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She almost laughed. Dana had said the same thing. It must be a small town thing. “Quite possibly. Is Dad around?”
“No, he’s gone out to the hardware stores. He wanted to get some recycle bags and a new rake. The rest of the stubborn leaves will fall like snow with all this rain and wind. He wanted to get a start on getting them up.”
Disappointment rocked her. She wanted to talk to her dad about the Manor. “Okay. I’ve got to go but hopefully I will see you later.”
“Love you, honey.”
“Love you too, Mom,” she said and hung up.
She’d have to wait until tonight to quiz her father about the Manor but she knew he’d know the inside scoop. Everyone always said it was old women who gossiped but she’d always found that they couldn’t hold a candle to old men. If there was anything to know about Everlasting Manor, he would know it.
In the meantime, she grabbed the file on Astrid and headed back over to the sofa. She wanted to re-read every word and make a list of questions for Jason and Mandy. There had to be something there that pointed to Astrid’s killer, something besides green paint.
CHAPTERTEN
Flynn leaned forward in his chair. “Do you know the exact date Astrid went missing?”
Shah frowned. “It was over the Fourth of July weekend. She went out supposedly with friends and never returned home again.”
A weight settled on Flynn’s shoulders. He’d been involved in a lot of shit in his youth and even more in the military as a sniper, but none of that held a candle to the shit he saw working for the Society. And yet, the idea of a young girl going missing like that made him ill. He was angry and sad all at once and he didn’t even know her. Life was never what he’d thought it would turn out to be and now hers was over.
“Do we have video of that weekend?’
Shah glanced across the desk at him. “What kind of video?”
“Of the rooms in the Manor.”
“We do.” Shah studied him. “Do you think someone here might have had something to do with Astrid’s death?”
“It’s been suggested.” He wasn’t going to give more details than that.
Shah blew out a breath. “That would be horrible but also make things very difficult.”
“Yeah. Cops sniffing around would not be helpful. So do you have video?”
“Yes.” Shah stood. “Come on I’ll show you now that the power is back up.” He moved from around his desk and Flynn followed him into another room. One wall was filled with computer screens with a desk below it that held a few keyboards and mice. Equipment racks loaded with computer servers lined the opposite wall. “This is the in-house security video room.” He sat down at a chair in the center of the desk and started typing.
Flynn took the chair next to him as the screens came to life.
“Okay, first let’s start with last night, just before the power went out the second time. See if anyone entered the unfinished section of the basement.”
Shah frowned. “Okay. Why? Did something happen?”
“Not really. Just thought I heard something and wanted to be sure no one had come into that area.” He sure as hell wasn’t going to confess someone got the drop on him.
Shah pulled up the video but the only people who went into the unfinished area were him and Flynn. Then Donovan. So, the ghost struck again. Curiouser and curiouser.
Flynn was not amused. “Show me the date when Astrid disappeared.”
Shah pulled up another video. “This is the night Astrid went missing. I’ll start at the main door around five p.m.” He hit a button and the video started, not that it was easy to tell only the time counter moved. Shah hit fast forward and the screen picked up speed. He stopped it when someone appeared on screen. It was Mrs. Carruthers going out. Then the time counter said fifty-three minutes later, she came back. Groups of people went out and came back for the rest of the night. They stopped at eight a.m. the following morning.
Shah let out a long breath. “She wasn’t here.” His shoulders sagged. “I’ve got to say, that’s a relief.”
Flynn didn’t comment. He wasn’t convinced. “Can you show me footage of all the outside doors?”
“I can…but do you think it’s necessary?”
“I do.”
