card was found on Owen.”
The figure turned slightly.
A diamond bracelet flashed beneath the sleeve.
Elaine looked at her own wrist.
“My bracelet was missing for two days last month.”
“Did you report it?” Khloe asked.
“No. I thought I had misplaced it. It reappeared in my dressing room.”
The figure walked away from the suite.
A second person emerged from the service staircase.
He wore a black tuxedo identical to Marcus’s.
His face was turned from the camera.
The man placed a hand on the wall as though steadying himself.
On his right hand was a gold signet ring.
Marcus touched his own bare finger.
He had given his father’s signet ring to Elaine after Malcolm died.
Elaine’s wrist lowered slowly.
“The ring is in my safe.”
“Who has access?” Officer Reyes asked.
“Only me.”
Marcus looked at her.
“And the code?”
Elaine did not answer.
Khloe understood.
“Marcus knows it.”
Elaine nodded.
Marcus stared at the man on the screen.
Someone had used his card, his tuxedo, and his father’s ring.
May you like
This was not merely an attempt to frame Elaine.
Someone was reconstructing the night Malcolm Vale died.
