Page 26 of Chameleon Killer

The consultant passed near Mallory’s desk but didn’t stop. On the footage, he paused by the copier, opened his portfolio, removed papers, waited, collected them, then moved on toward the executive elevators.

Nothing overt.

Nothing dramatic.

Nothing anyone would remember.

“Does he have authorization for executive access?” I asked.

“Badge logs say yes.”

“Who approved it?”

Flores hesitated. I looked down at him.

“Corporate operations,” he said. “Generic admin clearance. Looks like it was pushed through this morning.”

“By whom?”

“Still tracing.”

“Trace faster.”

He nodded and turned back to the keyboard. On the monitor, Mallory stopped at her desk. Her body language changed before her face did.

Shoulders tightened and her hands flexed. She shifted her weight as she studied the desk.

She noticed something and on the second monitor, I caught Carter noticing her attention.

Good reporters noticed details. Great ones noticed people noticing details. Carter had done exactly that. I disliked how quickly he'd read her.

Mallory spoke. No audio. But Carter’s attention sharpened immediately.

Flores brought up a second angle.

Mallory pointed to the chair, then the flowers.

Flowers? I made a note to check those and who delivered them.

“Audio?” I asked.

“Not from that camera.”

Dammit.

We had installed enough cameras to make executives feel secure but not enough microphones to make their lawyers nervous.

“Get me the elevator footage.”

Flores switched feeds.

The consultant entered the executive elevator alone.

“Pause.”

The frame froze.

Radley Pike stared slightly away from the camera, face partially angled down as though reading from the folder in his hand. Not hiding. Not standing out. The faint slouch to his posture encouraged the eye to slide past him.