Chapter 22
“I’ll need all of this in writing.” Elvira snatched a sheet of paper from the printer tray and set it on the desk.
“You have my word. I’ll pay you seven hundred dollars in cash. Pete agrees to let you dig an eight by eight section of the backyard in exchange for you accessing the hospital’s cameras to find out who visited Sonny before his death.”
“Still, this is a big deal. I don’t want Pete changing his mind.” Elvira grabbed a pen and began writing. She hummed under her breath, creating bullet points and spelling out the terms of the trio’s agreement.
Dernice nudged her sister’s arm. “You’re really gonna do it? I have to admit I’m shocked.”
“Believe me, I was dead set against it. Getting my license pulled would be.” Elvira made a slicing motion across her neck. “Almost as bad as the health department shutting Ravello’s down.”
“I will be measuring the exact amount of dig space,” Pete warned.
“I figured as much.” Elvira tipped her hand back and forth. “Are we talking general vicinity of the backyard, near your garage, or a specific section?”
“I haven’t decided yet. What I do know is the dig area cannot and will not disrupt my customers, family or guests.” Pete leaned in, driving home his point. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly.” Elvira mockingly saluted him. “As long as we’re all on the same page about the terms of the agreement, I’m good. Starting when? Today? Tomorrow?”
“Let’s at least wait until tomorrow.”
“Fair enough. I’ll need to assemble my equipment and make sure I have everything.” Elvira began humming again, in a much more cheerful mood at the thought of resuming her treasure hunt.
“I think this sums up our agreement.” She handed the paper to Carlita.
Carlita slipped her reading glasses on and went over the handwritten terms. “I can get the cash to you tomorrow. I plan on being there when you dig to make sure you don’t get carried away.”
“Thank you, dear,” Pete said.
“It’s the least I can do.” She handed the sheet to him. “I believe this covers everything.”
He studied the paper. “It’s acceptable.”
“Sign, please.” Elvira handed each of them a pen. “Hold on. On second thought, I would like a diagram of the exact dig location.”
“We can go over the exact location tomorrow,” Pete said.
“What time? I was thinking if I started early, I could put in a solid two hours of excavating before meeting with clients.”
“It isn’t daylight until seven thirty.”
“Seven fifteen-ish with daylight savings, but I’m not splitting hairs,” Elvira said. “Seven thirty tomorrow morning will work for me.”
“How long do you think it will take?”
“Take for what?”
“To dig an eight by eight section,” Pete clarified.
“It depends on what I find. If I’m digging up good stuff, I’ll need to excavate slowly.”
“Fair enough.” Pete pressed the bridge of his glasses. “Where do you want me to sign?”
“Near the bottom.”
He signed his name and slid the paper toward his wife.
Elvira stopped him. “I’ll need you to date it.”
“Good grief.” Pete, with an almost pained look on his face, dated the agreement.
Carlita added her signature and the date below her husband’s. “We have the terms of the agreement in order. Can we check the surveillance?”
Elvira glanced at the clock. “Now is the optimal hour. The regular IT security team has gone home for the day. The hospital keeps a much smaller staff working the evening and night shift which means not as many eyes are looking for hackers.”
“How do you know?” Pete waved dismissively. “Forget I asked.”
“Forgotten.” Elvira reached into a drawer, pulled out a shiny black laptop and placed it on the desk. “What is about to take place stays in this office between you, me, Pete and Dernice.”
“Spy,” Snitch squealed. “Duck.”
Elvira pointed at her parrot. “Stop listening.”
“Get the hacker.”
“That bird is going to be the death of me.”
“Or help put you behind bars,” Dernice snickered. “The cops don’t need to question us. All they gotta do is feed Snitch treats and she’ll sing like a canary.”
“Don’t give her any ideas,” Elvira said. “It’s gonna take me a minute to set things up.”
Carlita, curious to see exactly how she accessed the cameras, crept in behind her, watching her fingers fly over the keys.
She abruptly stopped and spun around. “I don’t work well with people watching.”
“Sorry.” Carlita moved away. “Carry on.”
“What’s up with the different computer?” Pete asked.
“It contains special software to help conceal my digital footprint.”
“Making it more difficult for the hospital’s IT department to trace you if you were to get caught.”
“Bingo.” Elvira grew quiet, laser-focused on the laptop screen.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Click. Click. Click. The tapping and clicking continued for several long moments. Each time someone got close, she would immediately stop and cover the screen until they moved away.
Carlita cracked her knuckles.
Once again, Elvira paused. “Do you mind?”
“Mind what?”
“Not cracking your knuckles. It’s interrupting my focus.”
“You’re cranky.”
“You’re annoying. Do you want me to hack into the hospital’s surveillance or not?”
“Fine.” Carlita took the empty seat next to Pete.
The room grew quiet again, with only the sound of Elvira’s taps and clicks.
“Sweet!” She whooped loudly.
Carlita jerked back, clutching her chest. “You scared me half to death.”
“Sorry. I was so nervous about messing up and getting caught, I forgot my password for a minute there.”
“More like half an hour,” Dernice whispered loudly.
“I’ll track down the timeframe in question and we’ll be on our way.” Elvira, with a look of concentration etched on her face, hunched over the keyboard.
“I confirmed the approximate time of when Sonny was admitted and fast-forwarded through the surveillance recordings until I found where he was moved to his room.” Elvira crooked her finger in her sister’s direction.
“Time for you to assist. You’re the one who will be most familiar with Sonny’s visitors. ”
Huddling together, Elvira and Dernice began watching the recordings. Carlita occasionally walked over to check on their progress, which seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace.
Finally, she couldn’t stand it any longer. “Do any of his visitors look familiar?”
“Yeah. A few of the riders from the bike group,” Dernice said. “No one that necessarily hits my radar, though.”
“Anyone who was also attending the engagement party?”
“Two of them. We can cross-reference to confirm, but I believe they were at the party, which makes sense. Sonny was taken out on a stretcher. They probably left the party and swung by the hospital to check on him.”
“I recognized a couple of the city council members, a few of the clowns I’ve dealt with over the years,” Elvira said.
“Have you seen us?” Carlita asked.
“Not yet.” Elvira shifted her gaze. “Remember, Sonny went downhill not long after you and I showed up, so I’m thinking whoever it was had to have been there shortly before you and me.”
“Maybe even the visitors who were there right before us, the ones we had to wait to leave so we could go in.”
“Correct-amundo. We should appear soon, within the next half an hour. We’re running out of time.”
The sisters returned to the task at hand, talking in low voices.
Dernice slammed her hand on the desk. “Hang on.”
Carlita dashed across the room.
“Right there,” she said. “Hit the play button again.”
Elvira pressed the play button.
“Would you look at that?” Dernice gasped.