Chapter 8 - THE DEAD GUARD'S MESSAGE
Derek Mills had been dead less than an hour.
Charlotte was not allowed near the body once police arrived, but Nathan showed her the photograph before surrendering it as evidence.
William Vale stood beside a black limousine.
The image appeared to have been taken years earlier.
A second man stood beside him.
His face had been scratched away with a blade.
On the back, someone had written:
HE KNOWS WHO A.V. IS.
Charlotte thought immediately of Evelyn’s notebook.
A.V.
The mysterious initials from Room 417.
Police questioned everyone.
Charlotte gave a limited statement.
She did not mention Mara’s evidence or her father’s letter.
Not yet.
Nathan warned her privately:
“We don’t know who inside law enforcement may have connections.”
“That sounds paranoid.”
“It does.”
“Is it true?”
Nathan looked at the officers in the corridor.
“Your father thought so.”
Charlotte’s trust in Nathan remained incomplete, but his fear appeared genuine.
Victoria, meanwhile, had disappeared.
Charlotte called the concierge.
“When did Ms. Sterling leave?”
“About thirty minutes ago.”
“Did anyone go with her?”
“A driver.”
“Hotel car?”
“No, Ms. Vale.”
Charlotte requested camera footage from the entrance.
Unlike the lobby recording, this had not been deleted.
Victoria entered a black Mercedes.
A man opened the rear door for her.
Charlotte recognized him immediately.
Caleb Rusk.
Mara swore softly.
“She’s with him.”
Charlotte watched the footage again.
Victoria did not appear frightened.
She greeted Caleb as if she knew him.
“Find Conrad Sterling,” Charlotte said.
Nathan looked at her.
“Victoria’s father?”
“Yes.”
“He’s in Geneva.”
“According to whom?”
Nathan hesitated.
“His office.”
“Confirm it independently.”
Nathan made the call.
Ten minutes later, his assistant returned.
Conrad Sterling had not attended his scheduled meetings in Geneva.
His private aircraft remained in New York.
Nobody had seen him publicly for four days.
Charlotte looked at Mara.
“Where would Victoria go?”
Mara shook her head.
“Sterlings own several properties.”
Nathan’s phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His expression darkened.
“What?”
“Simon recovered part of the deleted lobby footage.”
Charlotte followed him downstairs.
The recovered video began minutes before Victoria attacked Charlotte.
At first, nothing unusual appeared.
Guests.
Staff.
Charlotte entering.
Then Simon slowed the recording.
“Watch Ms. Sterling.”
Victoria was seated near the windows.
She looked toward the mezzanine.
A man in a navy suit appeared.
The same man Charlotte had seen after Nathan arrived.
He descended halfway down the stairs.
Victoria noticed him.
He made a small gesture.
Two fingers against his wrist.
Victoria immediately stood and confronted Charlotte.
Charlotte watched the attack again.
The slap.
The shove.
The broken access card.
“This wasn’t random,” Mara said.
Charlotte felt cold.
Victoria had been directed.
“Can you identify the man?”
Simon enhanced the image.
The resolution was poor.
But enough.
Nathan leaned toward the screen.
“No.”
Charlotte noticed his reaction.
“You know him.”
“No.”
“You do.”
Nathan stood back.
Charlotte froze the frame.
The man appeared to be in his late fifties.
Silver hair.
Navy suit.
A distinctive ring on his right hand.
Mara stared at it.
“What?” Charlotte asked.
Mara whispered:
“I’ve seen that ring.”
“Where?”
“Your father had one.”
Charlotte looked at the screen.
“What are you saying?”
“Not the same ring.”
Mara leaned closer.
“The same crest.”
The image showed an engraved symbol.
A crown above a V.
Charlotte knew it.
The original Vale family seal.
Her grandfather had used it on private stationery.
Only a handful of ceremonial rings had ever existed.
Charlotte’s father owned one.
So did Charlotte.
One had belonged to her grandfather.
And one had been given to another person.
Charlotte suddenly remembered a photograph from her childhood.
Her father standing outside the Solmere with another man.
Two young executives.
Both wearing the Vale crest.
She had not seen that man in twenty years.
“No,” Charlotte whispered.
Nathan looked at her.
“What?”
May you like
Charlotte stared at the frozen image.
“I know who A.V. is.”
