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We waited silently in the meeting for Jenni. I couldn’t tell if there was tension between Ria and me, or if I was imagining it. I’d thought over Ria’s possible betrayal for a short while that morning. I’d figured that, even if she was colluding with Apollo somehow, she wouldn’t risk Jenni’s life. Apollo wasn’t a murderer, but he sure had a way of being able to make people disappear when he wanted them to.
Jenni arrived shortly after us, dressed in slightly different attire, but seeming otherwise like the placid, slightly nervous Jenni who ran my reception desk weekday mornings.
Ria greeted her with a hug at the meeting room door. “You’ve prepared to be your sister?”
Jenni nodded enthusiastically. “Watch.”
She waved a hand in front of her face and changed her posture. Her chipper smile was replaced with a kind of apathetic scowl. She folded her arms and stood with more tension. I’d not met Helli, but it was a good transformation.
Ria clapped her hands. “Perfect. Thank you so much for this, Jenni.”
“No, thank you! Both! It’s been a weight on my shoulders all this time. I’ve felt weak and stupid for not trying harder after my sister absconded with all the evidence. Even if I fail now... I’ll at least know I tried something, rather than just giving up the moment I found myself alone.”
Ria nodded empathetically. “Okay, you go and get into position now. Here’s an earpiece through which you can communicate with us. Oh, and, Forest...?”
Oh yeah. The last thing we had for her. I handed her a handbag, a duplicate of the one Helli used for her work items. “In here is a mini drone. I’ll be commanding it remotely. It’ll give us video footage, but the main advantage is that it has some built in abilities. Like... being able to burn through locks. That kind of thing.”
“Oh, wow. So I can just point at a door, and... zap?”
“You’ll have access to most places, so don’t go zapping every door. Just the top-secret ones.”
Jenni looked very excited to zap things. And in high spirits, she set off.
I looked at Ria. “Okay, Ria. You’re up.”
Ria grinned. She had the important duty of distracting Helli from reception long enough for Jenni to sneak in and take her place.
We’d managed to track down the details of Helli’s catsitter. We’d spent considerable time making phone calls from different numbers – and using different voices – enquiring about her services. We’d recorded the calls, and since Ria could do the best imitation of the catsitter’s voice, she would carry out the fake emergency call.
Around us, the monitors showed CCTV of the outside of Apollo’s offices. There was only one entrance and exit – that’s why Ria was always taken in via reception when she was summoned to a meeting – so we’d be able to see when Helli left, and then give Jenni the signal to enter.
Jenni’s microphone was also hooked up to the PA in the room. “I’m in position.”
Ria applauded. “Nice one, Jenni. Wait for our signal.”
Ria picked up the phone we’d gotten for the occasion and called Helli’s personal number. There was no answer. She tried again. Finally, Helli must have answered, because she started talking. “Oh god, Helga, I am so sorry but the cats got loose – yes, all of them! The sprinklers went off and I was trying to stop things getting wet but I left the door open – they must have gotten scared of the alarms and ran out!”
Helli used security cameras to monitor her cats, but it wasn’t a very secure system. It was only designed for casual home usage. All I’d needed to do was get someone to cut the internet off to her apartment temporarily so that when she checked the cameras she wouldn’t be able to get a signal. Check.
Ria hung up the phone. “She said she’s on her way.”
“Let’s see.” I turned to watch the CCTV.
Sure enough, only a minute later, Helli bolted out of the building and hailed a cab. The cab driver got out and tried to awkwardly wrestle her handbag off her to put it in the trunk. Helli protested, but still got in the cab, clutching her bag to her. She must have assumed it was simply an over-zealous driver, and not in fact... a plant we’d sent in to pickpocket her ID and pass.
Before pulling off, the driver chucked a ‘drinks carton’ into the nearby trash can that we’d set up just for that purpose. Then the car departed. The lid of the trash can was sealed over, only unlockable by Jenni, who had the code.
“Slight overkill, but it worked!” Ria punched the air. “Jenni, give it one minute, then it’s go time.”
We watched with bated breath as Jenni walked up to the trash can, surreptitiously keyed in the code and pocketed the pass, then made her way in through the reception doors.
She didn’t come out. The next thing we heard was her voice through the PA. “I’m in. No one noticed she was gone.”
I was pleased. “Perfect. First thing to do is figure out where Apollo is. I suspect he’s got the evidence in his office. He’s paranoid, so he always keeps things close to him. He used to sleep with his phone in his boxers.”
“Ew. Alright. I’ll check the system. Ooh! It’s similar to ours.” Jenni was an odd woman.
I didn’t know how she could remain so chipper. “Lovely.”
