Chapter 71 Suspect No. 1
Adrian's POV.
The attendant took us to the Control room. The room was empty, no one seated. The attendant faced me with an awkward smile.
“I'm sorry,” she bowed slightly. “I'll go get one of the operators.”
“Since it was a private party, we decided not to have the CCTVs watched.” She continued. “I'm so sorry, sir.”
I said nothing. Even if the CCTV was being watched, it wouldn't guarantee everything.
The blackout made it impossible to identify the culprit.
“Don't bother,” I took my seat in front of the screens while Nathaniel connected some wires together. “I'll work on this myself.”
“I got in by 10:16. Let's start from 9pm,” Nathaniel said.
I listened to him, letting the footage replay from 9pm.
From the entrance of the hotel to the lobby, every guest's face was captured, every attendant being watched.
From 9pm till 9:30pm, we got nothing. I watched with folded arms, still waiting for any suspicious movement.
It was past 1. The footage still moved, every act of the guests was caught on camera.
Still, there was nothing suspicious. After a few minutes passed, someone suspicious entered.
He wore a black hoodie, his head casted down as he walked. His face could not be seen but he headed towards the back patio.
From the first screen, I followed him to the venue of the party.
He stood straight, backing the camera. His eyes were on Evelyn for a while before he walked away to a blind spot of the camera.
“Where does that lead to?” I asked the attendant who also watched.
“The electronics room,” she responded.
That explains the blackout. “That guy is a suspect,’’ Nathaniel said.
I didn't respond. I already knew that. The guy didn't come back on camera until the blackout happened.
When everywhere blacked out, there was nothing to see until a red glow light appeared, heading towards where Evelyn was.
For a moment, the glow light stopped in front of Evelyn before it suddenly disappeared.
When the light came back on, Evelyn had been stabbed.
The red glow light was nowhere to be found, the hooded guy also not in sight.
I leaned back into the chair, biting my fingers as I tried to think.
What could have happened here? No one was behind Evelyn at that moment, no one was seen walking away from the scene.
Everyone stood where they were before the blackout.
I shook my head and paused the footage, trying to figure it out. “Think like a criminal, Adrian,” I thought to myself.
You are that guy and you know the light is coming back on in a few seconds, what would you have done?
If he had gone behind her, he would have been caught on camera as the hallway was still long. If he had withdrawn through her front, he would have been caught on camera because there were no blind spots.
What about the sides? The right side was the swimming pool and the left side were chairs and tables covered with table clothes.
Something clicked in my head immediately. The swimming pool. The asshole could have jumped into the pool.
Nathaniel was also on cue with what I was thinking. Quickly, he connected the same footage to another screen, replaying it from the place where Dennis had jumped into the pool.
Many others jumped in after him and soon, no one else entered the pool until Nathaniel came.
“There are sixteen, including me,” he said. That was accurate.
I played the screen in front of me. After I got Evelyn out, people rushed outside after me.
Again, we counted the people who stepped out of the swimming pool.
“Seventeen” I leaned back into the chair. That's it, the guy who stabbed her joined them in the pool.
“Do me a favor,” I stood up immediately. “Scan everyone's face and have them sent to me.”
“I’ll check the pool out,” I added.
I headed back to the back patio where the pool was. I took my shirt off, diving into the water.
If the guy really jumped into the water, then there should be signs.
And there were signs. His clothes hung around an iron pole at the bottom of the pool.
He went in with his hoodie then came back out with no shirt like the others.
I picked the clothes, diving out of the water. It was him. He did it, he stabbed her.
And I'll find him.
I headed back to the control room with the clothes. Nathaniel already had the faces scanned, everything listed on the screen.
I copied it to my phone, sending it to one of my company's tech experts, Mark.
I called him. His phone rang for minutes before he picked up.
“I disturbed your sleep I know,” I skipped the pleasantries. “I sent you something. I need you to work on it as soon as possible.”
“Run a check on those people and quickly rule out people who are likely to be expertise in tech.” I told him. “One of them stabbed my wife, he was able to make everything blackout, including our phones.”
“Understood sir,” he replied. “I'll work on it right away.”
The call ended and for minutes, I waited. I checked the clothes, searching for anything suspicious that could give leads but found nothing.
Silence reigned between everyone in the room until my phone rang. I picked it up immediately. “Did you get it?”
“I sent back to you the ones specialized in tech,” he said.
“Thank you,” I ended the call hurriedly.
I checked my phone, sending the scanned faces he sent back to the screen in front of me.
There were five people in total. Nathaniel, Dennis and three unknown guys.
I stared at them more carefully and squinted my gaze while looking at one of them. He looked familiar and I tried to recall where I had seen him.
Then it clicked. The hospital, the person who bumped into me.
What was he doing at the hospital? No doubt, he has a hand in this.
I called David who picked up immediately. “Did you see any suspicious man near Evelyn's ward?”
“What do you mean, sir?” He asked. “You texted me not to go into the hospital anymore. You gave me another errand.’’
My jaws dropped.