Chapter 9 - The Appointment
I showed Naomi the note before making any decision.
She advised against an unsupervised meeting and arranged for a Bellwether investigator to confirm whether an appointment existed.
There was no appointment under my name.
There was, however, a room reserved by Eliam.
The investigator, Tessa Ward, agreed to meet with me in a monitored conference room instead.
I arrived with Naomi and found Eliam standing alone beside a television screen.
He looked startled when Naomi entered.
“You said you'd come alone.”
“I didn't agree.”
Tessa introduced herself and explained that she had been reviewing transactions tied to Dad's business.
She had already preserved documents provided by Mara.
Eliam clicked a remote.
The screen showed security footage of Dad's basement.
In the clip, Dad argued with a person near the staircase.
The person's face was partially obscured.
Eliam froze the image.
The person wore a coat like mine.
“That's you,” he said.
I looked at the timestamp.
3:14 p.m.
On November fourth, I had been teaching a training session across town.
My employer had attendance records and classroom video.
“You staged this,” I told him.
“Prove it.”
Tessa asked whether the video came from the original surveillance system.
Eliam said yes.
She asked for its storage device.
He hesitated.
The investigator explained that the file had inconsistent compression and time metadata.
Someone had edited it.
Eliam snapped the laptop shut.
“You're all being manipulated.”
“By whom?” Mara asked from the doorway.
He turned, furious.
Mara stepped inside carrying a paper bag.
She set it on the table.
Inside was Dad's old work phone.
“I found it where Luke said it would be.”
Its screen was cracked, but it still powered on.
A notification appeared before any of us touched it.
SCHEDULED MESSAGE DELIVERED.
Then another.
May you like
IF THEY SHOW YOU THE BASEMENT VIDEO, ASK WHY THE CLOCK WAS RESET.
