Chapter 8: The Recording Nobody Was Supposed to Find
The following morning, Theron changed every password associated with his estate, his business, and Eirlys's trust.
He also turned over his computer and phone records to the investigators, along with a written account of the afternoon at the pool.
Julian made him read the statement twice.
"Every word?""
"Every word," Julian replied.
"If you soften your own conduct, the other side will use it against you. If you exaggerate what Corisande did, they will use that too.""
Theron signed.
"I pushed her. I shouldn't have.""
Julian placed the statement in a folder.
"That is the truth we work with.""
A knock sounded at the office door.
Daniel Price entered carrying a small encrypted drive.
"We recovered something from the secondary storage unit," he said.
Theron stood.
"The pool footage?""
"Not the original video. We found a cached thumbnail and a partial event record from the old network interface. It suggests the main system sent a compressed preview to a local maintenance application shortly before recording stopped.""
Julian took the drive.
"Can the preview be recovered?""
"Possibly. But I haven't opened the file outside the forensic environment.""
"Good.""
Daniel placed the drive on the table.
"There is another development. We identified the unregistered device that connected to the network. It belonged to Adrian Mercer.""
Theron exhaled.
"Can we prove he was the person using it?""
"Not beyond doubt yet. His device connected to the network, and the event log shows the system commands were issued during that connection. Investigators are obtaining the account records.""
Julian carefully examined the evidence label.
"Did you find anything else?""
Daniel hesitated.
"Yes. The system recorded a second login from the estate manager's office at 1:54 p.m. That login accessed the network storage but did not disable anything. It occurred after the initial recording interruption.""
"Whose account?""
"Malcolm Reed's.""
Theron rubbed his face.
"Bring him in.""
Malcolm arrived at the office just before eleven.
He looked exhausted and carried a folder full of maintenance schedules, staff rosters, and printed access logs.
"I've been reviewing the records myself," he said.
"I wanted to find something before coming to you.""
Theron gestured toward a chair.
"Tell me what you found.""
Malcolm opened the folder.
"The night before the incident, someone entered my office while I was in the greenhouse. I assumed it was one of the maintenance workers. I didn't think anything had been taken.""
"Was your computer unlocked?""
"For about fifteen minutes.""
"Who knew your password?""
"Nobody. But the security system was configured to remember an administrator token on that computer.""
Daniel leaned forward.
"That could explain how your account was used without your knowledge.""
Malcolm looked miserable.
"I should have secured it.""
Theron studied him.
"Did you see Adrian Mercer on the property?""
"Once. Mrs. Viremont said he was updating the security system.""
"Did you authorize his access?""
"No. She said you had approved it.""
Theron turned toward Julian.
"Has anyone verified that?""
Julian shook his head.
"Not yet.""
Malcolm's hands trembled as he closed the folder.
"Mr. Viremont, I know this looks terrible. But I would never deliberately put Miss Eirlys in danger.""
Theron remembered Hannah making the same promise.
He was beginning to understand that the people around his home had each been given only a piece of a larger deception.
"I'm not asking you to convince me," he said.
"I'm asking you to help us establish the truth.""
Malcolm nodded.
"I will.""
Before he left, he placed a small envelope on the table.
"I found this in the maintenance logbook. It was tucked between two pages.""
Theron opened it.
Inside was a receipt from an electronics shop for a small wireless camera and an external storage device.
The purchase had been made three weeks earlier.
The customer name was blank.
But the payment reference belonged to an account linked to Vesper Advisory Group.
Julian looked at Daniel.
"Can this be connected to the camera system?""
May you like
Daniel examined the receipt.
"The equipment could have been used to make an independent recording. It
