Chapter 14
I sat next to Charles in Aunt Penny’s sitting room, wearing the ridiculous pair of glasses as I read over Haven Corporation’s website, company files, and the notebook I’d been using with him.
Nothing stood out. Moonbeam climbed onto the back of the sofa and sat behind me, purring without a care in the world.
“Why don’t I try my inbox? Maybe there’s a message that will help.” Charles sat his laptop on the wooden coffee table. His long legs bent almost comically to fit on the worn leather sofa, and he leaned forward to click his email icon.
“Sure.” It was worth a try, anyway.
Over a light breakfast of muffins and tea, we scanned for a while before the word specification jumped out of the screen at me.
“Click on that one.”
Charles raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and clicked on it. “These are some plans for the SaferLoc technology. We have some hardware, locks, and scanning devices that go with it.”
“Specifications is flagging like crazy right now.” I narrowed my eyes as he opened the email, setting my teacup on its saucer. Pieces of the message looked three-dimensional. “Now click on the attachment.”
Charles opened what looked like a blueprint. The images were straightforward with nothing important.
“I don’t get it.” I frowned. "Could you keep scrolling down? I need to see the whole thing.”
Charles zoomed in over the images—nothing. Then he pulled up the link to the written specifications.
“There.” I pointed at the names of the engineers who worked on various components. The words danced on the page. It looked like Charles had developed most of the technology himself.
“Interesting,” Charles said. “This looks accurate… wait, this is incorrect. I developed this part, but they’re giving credit to the entire group. It’s easy to get these mixed up, though.”
“Maybe it was on purpose. Who actually publishes these plans—would someone have been able to change the names on there to claim credit to steal commissions? Maybe Armond figured it out?” I said, pushing my tea cup and saucer farther onto the coffee table as Moonbeam walked by with her massive fluffy tail.
“I doubt it. We have to run all the plans through an approval process. We audit the names, and engineers cannot edit them afterward. I suppose it’s possible, but it wouldn’t be easy to pull off, anyway.
” Charles looked incredulous, and made room for Moonbeam who'd hopped onto the sofa to take his lap.
"Right, and we still don't know how Margery's death is connected. Did she know about this? Uncovered something while taking photos?” It was exactly what I’d been doing, and I swallowed back my fear, remembering the note in our suite.
“I’ll need to look over these plans once more. Hopefully, no other employees are targets.” Charles closed his laptop and rubbed his temples.
“Well, these are just theories.” I tried to help him feel better. “I guess having all the engineers get credit makes each of them a suspect. Right?”
“Not if we have someone looking for ways to shift money around. You know, laundering type activities…” A pounding on the apartment door interrupted our conversation. We looked at each other and froze.
“Oh, now who’s at the door this early in the morning?” Uncle Terrance asked, stomping through the apartment. My heart rate picked up, and I held my breath as he answered the door.
A low murmur of indistinguishable voices rumbled. Then Uncle Terrance raised his voice. “No. We don’t have any guests named Bingley here. Why don’t you go look somewhere else?”
“He’s playing dumb,” I said.
Charles pulled in a long, steady breath. Then he stood up and walked to the door, addressing the officers. “Sorry, I’m not sure Uncle Terrance here realized my last name is Bingley. How can I help you?”
That was on point for him. Charles wouldn’t hide from the police.
I admired that, though I’d have been fine if he’d stayed hidden.
In fact, I’d have been fine if he’d tossed all caution to the wind, thrown away his business and fortune to run away to be with me.
We’d live in a little town on the coast and have a couple of kids.
I’d be a teacher, he’d tinker in the garage, inventing whatever he wanted, and life would be perfect.
But the police were questioning him. I frowned at the officers. They were respectful but insistent. Charles had to go with them to the police station to be questioned… as a precautionary measure.
I shivered and darted to the front door. “I’ve been with Charles for nearly the past twenty-four hours. He’s done nothing wrong.” Though when I thought about it, we were technically separated when Armond died. But I knew he was innocent. Questioning Charles was a waste of their time.
An older officer with a huge mustache looked me over like a parking ticket. He sighed loudly. “All right, you can come along. Care to change out of your pajamas?”
My cheeks flushed. “I suppose so. We’ll need our things.”
Charles shook his head and waved his palms in front of him. “No, Jane. I’d rather you didn’t get pulled into any more of this. I’ve got nothing to hide. It will be fine.”
He had greater faith in the justice system than I did.
But he was right. I couldn’t do any investigating from the police station.
I looked between Charles’s face and the officer.
I flung my arms around Charles and kissed his cheek, no longer playing the fake girlfriend.
“Okay, but let me know if you need anything.”
Charles pulled me into a hug and held me for a moment. With my cheek against his chest, I could feel his steady heartbeat.
The officer cleared his throat, and Charles reluctantly released me. “Don’t worry, Jane. Just stay safe, okay?”
Charles still had our suite reserved for a few more nights.
So, I got myself ready for the day and headed back out on my own to The Grand Lakes Hotel.
Taking a cab, I didn’t have quite the grand entrance as I had the first time I’d arrived.
