The Man Who Controlled the Cameras
Chapter 03 - The Man Who Controlled the Cameras
Victor Sloane entered the hospital surrounded by advisers and concern that looked perfectly rehearsed. He hugged Adrian, called Eleanor “the heart of the company,” and asked police to arrest Lena before she could destroy more evidence.
Lena expected Adrian to agree. Instead, he asked one question.
“How did you know the brooch was evidence?”
Victor hesitated. No one had mentioned the memory card in front of him.
He recovered quickly, claiming Eleanor had told him about it earlier. But Eleanor’s call history showed no conversation with Victor that morning. Adrian ordered company security to preserve every camera recording from the street, the lobby, and the hospital entrance.
Victor smiled. “Of course.”
Ten minutes later, the city cameras near the collapse went offline for “scheduled maintenance.” The hospital feed from the ambulance entrance vanished as well.
Lena realized the same private contractor managed security for Whitmore Medical and the surrounding business district. Victor had signed that contract.
Adrian finally opened Lena’s folder. The payment records were real, but his signature had been copied from board resolutions. Millions of dollars had moved through a supplier called Northgate Wellness, which existed only as a mailbox. The director listed on its registration was Victor’s brother-in-law.
Lena also found a pattern in the medication codes. Every counterfeit batch had been assigned to clinics serving patients who were unlikely to afford private testing. When reactions occurred, the reports were quietly marked as “noncompliance.”
Adrian looked physically ill. “This happened while I was running the company.”
“It happened because someone made sure you saw only what he wanted you to see,” Lena said. “But now you know.”
A nurse handed Adrian Eleanor’s damaged phone. One unsent voice recording had survived. In it, Eleanor said she no longer trusted Victor and planned to remove him from the company that afternoon.
A second voice could be heard in the background.
Victor’s.
He was telling someone, “Change the bottle before she reaches the investigator.”
Adrian called the police, but Victor was already gone.
Then Lena noticed a notification on Eleanor’s phone: the missing memory card had just connected to a Whitmore Medical computer. The location was the company’s twenty-ninth floor executive suite.
Victor was trying to erase it.
Adrian grabbed his coat. “The building locks down in twenty minutes.”
Lena closed the folder. “Then we have nineteen minutes to prove everything.”
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As they entered the elevator, a message appeared on Adrian’s phone from his own number.
COME ALONE, OR YOUR MOTHER DOESN’T LEAVE THE HOSPITAL.
