Authors: Camilla Chafer
"I think so. Yeah, that's him," I said as Don walked into the shot, wearing a navy, zip-up jacket and a red cap. He took off his cap and looked around, glancing up directly at the camera. He stood still for a couple of seconds, looking around like he was waiting for someone.
"He's cute," said Alice. "What exactly did he do?"
"Nothing, I hope."
"Look, there's me!" We watched Alice walking past Don and then out of shot. Don looked up at the camera again and Herb hit
pause
, freezing his picture.
"You really don't remember him?" I asked Alice.
"Nope."
"Okay, Herb, can you play it again?" We leaned in as Don stepped to the left, limping on one leg, turned around and sat down, leaving only his lower legs and feet in the shot. He stayed seated for the next few minutes, occasionally moving one foot or the other. "Can you run this at double-speed?" I asked.
"Sure."
We watched Don's legs doing nothing at a faster pace until I conceded defeat. "He was definitely there," I said.
"You know, I remember that was a really busy day," said Alice as I turned around. "I think there were a lot of patients waiting to be seen. It might have been the day when a minibus overturned. We had a whole bunch of kids with broken bones, and all kinds of scrapes and traumatic injuries."
Lucas already told me about that when he confirmed Don's visit, so I nodded. "That would explain why he said he was in the ER so long."
"I can check the charts from that day."
"I'd appreciate that. Do you know who the other nurses were on duty during that shift?"
"I can find out for certain. I doubt any of them will remember him though. Faces kind of run together in this job, but I'll get you their names anyway. We all switch to an earlier shift tomorrow so I'll ask everyone then."
"Do you want to go through anymore tapes?" asked Herb. "I don't recall any incident report from that day, so I don't think he got into any trouble here, if that's what you're looking for?"
"Oh no, I just needed to confirm he was definitely at the hospital." I sighed, disheartened that I verified Don's alibi. So much for his affair with Katya, which gave him a motive. Perhaps Lauren interpreted what she saw. Perhaps she just needed someone else to be guilty. "Can you transfer this onto a disk for me?"
"Sure," agreed Herb, tapping his keyboard again. He pulled a disk from a drawer under his desk, stuck it in a drive, and we waited.
I left with Herb smiling, and a disk in my hand. "I think he's sweet on you," I told Alice and she laughed.
"Herb? No. I helped his wife deliver twins in the parking lot last year. One of them was breech. He still thanks me for it every day."
"Aww. Thanks for this—" I held up the disk "—I'm really stuck on this case. I don't know what to do next."
"You'll figure it out," said Alice as someone yelled her name while running past. "You always do. Just believe in yourself. I better go see what that's all about." She was gone before I could say goodbye.
Stepping into the parking lot, I fastened my jacket and looked around for my car before realizing that I didn't have it. But I still needed to get home. After I checked my wallet for cash, I sighed, dialing the cab company and waiting in the cold for the car to arrive.
There was a lot to be said for working freelance. With Lauren's check safely deposited in the bank, I covered my body in my very best bird-print pajamas, and with a notepad in my lap, I felt free to pursue the case anyway I pleased. Unfortunately, I didn't get any further than setting the coffee machine on and slathering my toast with butter. Beside me, my phone lay silently on the couch. So far, I counted zero missed calls from Solomon, three from my mom, one from Maddox, and two text messages from Lily, asking me if I solved the case yet. I didn't answer any of them and I was still peeved that Solomon didn't attempt to make any contact. That gave me one very worrying thing to think about: were Solomon and I history?
Pushing the thought to the back of my mind, I picked up the disk Herb gave me the day before. The images of Don, standing stationary, while other people moved around the ER kept playing through my mind all night. Something that I couldn't quite put my finger on bothered me. Getting up, I walked over to the DVD player and slid the disk inside before retreating to the kitchen to refresh my coffee. Returning to the couch, I grabbed the remote control and settled in for the dullest few hours of my life as I hit
play.
Fast-forwarding to the moment Don stepped into shot, I studied him carefully. I watched him glance at the camera, standing solidly in view for a minute or two before taking a seat. It was almost as if he wanted to make sure he was seen, I thought, making note of it.
After he sat down, all I could see were the jeans on his legs and his sneakers. His feet occasionally moved, and sometimes, there was a hand on his leg. It was tempting to watch at double speed, but I had a feeling I was missing something, something crucial, so I watched even more closely.
