Page 68 of Benjamin and the Thief

“Not the dresser. The date.”

He looked again. “Yes, I see the date. What about it?”

He switched to another video.

“So, this is the video from the supposed break-in taken by the same camera.”

Benjamin nodded. He watched as Santiago came out of the walk-in closet, the jewels in his hand.

“Now look at the date again.”

He did and shrugged. “Not sure what you mean. The date’s right at the same spot as on the other video.”

“True. But look at the format.”

He looked at it again when he finally understood what Sebastian was getting at.

“Oh, my God!”

“Exactly. The date on this video shows as day-month-year like the Europeans do. Whereas on the video of you and Catalina, the date shows as month-day-year like we do in the US. Yet it’s supposed to be the same camera, the same system. That’s what made me look a little closer.”

“And?”

“There were a few more, albeit tiny, inconsistencies. If you look at the leg of the chair next to the window, you’ll see that it doesn’t match the leg on the authentic video.”

Again, he switched back and forth between the two videos. Sebastian was right. The legs of the chair didn’t match perfectly.

“Why didn’t they find this during the trial?” Benjamin murmured to himself.

“It’s not in the prosecution’s interest to look so closely. They wouldn’t discredit their own evidence. That’s the defense’s job.”

“The defense didn’t have any money to get their own expert witness.”

“That explains it.” He tapped on the video that was instrumental in convicting Santiago. “This video was made using AI. Admittedly, it’s very good. But not perfect. If I could compare it to the actual room where it was taken, I guarantee you I can find other flaws.”

“You’re the best, Sebastian. I could hug you! With this piece of evidence, he can appeal his conviction. And with what Delilah found about the Prestons’ finances, we have a motive for why they framed him.”

“Always happy to help,” Sebastian said with a grin. He rose. “I’ll send you a detailed report with my findings to use for the appeal.”

Benjamin got up and slapped Sebastian on the shoulder. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me and Catalina.”

“Where is she? I thought she was here with you.”

“Unfortunately, there was a little incident.”

“An incident?”

“Ross bit her, and I’m afraid now she knows we’re vampires.”

Sebastian grimaced. “She did a runner?”

“Yep.”

“I’m sure you can smooth things over with her. It would be a shame if you didn’t.”

“I’m giving her a few hours to cool off.”

“Don’t wait too long.”