Page 141 of Hidden Tide
“They were not terrible,” Ivy says.
“He cut off the tops of people’s heads.”
“He was trying to capture movement.”
“He was trying to operate a camera while carrying Hazel.”
Hazel looks offended. “I was little.”
“You were always little,” Willow says.
Their teasing lasts only a moment, but it reminds me who we are beyond Blackwater.
Five sisters.
A mother who loves us.
A family Dad tried to protect.
Marquez displays the studio’s floor plan.
“How many entrances?”
“Three,” Ivy says. “The front gallery doors, the loading entrance and a private stairwell from the alley.”
“Roof access?”
“From the third-floor hall, but the door is alarmed.”
“The intruder disabled one camera. Can you access the others?”
Ivy takes the computer from Marquez.
“My security feed is stored remotely.”
She enters her password.
Six camera views appear.
The front gallery is dark and empty. So is the editing room. The alley camera shows two San Francisco police vehicles arriving without lights or sirens.
The storage-room feed is black.
“What about the stairwell?” Keating asks.
“That camera should be here.”
Ivy taps the screen.
A seventh view appears.
A shadow moves across the lower landing.
“There,” I say.
The figure climbs quickly.
He wears dark clothing, gloves and a baseball cap pulled low over his face.
