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Shah frowned but brought up the footage of the back door in the salon and when that was empty, he did the same for the dining room. Still nothing. Flynn wanted to call it after each one but knew it paid to be thorough. It was his job to protect the Society and if someone had done something that threatened the organization, then he had to make sure that threat was neutralized.
“This is the last one. It’s a side door off the storage area.” Shah started the video. They zoomed through until ten-oh-five and then the door opened. Someone came in but they were wearing a hat that was pulled low and the collar of the jacket was pulled up to block the face. The cameras didn’t record in color so it was hard to discern if they were male or female. It was hard to discern anything about them.
A second later, a young girl walked in. She was wearing a dress and her hair was down around her shoulders. Shah swore.
“Astrid?” Flynn asked.
“Yes.” Shah typed furiously on the keyboard. The video fast-forwarded. There was nothing else. No one left again.
Flynn stared at the screen. “How is that possible?”
Shah shook his head. “It isn’t. I don’t have a fucking clue. We’ve been through all the video of the entrances of the house. She didn’t leave. At least not that night.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. What are the options? She left a few days or weeks later? She was carried out in something a day or two or a week or two later? Is it possible to secret someone in this house for a long period of time?”
Shah’s mouth hung open. “Are you serious? Do you think someone killed her here and left her body on ice until they could get it out?”
“Right now, I’m just throwing out ideas. What we do know is someone knew about the cameras so they knew they could possibly be seen. How often do you check the cameras?”
Shah shrugged. “Never, unless I have a reason. You know the types of things that go on here. I don’t look at the video unless it’s necessary. At the gate, Karl keeps people out for the most part. If something bigger crosses our outside cameras, we check it but it’s always deer. No one comes into the house uninvited.” He pointed at the screen. “She was obviously invited but I have no idea by whom, if she left alive, or was smuggled out dead.”
“Check with Karl and see if anyone signed her in.” It was doubtful. Not if they smuggled her in the side door, but it was worth a shot. If this came out, the cops would be asking. Flynn would have to destroy any evidence of Astrid ever being on the property. “You’re going to have to watch the video for the next few days after she arrived. See if you can pinpoint when she left and how. But first, show me the video for that area of the house.”
Shah hesitated. “I can’t. There is no video in that area. It’s mostly storage with a second billiard room, a TV room, and a game room. The truth is, when the new section was built, whoever it was did a crappy job and we’ve had all kinds of problems with the area. Can’t get it hardwired for the cameras. We’ve tried for the last year to get it set up. No dice. After a while Mrs. Carruthers told me to stop trying. The camera by the door works and the rest didn’t matter. I take my cues from her. She didn’t want to have to keep making excuses to the guests as to why those rooms were off limits as we tried to get the installation right.”
This was a fucking nightmare. He wanted to yell at Shah but there was no point. He was going to have to sit down with the man and explain his job to him a little better… But even more Mrs. Carruthers was going to have to go. She was a menace to the Society, and likely her meddling was the reason they were in real trouble now.
“Okay show me the one in the foyer. If they left that area without leaving the house, they must have gone through the foyer.”
Shah brought up the feed quick time and they reviewed it. No evidence that Astrid had crossed the area. “I don’t get it,” he said.
“Neither do I.” Flynn was mystified and that pissed him off. There was something they were missing. Harper thought Astrid had been in the library. Maybe she had. It was time to check it out. “Keep trying. I’m going to go upstairs and poke around.”
Shah nodded. “I’ll see if there’s anything on the system that indicates a window was opened for any length of time or if the camera was turned off or…”
Flynn didn’t bother to listen to the rest. He left the room and headed toward the hallway. A window was an option, he supposed. But that would require more than one person. He couldn’t imagine one person opening the window, pushing Astrid’s body out, then climbing out themselves and shutting it again. Then what? Pick Astrid up and lug her to a car?
Maybe she hadn’t been killed until later. She could have gone through the window of her own volition. But why would she do that? What possible explanation could be given to make her crawl out a window?
He came to the top of the stairs in the main foyer and paused.
“Susan, Harper, what brings you here?” Gina’s voice floated over to him.
“We came to speak to you,” Susan said and linked her arm through Gina’s. Flynn came around the corner and watched them go into the salon. Harper was a few steps behind and she waited for them to get further ahead and then she turned toward the stairs.
“Going somewhere?” Flynn asked as he leaned against the banister.
Harper jumped. “I didn’t see you there.”
“Obviously,” he said with a smile. She was wearing a dark pair of jeans and a deep burgundy sweater that accented her coloring and cleavage quite nicely. Her black rain jacket was much too big for her and made her look like she was swimming in it. Her hair was back up in a messy-looking bun. She looked like a sexy waif and damn if his dick didn’t stand at attention. “Would you like to go check out the library?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You would let me?”
“All you have to do is ask.”
“Fine. May I see the library?”
Flynn smiled. “Sure.” He came around the banister and grabbed her hand pulling her up the staircase with him. He liked the feel of her hand in his and although he should probably let it go, he didn’t. Instead, he crossed the hall to the library and opened the door, ushering her inside ahead of him mostly so he could try and get a glimpse of her ass in her jeans. The fabric kissed every curve and his lips twitched. She turned.
