Chapter 8 - The Missing Video
Martin immediately checked the flash drive’s metadata.
“One file was deleted.”
“When?”
He studied the screen.
“Yesterday.”
Claire stared.
“Yesterday?”
Sarah turned toward Martin.
“Who had access to this box?”
Martin stiffened.
“Only me.”
Noah looked at him.
“Then either you deleted it or somebody got into your office.”
Martin bristled.
“I’ve represented this family for twenty-eight years.”
Sarah raised a hand.
“Enough.”
She believed Martin was frightened.
But frightened people could still lie.
“Check your security cameras.”
Martin called building security.
Ten minutes later, they watched footage from the previous afternoon.
At 4:13 p.m., a cleaning cart entered the hallway.
A woman wearing a janitorial uniform stopped outside Martin’s office.
She unlocked the door.
She disappeared inside for seven minutes.
When she left, Sarah froze the video.
Claire whispered.
“No.”
The woman wore a cap.
Her face was partially hidden.
But the walk was familiar.
The posture was familiar.
Noah said it first.
“Victoria.”
Martin called security again.
No employee matching the woman’s appearance had been scheduled on that floor.
Sarah felt an unexpected surge of admiration.
Victoria had been one step ahead.
But she had also made a mistake.
She didn’t know Martin’s cameras recorded in 4K.
Security enlarged the image.
As Victoria reached for the office door, her sleeve pulled back.
A distinctive bracelet appeared.
Claire stared at it.
“I bought that for her.”
Sarah looked at her.
Claire swallowed.
“For Christmas last year.”
Sarah said nothing.
Claire’s embarrassment deepened.
“Julian told me Victoria didn’t have family nearby.”
Sarah touched her daughter’s hand.
“You were being kind.”
“I was being stupid.”
“No.”
Sarah looked at Victoria’s frozen image.
“They counted on your kindness.”
Martin copied the footage.
Sarah then called Mercer Development’s independent board chair, Raymond Ellis.
“Raymond, I need an emergency meeting.”
“About what?”
“Fraud.”
Silence.
“How serious?”
Sarah looked at the transfer records.
“Possibly criminal.”
Raymond exhaled.
“Who?”
“Julian.”
Another silence.
Then Raymond said something Sarah didn’t expect.
“Sarah, don’t come to the office.”
“Why?”
“Julian called an emergency board meeting for ten this morning.”
“To do what?”
“He’s asking the board to declare you mentally incompetent.”
Claire gasped.
Sarah felt her pulse slow.
Not quicken.
Slow.
Julian wasn’t running anymore.
He was attacking.
Raymond continued.
“He claims your grief has caused paranoia and that you assaulted Victoria in his office.”
Sarah looked at her shaved hair.
“And the board believes him?”
“Some might.”
Sarah stood.
“What time did you say?”
“Ten.”
She checked her watch.
9:22.
Martin shook his head.
“Sarah, you need to prepare.”
May you like
She picked up Thomas’s flash drive.
“I have been preparing for three years.”
