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Levi stopped in front of a large wooden door, knocked twice, then stepped inside.
Chase stood there for a moment, taking in his surroundings before deciding whether or not he wanted to venture into La Maison’s creepy murder dungeon.
“Are you going to come in? Or stand out there all day waiting for an invitation?” Matteo asked through a mouth full of sarcasm.
Chase didn’t appreciate the attitude. It was Matteo’s thirst for power that got them into this situation in the first place.
He stepped into the large room and gasped.
The man had a fucking command center set up in the château’s basement.
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ. I think I just popped a boner!” Chase gasped, eyes moving from television screens to computers to surveillance systems.
The room was massive, with wall-to-wall surveillance screens, filing cabinets, and what amounted to high-end security equipment.
“I’ve never seen so much tech in one place before,” Chase whispered, impressed with the extensive set-up all around him.
“Impressive, isn’t it? This is where Daddy comes to perve out and watch all the naughty men in their depraved ways,” Levi whispered into Chase’s ear.
Chase shot a glance over at Matteo, who only rolled his eyes.
“There is no perving going on in this den of secrets,” Matteo explained.
“The office you broke into the other day, that is my public office. The place where I meet with clients and conduct my day-to-day official business. This, right here, is where I collect and store all the more sensitive information on my guests.”
“So, you have this whole place covered by surveillance? What about in the bedrooms or bathrooms? You got those areas covered as well?” Anger started to build as Chase tried to remember what he had said and done since he stepped foot in this place.
“Guests are well aware that they are under video surveillance by my team. It’s part of the terms they agree to when they first step foot on this property. I do what I need to do to maintain the safety and security of my staff and those I care about. And to answer your question, no, I do not surveille the bathrooms, so your zit-popping and jerk-off sessions are your own damn business,” Matteo said with a bit of a bite to his tone. He didn’t appear to enjoy having his actions questioned.
Levi took Chase’s hand and pulled him down onto a love seat that sat next to a fireplace, facing a large television screen.
“Now, if you’re done with your idiotic accusations, we can get started.”
The screen in front of Chase came to life, displaying images from Matteo’s laptop.
“When we got home last night, I spent the evening scouring through my files to see what information we had and what information I had missed. According to my information logs, key information was deleted from my files in the days leading up to Edwin’s departure. It appears that he had been planning on stealing this information from me and wanted to ensure that he held on to it all.” Matteo sat down on the edge of his desk and took a sip of his coffee. “This profile here is missing the guest’s last name, their address, and their photo from its file. All we know is his first name, the company he worked for, and, of course, information on his sexual proclivities. This profile over here contains his full name and address but is missing information on his spouse and employer. My guess is that Edwin found out something about this guest’s spouse that could be used to extort money.
“Finally, if we turn to Mr. Peabody, the man who you suspect may be a serial kidnapper, information pertaining to his address and employment has been deleted. Given the common last name, it would be almost impossible to locate where this man lives just by doing a name search.”
“But I thought you said that you knew this man,” Chase asked, glancing from Matteo to Levi.
“We do. But do you know how many guests we get in and out of this place each month? Also, we haven’t seen Mr. Peabody in at least four months. Which is why we rely on these records to help keep our guests’ details straight.”
Sitting next to Chase, Levi spoke up. “Even me. I remember the type of person that he was and what he liked to do when he was here, but I couldn’t tell you where he lived or which school he worked at.”
“So, how does this work exactly? I doubt each boy comes down here and reads up on his… date… before hanging out with him for the evening,” Chase asked, curious how the whole thing operated.
“Well, when a guest checks in at the front, the hostess does a quick search of their file. If the guest has a preferred companion, the hostess will discreetly communicate with the dancer through a tiny earpiece that each boy wears, giving them a brief synopsis of the guest’s details, name, occupation, likes, dislikes, whatever we’ve been able to collect on them during their past visits. This way, the companion can treat their guest like they are old friends. It makes the guests feel special and valued.”
“Just until your information gets stolen and used for blackmail,” Chase added, giving Matteo a little dig of his own.
Matteo didn’t seem too impressed. He continued flipping through some more files on the screen. “My guess is Edwin took the names and information on guests who he thought he could extort and tried to keep me from stopping him by deleting key information from those files.”
Frustrated, Chase glared at the man on the screen. “So, what do we do now? Do you have a paper file or application form somewhere that you can check?”
“Unfortunately, no. We don’t keep paper copies of documents for privacy reasons. I have a computer expert friend sifting through the files to see if he can restore any of the information. Other than that, you’ll just have to do good old-fashioned investigative work. Levi here can assist you with background info on the subject.”
What a waste of time. How could someone just come in here and delete information from these confidential files? Didn’t the man use passwords and such?