Ten minutes after he sat down, there was a commotion and nurses jogged through the ER. That had to be the bus crash Alice mentioned, the one that caused delays in the patients’ treatments that day. I continued watching Don's feet. At around the fifteen-minute mark, his feet moved out of shot, returning again less than a minute later. Then, for the next two hours, Don's feet shuffled occasionally until they popped out of shot once more, returning to view again a minute later. Finally, he got up, raising his hand and limping forwards. I watched him briefly halt, and turn his head towards the camera before running a hand through his hair. A nurse approached him, sliding his arm over her shoulders and helping him toward the swinging doors.
I clicked off the video and leaned back, still puzzled over what I'd seen.
My eyes brightened.
It was so obvious!
Why didn't I understand it before?
Jogging upstairs, I undressed quickly. I showered and blew dry my hair before dressing in tight jeans, a striped sweater, and heeled boots. I added the barest hint of makeup. I might have been a novice at freelance PI, but that didn't mean I had to dress like I was down-and-out, by wearing pajamas and feeling sorry for myself.
Before I left the house, I powered up my laptop and swapped the disk from the DVD player, putting it into the laptop's disk drive. I took a screenshot of Don's face as he looked up at the camera and sent it to my home printer. Minutes later, I flew out the door, armed with my photo and a surge of renewed enthusiasm.
I knew how the murder happened! I thought I knew why.
And I thought I knew who the killer was.
All I had to do now was prove it.
~
The hospital was as quiet as it was yesterday; and I had no problem finding Alice. She was standing at the information desk in her scrubs.
"Two visits in two days. I'm either lucky or a possible suspect," she laughed.
"Actually, I hoped I could show my suspect's photo to your colleagues, and see if anybody recognized him."
"Sure, go ahead, but like I said yesterday, all faces blend together after a while."
Alice took me around to her colleagues while it was quiet, and introduced me to her co-workers as her “cool, PI sister-in-law.” It warmed my heart that she thought I was cool; and I was glad word hadn't yet gotten around to her about my precarious job status.
Cut it out,
I told myself, as I produced the photo one more time.
You are a professional. You have been employed to do a job and you're doing it. That makes you a PI and a damn good one.
"Do you recognize this guy?" I asked another nurse, my fifth interviewee. I threw in the date as well as the information about the bus crash to help her remember and pinpoint exactly, right down to the hour, whom I was asking about.
"Yeah, I saw him. He was cute and he winked at me."
"Are you sure?" I asked, both pleased and surprised that someone actually recognized Don.
"Yeah, absolutely. Made my day."
"Do you recall how long he was in the waiting room?"
"Let's see... Not long. I saw him before those crash kids came in. I think he went away, and then he came back later. Probably saw how long the wait was."
"You definitely don't remember him sitting and waiting? He was seated just over there," I said, pointing to the vending machine across the room.
"He definitely wasn't waiting. I kind of looked out for him, and he definitely wasn't there. I remember well because after his name was called, I treated him."
"You did? Can you remember what happened?"
"I can't tell you any medical details. That's against hospital policy."
"How about a brief overview?"
The nurse glanced at Alice, who nodded. "He said he twisted his knee earlier that day and was worried he might’ve torn a ligament, but I checked him over and his knee was fine. Not even any swelling. I told him to just take it easy for a couple of days and gave him a prescription for a painkiller. What did he do?"
"I'm not sure yet."
"Is he in trouble?"
"Maybe."
"Then I'm glad I didn't try to get his number. I've had enough bad boys. I'm holding out for a good one."
"I'll keep on the lookout," I promised and she laughed.
"I think you spoke to all the nurses. Can I help you with anything else?" Alice asked.
I thanked her and said no, and we briefly discussed the upcoming family dinner before I left. I walked to my VW, which was parked in the nearest lot. Inside, I set the timer on my phone and drove over to the hotel, parking about a street away. Picking up my phone, I timed the drive, which was twelve minutes, and I made a note that there was light traffic.
Looking over toward the hotel, I watched the increasing hordes of paparazzi filling the sidewalk. They sprang into action any time there was movement around the doors. In the duration that I was parked there, the band didn't make any appearances.
While I watched, I wondered about the surveillance I'd seen, and mentally reconnected the dots I'd joined together. I was sure I caught Don in a lie. The nurse remembering that he left and returned later fully supported my theory. I was reasonably sure Don switched places with someone else in the two minutes his feet temporarily disappeared from the screen. With the rest of his body in a blank spot, and someone else dressed in the same jeans and sneakers, Don could have easily made it appear on the hospital security tapes that he waited in the ER for a few hours. I only saw his face for less than a couple of minutes at the very start and the very end of the footage. Everything in the middle showed only his legs and feet, which could have belonged to anyone. However, proving in court that he actually made a switch might present a problem.
