Chapter 33
Sean didn’t have the authority to arrest anyone, but he kept that information to himself.
So, he resigned himself to quarantining both Julie and Tim in their rooms. He didn’t have the manpower to keep an eye on everyone, but since they were still snowed in, the only escape was the rooftop, and Sean made sure that door was locked.
The security tapes from last night didn’t provide the proverbial smoking gun Sean was looking for, but he thought they might provide something else.
Sean returned to the video room and sat at the desk. He checked his notes and saw that Ray Cranton was the guest who had been here the longest, checking in on Wednesday. So, he started there.
Sean wasn’t searching for anything in particular, but someone in this hotel had abducted Karla Grayson and murdered the bride, and perhaps there was something he had missed in the previous days.
Sean watched guests come and go through the front doors of The Bonnie. He found Ray Cranton as he checked in, but he also carefully studied the faces of others, searching for any sign of Marco Donovan.
As Sean worked his way through the tapes, he didn’t find Marco, but as he neared the day Karla Grayson and her family had checked in, he noticed something interesting.
Yesterday morning, both Karlas were in the lobby, standing near one another. The bride stood alone, staring at her phone, while the young Karla stood nearby. Roman and Judy Grayson were at the receptionist desk, both with their backs to their daughter.
Young Karla, sporting her Beauty and the Beast backpack, glanced up at the bride and then tapped on her leg. The bride peeled her eyes away from her phone and glanced down.
The pair spoke, though Sean still couldn’t hear them because there was no audio. But then the bride knelt and showed her something attached to her neck. Young Karla held it in her hand, and then the bride removed the necklace so the young Karla Grayson could get a better look.
Sean realized this was the locket he had found in Karla Grayson’s pillow. The bride opened the locket, then removed the photograph inside, and put the necklace around the young Karla’s neck.
The little girl beamed with pride and then hugged the bride before sprinting back to her parents, tucking the necklace beneath her shirt so it was hidden.
The bride watched the Graysons walk away, and then the bride’s sister snuck up behind her and scared her. The girls laughed and then hugged, a stark contrast to the last time they had spoken.
Sean was about to flip the tapes off, since he had already seen this footage before, when he noticed something in the top corner.
Ray Cranton was standing near the wall, alone. He didn’t have his phone out, and he wasn’t holding anything; he was just…standing. Sean rewound the footage back to when the Graysons had arrived, and he watched Ray’s eyes clock Karla Grayson as they entered the hotel.
Ray stared at the little girl the entire time she interacted with the bride, even watching her disappear down the hallway.
Sean rewatched the footage a few times, curious to see if he was misreading the situation, but each time he studied Ray’s face, it became more obvious that he was watching Karla Grayson.
Sean ended the tape, then stood and left the video room. He wasn’t sure how he would approach the conversation with Ray, but when Sean passed the dining room, he paused.
Ray Cranton was in the dining room, and he wasn’t alone. Stuart Maynard was in the room with him, and it was just the two of them.
Ray noticed Sean. He immediately stiffened, and Stuart looked to the hallway. Sean might have had questions about Ray’s interest in Karla Grayson, but now he had more questions about his interest in Stuart Maynard.