Chapter 3 - the recording from six years ago
Evelyn pulled the brass key from the lock and tried it again.
The door did not move.
“Sophie, step back.”
She struck the door with her shoulder.
Nothing.
On the other side, footsteps moved away through the service corridor.
Sophie remained surprisingly calm.
“Grandpa’s key opened the room,” she said. “Maybe it opens another door.”
They searched the dark monitoring room.
Behind one stack of equipment, Evelyn found an older metal cabinet. The brass key fit its lock.
Inside were several outdated recording devices, maintenance logs, and a dusty laptop.
Evelyn inserted the memory card.
The laptop took almost a minute to recognize it.
A folder appeared.
The date matched the night Elise died.
There were three video files.
The first showed the hotel’s underground parking garage.
Elise stepped from an elevator wearing a red coat. She looked frightened and kept glancing over her shoulder.
Evelyn had never seen the coat before.
Elise approached a dark SUV and opened the passenger door.
A man waited behind the steering wheel, but his face was hidden by the camera angle.
The second video showed Elise returning twenty minutes later.
She was crying.
She carried a white envelope against her chest.
A second figure followed her from the garage shadows.
Marianne Hawthorne.
Their stepmother seized Elise’s arm.
There was no audio, but the argument was unmistakable.
Elise pulled free and hurried toward her car.
Marianne returned to the dark SUV.
The driver opened the door for her.
The third recording began eleven minutes later.
A mechanic wearing a Bellmere uniform approached Elise’s vehicle.
He looked around, knelt near the rear wheel, and reached beneath the car.
The image blurred whenever he turned toward the camera.
Evelyn leaned closer.
A silver crest was stitched onto his sleeve.
The Blackwood family crest.
The laptop suddenly displayed a warning.
Remote deletion initiated.
“No,” Evelyn whispered.
The first file disappeared.
Then the second.
Evelyn removed the memory card before the third file vanished.
The laptop screen went black.
Someone was connected to the old system.
Someone knew they were watching.
A soft click came from the door.
It opened.
Marcus Reed stood outside.
He looked from Evelyn to Sophie, then to the memory card in Evelyn’s hand.
“You were not supposed to find this room.”
“Were we supposed to remain locked inside it?”
Marcus’s expression tightened.
“I did not lock the door.”
“Preston asked you to create a blind spot.”
“You read lips?”
“I saw enough.”
Marcus glanced down the corridor.
“Do not discuss this here.”
“Why?”
“Because the Bellmere’s modern cameras are secure. The old internal system is not.”
“The recording showed my sister on the night she died.”
Marcus went still.
“What recording?”
Evelyn held up the memory card.
He reached for it.
She pulled it away.
“Who was driving the SUV?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who wore the Blackwood uniform?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why was this card hidden in your monitoring room?”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Because your father gave it to my predecessor six years ago.”
“My father died eight years ago.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“That makes no sense.”
“Arthur Hawthorne prepared evidence long before events occurred. He believed someone inside his company was arranging accidents.”
“And you never gave this to the police?”
“I found it two weeks ago.”
“Convenient.”
Marcus looked at Sophie.
“The child should not be here.”
“The child is the reason I am here.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Then protect her by leaving the hotel.”
“The trust requires our attendance.”
“That is exactly why you should leave.”
Before Evelyn could respond, voices approached.
Adrian appeared at the end of the corridor with Celeste and Preston.
“There you are,” Adrian said.
His pleasant expression did not reach his eyes.
Preston looked at the open monitoring-room door.
Then he noticed the memory card in Evelyn’s hand.
Celeste took Sophie’s hand.
“We have been searching everywhere.”
Evelyn immediately pulled Sophie back.
“She stays with me.”
Celeste’s smile vanished.
“Of course.”
Preston stepped toward the monitoring room.
“That area is restricted.”
“So is tampering with a car before its driver dies,” Evelyn said.
The color drained from his face.
Only for a second.
Then his expression became amused.
“You should be careful with accusations.”
“You should be careful with cameras.”
Adrian placed a calming hand on Preston’s shoulder.
“This is a wedding rehearsal, not a courtroom.”
He turned toward Evelyn.
“Whatever you believe you found, I’m sure there is an explanation.”
“I’m sure there is too.”
Evelyn slipped the card into her pocket.
“That is why I intend to find it.”
As she and Sophie walked away, Celeste called after her.
“Evelyn.”
She turned.
Celeste stood between Adrian and Preston.
For one moment, fear appeared beneath the bride’s polished expression.
“Do not open the white envelope,” Celeste said.
Preston looked sharply at her.
Adrian’s hand tightened around Celeste’s waist.
Evelyn remembered Elise carrying a white envelope in the garage recording.
“What white envelope?”
May you like
Celeste lowered her eyes.
“I said too much.”