"If security footage can tell lies at the hospital, maybe it can tell the truth at the hotel," I said out loud. I was gazing up at the hotel I no longer had any access to, despite it being full of my ex-boss's staff.
Grabbing my phone, I dialed the private number Lauren gave me. She answered after a couple of rings.
"How's it going?" she asked.
"I've found something interesting," I told her, "but I need your help to verify it."
"Shoot."
"I need to get into the hotel to see the security tapes. Can you help me get access?"
"Why don't you just walk in?"
"Because Solomon's guys are all over the building, and I don't want them to see me."
"Oh, right. I'm still at the hotel. I can get you in."
"Where're Amelia and Shelley?"
"They've gone shopping to get new outfits for interviews."
"What about Joe?"
"He's with them. He and Amelia are being all kissy-kissy. It's gross."
"What about security?"
"Just those two big dudes in front of the elevator. All the other security are downstairs."
"Okay, I need to get into the building and as far as I know, every exit is covered."
"Not the kitchen."
"The kitchen?"
"You know, where they make the food and stuff. I had to get out of the hotel that way yesterday because some fans got through the service doors. No one is guarding the kitchen doors because they only open from the inside. I can let you in that way."
"Okay, I think I know where you mean. Meet you there in ten minutes?"
"Sure, but how do I get away from all the security?"
"Don't worry about them. Just say you're hungry and pitch some kind of diva fit as you storm off. Oh, and scream a lot. If that doesn't scare them, cry. That makes all men uncomfortable."
"Got it."
I got out of the car before losing my nerve and walked away from the hotel, circling back a block later and taking a side road. It led me out of sight of the paparazzi and towards the west side of the employee parking lot that bordered the small garden for hotel residents' use. I had to climb onto a dumpster and sling my leg over the wall to drop into the walled garden, something that, surprisingly, didn't occur to any of the crazed fans yet. Or maybe it did. I dropped to a crouch behind a fragrant bush when I spotted a security guard strolling past. With less than two yards between us, I had to hold my breath as I waited for him to pass by. When he stepped through an arch and behind a hedge, I took off for the employee gate at the other end of the garden. I hurried through it without being stopped, pulling the gate closed. I hastily walked around the narrow, paved path until I reached the kitchen doors. Just as I got there, one popped open and Lauren stuck her head around.
"I thought you'd never get here," she said. "Do you know how many people I had to scream at? I even had to pop an extra button for Josh!"
I suppressed a smile as I stepped through, closing the door behind me. "Thanks."
"Where to now?"
"I need to get to the security suite. It's on the second floor."
"Let's go."
"You've gotten me this far; you don't need to do anything else."
Lauren squared her shoulders. "Oh, please! I got you in and I want to know what you got."
"I don't want to get you into any trouble."
"Yeah?" she scoffed. "Like the murder I'm going to get charged with? Like a little B and E counts?"
"It's not B and E because you let me in as your guest."
"Whatever. I'm paying you, so I'm coming."
"Uh..." I paused, unable to find a reason to argue with her.
"You need me. What if someone catches you?" Lauren pointed out. "You just got fired and it'd be so embarrassing to be thrown out of the hotel on your ass."
"I quit!"
"Same difference. I'm your boss now, so let's go."
I preferred the Lauren I met yesterday; the Lauren who was scared and needed help. However, if this Lauren were bound and determined to be my sidekick, truthfully, she could have been useful to have around. If anyone challenged me, I was pretty sure she could distract them long enough for me to achieve my objective. I had to find out if Don was on any cameras in the hotel around the time of Katya's murder.
"Okay," I conceded. "Let's go. We'll take the service stairs."
The security suite was at the end of a long corridor. With all the security concentrating on the areas the paparazzi and fans might try to break into, we had no problem reaching the suite uninterrupted and virtually unnoticed.
I knocked on the door and went in after a man barked, "Enter!"
"Hi," I told him, improvising on the spot. "I'm with B4U's security detail..."
"The divas on the top floor? My little girls love them," he said. "Every second word in my house is B4U. B4U this, B4U tha... Oh my gosh." He scrambled to his feet as Lauren stepped inside and bumped the door shut with her butt.
"I bet they'd love tickets to our show," she said.
He gaped at her before stuttering, "We couldn't get them. They sold out too fast. Wait until I tell my girls I actually met you! They'll be so thrilled!"
Lauren reached into her pocket and pulled out a clutch of tickets that she waved at him. "How do four tickets sound for our biggest fans?" she asked.
"Unbelievable," said the guard.