Chapter 31
Sean returned to the atrium after his conversation with Rivers. He studied the raised garden beds, the flowers in bloom, and the buds that had yet to open.
He reached for his notebook and checked the timelines he’d cobbled together. Last known sighting of Karla Grayson was at nine-thirty, when the parents tucked her in. He thought of what Stuart Maynard had told her, how the little boy had said young Karla was going to the rose garden to meet someone.
Could it have been Roger? The man oversaw the roses and knew them better than anyone else. But Roger’s relationship with Emily cast doubt on the man’s proclivities toward children.
Then there was Ray Cranton, the social worker who was here alone. Single. Male. Worked professionally with children, so he knew how to manipulate them.
And of course there was Frank Maynard, a man who had been charged, and then found not guilty, of child molestation.
The ransom note also complicated matters. He still needed Rivers to audit the Graysons’ finances. He was about to make the call when the lights in the atrium kicked on.
The sudden burst of light blinded Sean, and he blinked away the spots until his vision cleared. He glanced around and saw the lobby was lit up as well. And then he heard heat coming through the vents.
The power was back on.
Sean returned to the lobby, watching as everyone slowly meandered out of their rooms. It was a relief to have the power back on, but it also meant something else.
The security camera was operational.
Sean found Roger and instructed him to show him the security footage.
The other guests were eager for food, and Roger delegated it to Emily and Stephen, who worked quickly to take their orders.
“Any chance you can let Luke out to do some work?” Roger asked.
“We’ll see what the footage says about that,” Sean answered.
The security footage room was a small office behind the receptionist’s desk in the lobby. The setup was old, the footage stored on a single computer and recording system that produced physical tapes.
Roger typed in his password and then pulled up the footage.
“All right,” Roger said. “It looks like the power went out at one fifty-eight this morning. So, anything between then and right now is going to be blank. But before that, you should be good.”
“Right,” Sean said.
“And the only camera we have is in the lobby,” Roger said, then he sighed. “Hopefully, it provides you with enough of what you need.”
“Thanks,” Sean said, and he waited for Roger to leave, but the hotel owner didn’t move. “You can go.”
“Oh, right, sure,” Roger said, and he stood up to leave.
Sean started around nine pm, watching a few people pass into the lobby. The camera was pointed at the front door, and the view stretched from there to the receptionist desk, offering partial views of the hallway that led to the guest rooms and the entrance to the atrium.
Sean worked the tapes at three times the speed, knowing he probably wouldn’t find anything until after midnight. There wasn’t much happening beforehand, watching as people left their rooms to go to the dining room, then trickled back to their rooms in bursts of clusters.
Sean opened his notebook and confirmed the times people said they returned to their rooms.
He watched as Ray Cranton was the first person to pass through the lobby, alone, just as he had said, just after seven o’clock.
He held a small box that most likely held the dessert he had taken back to his room.
Sean made a note to look for him to see if he walked out of his room and passed the lobby again.
After Ray, the Maynards walked past. Frank was several paces ahead of his wife and son, who trailed sheepishly behind him. He stopped and turned just before he was out of frame and said something to his wife, who nodded quickly before following him out of view of the camera.
The video had no sound, so Sean didn’t know what Frank had said.
Next came Jennie and Sean, holding hands as they returned to their room. He saw Jennie lean into his side as they walked, and he recalled what Emily had said about noticing how couples behaved. He was glad their love for one another shone through.
Next came the Grayson family. Young Karla momentarily sprinted over to the atrium entrance. She was looking for something, and Sean figured she was probably checking to see if the Angel’s Kiss had bloomed or not.
Disappointed, she rejoined her mother as they continued down the hallway.
Just before 8:30, Stephen passed the lobby, bringing the Graysons the ice cream they'd requested.
Next came Jonathan Travis, at around nine. He had a notebook of his own in his hand, writing as he walked, head down, oblivious to the world around him.
After that, there was nothing until around midnight when the bachelor and bachelorette party passed through the lobby.
The group swayed and stumbled, talking and singing.
Tim pointed toward the doors, and the group noticed the growing storm outside.
They all lingered by the entrance for a moment, and Sean noted how Karla, the bride, and Ben weren’t close to one another.
In fact, they didn’t touch each other at all on their way past the lobby.
The bridal party disappeared out of frame, and then shortly after, Stephen walked past with the charcuterie board Julie and Karla had requested. Stephen walked back through the lobby and then was gone.
After that, the lobby remained empty, but then just before the tape ran out at 1:59, someone else appeared in the lobby.
It was the maid of honor, Julie, and she wasn’t alone. But the person with her was off-screen. She was smiling, stumbling from side to side, and laughing, but then the person with her put a finger to her lips to hush her, and she mimicked the gesture.
The pair lingered close together, and as Sean studied the image more closely, he could tell it was a man. The shoes were in frame, and they were loafers, though it was hard to tell the exact color and style.
The timer on the screen was less than a minute from the cut-off, and Sean prayed the man would come into frame as time ticked closer to expiration.
The man pulled the maid of honor closer, her face out of frame, but the movement of the back of her head made it clear they were kissing. And it wasn’t a peck on the lips, either. It was passionate, with both sets of hands from each party exploring the other’s bodies.
With less than ten seconds left until the video cut out, the maid of honor finally pulled back, stepping more into frame, holding the outstretched hand of the man she’d been kissing.
She smiled, and with less than three seconds left, she pulled the man forward, kissed him again, and the video went black.
Sean stopped and replayed the clip a dozen times, trying to see the man’s face, but the movement was so fast that it was blurry on screen, and Sean didn’t recognize the face. Both Ben and Tim had the same hair color and similar builds, and the footage was too grainy to zoom in.
But Sean did have a good shot of the man’s shoes. Now, he just had to find them.