Chapter 14: The Missing Minutes
The room remained silent long after the recorder stopped.
Lucas pressed the Play button again.
Static.
Emma's gentle voice.
Then interference.
And finally, the same heartbreaking words.
"Don't blame Claire..."
Nothing more.
He looked at Richard.
"That's all?"
Richard frowned.
"It shouldn't be."
"What do you mean?"
"The recorder had enough memory for nearly an hour."
Daniel took the device from Lucas and turned it over.
"The battery compartment has been opened recently."
Richard leaned closer.
"So someone handled it."
Lucas's stomach tightened.
"You think the recording was edited?"
"I think it's possible."
The hotel manager immediately called the head of security.
"Can your team recover deleted audio from this device?"
The head of security examined it carefully.
"I'm not sure."
"Why not?"
"It's an older digital recorder."
He pointed to the memory indicator.
"It says twenty-eight minutes of storage are missing."
Lucas frowned.
"Missing?"
"The recorder only contains thirty-two seconds."
Daniel did the math.
"So if it originally recorded about twenty-nine minutes..."
"...almost everything has been erased."
The realization settled over the room.
Someone hadn't simply hidden the recorder.
Someone had deliberately removed nearly all of Emma's final message.
Lucas closed his eyes.
Who would erase the last words of a dying woman?
And why leave behind only one sentence?
Don't blame Claire.
It almost felt intentional.
As though whoever edited the recording wanted everyone to focus on Claire.
But in what way?
To protect her?
Or to confuse them?
The hotel manager's phone buzzed.
He answered quickly.
After listening for a moment, he smiled.
"Mr. Bennett."
"Yes?"
"Our IT department found something."
Lucas looked up.
"What is it?"
"When the hallway cameras were disabled..."
"They automatically backed up a still image before shutting down."
Daniel's eyes widened.
"So you have a picture?"
"Yes."
The manager handed Lucas a tablet.
The image wasn't perfect.
It showed the hallway outside the bridal suite.
Claire was standing near the door with the wooden keepsake box.
But she wasn't alone.
Lucas zoomed in.
Standing beside her was another person.
A man.
Only part of his face was visible.
He wore a dark baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.
His back was turned toward the camera.
Daniel frowned.
"Can they identify him?"
The manager shook his head.
"Not from this image."
Victoria leaned closer.
"Wait..."
She pointed toward the man's left wrist.
"That watch."
Lucas looked carefully.
A silver watch with a distinctive blue face.
Margaret gasped softly.
"I've seen that watch before."
Everyone turned to her.
"You have?"
She nodded slowly.
"I gave one just like it to someone several years ago."
Lucas frowned.
"Who?"
Margaret hesitated.
She looked genuinely uncomfortable.
"Your cousin."
Lucas blinked.
"Andrew?"
Margaret nodded.
"It was his graduation gift."
Daniel looked surprised.
"Andrew was invited today, wasn't he?"
Lucas nodded.
"He RSVP'd."
The hotel manager checked the guest list.
"He arrived this morning."
Lucas looked around the nearly empty ballroom.
"Where is he now?"
No one knew.
The manager spoke into his radio.
"Please locate Mr. Andrew Bennett immediately."
Minutes passed.
One employee searched the reception area.
Another checked the parking garage.
A third searched the outdoor gardens.
Finally, a security guard returned.
"We can't find him."
Lucas frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"His car is gone."
Daniel folded his arms.
"He left?"
The guard nodded.
"About forty minutes ago."
Lucas's heartbeat quickened.
"He left before the ceremony?"
"Yes."
Without telling anyone.
Without saying goodbye.
Margaret looked troubled.
"That's not like Andrew."
Lucas wasn't so sure anymore.
He hadn't been particularly close with his cousin over the past few years.
Andrew had started a business in another state.
Family gatherings became less frequent.
Still...
He couldn't imagine Andrew being involved in something like this.
Richard quietly cleared his throat.
"There may be another explanation."
Lucas looked at him.
"What?"
"I knew Andrew."
"You did?"
Richard nodded.
"He occasionally helped me organize Emma's charitable foundation after her passing."
Victoria looked surprised.
"I never met him."
"He mostly worked behind the scenes."
Lucas asked,
"Did he know Claire?"
Richard paused.
"I believe they met once."
Daniel immediately noticed his hesitation.
"Once?"
Richard sighed.
"Perhaps more than once."
"What aren't you telling us?"
Richard walked toward one of the ballroom windows.
For a long moment, he simply looked outside.
Finally, he spoke.
"About two years after Emma's death..."
"I hired a private investigator."
Lucas stared at him.
"You what?"
Richard turned back.
"I wanted to know who had mailed the anonymous envelope."
"And?"
"The investigation led to Claire."
Lucas's heart raced.
"So she wrote the letters."
Richard slowly shook his head.
"No."
"The investigator proved she didn't."
Lucas frowned.
"Then why was she being followed?"
"Because she was trying to find someone."
"Who?"
Richard looked directly at Lucas.
"The same person I was looking for."
Lucas took a step closer.
"And who was that?"
Richard's expression grew solemn.
"The person who stole twenty-eight minutes from Emma's final recording."
Silence settled over the ballroom.
At that exact moment, Sophie's small voice echoed from the hallway.
"Daddy?"
Lucas immediately turned.
She stood near the ballroom entrance, holding something in both hands.
"What is it, sweetheart?"
The little girl walked toward him.
"I found this."
She held up a folded piece of paper.
"It fell out of the flower basket."
Lucas frowned.
"The flower basket?"
Sophie nodded.
"It was under the flowers."
Lucas carefully unfolded the paper.
It wasn't a letter.
It was a map.
A simple hand-drawn map of the hotel.
One room had been circled in bright red ink.
Storage Room B-12
May you like
Beneath the map were six handwritten words.
The truth is still waiting here.