There was no limo this time, just a basic taxi.
I wore a large pair of sunglasses and a beret.
Early in the day, the hotel buzzed with commotion. Despite a section of the seventeenth floor being blocked off as a crime scene, things proceeded normally.
Scents of vanilla, cinnamon, and freshly baked bread from the morning cafe filled the lobby.
Orchestral music played, and dozens of trees covered in white lights added to the ambiance.
Across the lobby, I caught sight of Eva again.
Today, she wore a pair of denim overalls and had her dark curls back in two loose braids.
Though her mother was nearby meeting with someone, Eva looked particularly alone and vulnerable.
I waved at her mother as I approached. Eva gave me a shy smile as I sat next to her.
“So, are you feeling any better about long division?” I asked.
Her smile deepened, and she stifled a giggle. “Yes, look.”
She opened her workbook to her assignment. In the margin, she’d written one of the longest division problems I’d ever seen, 91,322 divided by fourteen.
“You made your own problem?”
“Yes.” Her laughter erupted. “And I know the answer, see? It’s 6,523!”
“Hmm, let me check.” I winked at her and pulled my phone out of my pocket, then entered the problem into my calculator. “You’re right!”
“I played that game for like three hours last night, and I practiced what you showed me. My mom said I can get my fingernails AND my toenails done since I did such a good job.” Eva wiggled her little hand in front of me. “I’m going to have them paint them purple with sparkles.”
“Purple with sparkles will be perfect on you.” I gave her a high five.
“Next time it’s hard, just remember that hard is good.
It means you’re learning. I’m going to write a couple more websites down that you and your mom or dad can look at if you run into trouble in the future. I’m so proud of you.”
As I walked away from Eva, I made a decision. Even if I had to move out of Austen Heights, I was going to teach. Every part of me loved helping kids grow toward their potential.
It was time for my own investigation. My first stop was at the hotel manager’s office. Mr. Hedwer blinked at me through his oversized glasses. “Oh, Ms. Bennet? No Mr. Bingley with you today?”
“He’ll be along soon.” At least I hoped he would.
“I need some security images, if possible. I have a list of times and places.” I pulled my notes from my bag and set the paper on his desk.
I’d listed every possible time a clue may have occurred, the lobby at the time the extra suite was booked, people coming and going from the suites, and Armond’s movements before going to the suite.
“Of course, we can even print those out for you. Maybe come back in an hour and we’ll have them all ready.”
“Very good. Thank you.”
After leaving the manager’s office, I stopped at the concierge station and requested David.
He tipped his hat to me. “Ms. Bennet, no more trouble today, I hope?”
“No, but I’m wondering if you can help me with something. Would it be possible to have the housekeeper who cleaned Charles’s room yesterday be assigned to my suite today?” I smiled sweetly, hoping my request didn’t seem suspicious.
David furrowed his brow for a moment, then slowly nodded. “I don’t see why not. I’ll put your suite on her rotation and send her up in thirty or forty-five minutes.”
“Thank you so much.” I gently shook his hand.
David’s cheeks grew pink. “Happy to help, Ms. Bennet.”
I’d planned a few more stops before making my way to the suite.
For these, I intended to be as discreet as possible.
I couldn’t make people forget my appearance or not see me like Mary could.
But I had an enchanted clear stone. It was small and smooth, and when I held it in the palm of my hand, it created an optical illusion of sorts.
It bent people’s vision enough that they looked past me, not noticing I was near.
It wasn’t exceptionally effective because once I spoke to anyone or they looked directly at me, the whole effect dissolved.
I called it my blinking stone because it reminded me of how I never realize I’m blinking until I pay attention to it. Then, I can’t ignore it. I pulled the stone from my pocket and clenched in my palm.
No one spoke to me as I walked toward the conference center. I dodged out of the way of a porter and a family with several young children who didn’t notice me.
A few members of the Haven Corp were in the corridors to the executive lounge.
I walked nonchalantly around the edge of the room.
Ashley’s bright copper curls gave her identity away, but I didn’t know the bearded middle-aged Black man she chatted with.
Like a shadow, I approached and leaned against the wall near them.
I pretended to be looking out the window but listened and focused on their emotions.
Ashley’s frustration was easy for me to sense, and so was the man’s.
But he had something else mixed in, maybe empathy.
No, more protective like a parent toward a child.
“I don’t know. If we were really trying to build up Haven, why would anyone choose an investors conference to take employees out?
Not trying to be morbid, but honestly, it doesn’t help anyone.
Maybe it was sabotage?” Ashley sounded exhausted and leaned on the column next to her.
Her fingers found the long, thin chain she always wore and wound it around her pinky.
“You know, Ashley”—the man leaned back and sighed as he spoke—“nowadays, nothing surprises me. It could be some conspiracy, or just as easily be someone with a hot head and poor impulse control. My advice is to always be careful because you never know what someone might do.”
She shook her head and muttered, “True. My head’s killing me. All I’m saying, though, is it doesn’t look so good for a security tech company to have murderers among the employees.”