Chapter 4

Jim exited the room and the two guards simultaneously pushed past him to enter the room. When he had nearly crossed, the detective’s left hand moved upward but was then obscured by the body of the guard on his left. At the same time, he pushed the other guard who was on his right, through the half-open door. Spinning back smartly, Jim made a motion of firing a finger gun but with a little twist of his left hand into the room. Then he slammed the door.

“What was that for?” George asked pausing the footage. “Couldn’t you just leave like a gentleman?”

“Come on, old buddy. Being a rogue feels a lot better! Plus, they pushed me first!”

Sighing, Jim’s partner pressed the resume button. The only unusual thing was that the guards didn’t reemerge. At 9 pm sharp a servant girl came bearing the dinner and knocked on the door. After a few minutes, she pushed it open and slipped inside closing the door behind her.

“Lavinia Norton.” George said by way of explanation, “I interrogated her while you were collecting the CCTV footage. She said that when she went to deliver dinner nobody answered the door nor were there any guards. So, she went inside. The first unusual thing that she noticed was that the lights had been switched off. Then she started feeling dizzy-”

“The anaesthetic gas was released the moment she stepped onto the motion detector under the mat.” Jim interrupted.

“Yes, I agree. She fell unconscious pretty soon. When she woke up and switched on the light, the first thing she saw was that the digital clock showed exactly 3:00 am. Then she noticed the bodies. And you know the rest.”

Jim nodded and then asked, “Could she be the killer?”

“Well, not unless she trained under Bruce Lee. Also, she couldn’t have set up the motion detector.”

Jim shook his head irritably “You and your stupid jokes. Well, it is unfortunate that the camera gives a diagonal view of the door. We can’t see if the room was dark when the guards entered.”

With a gleam in his eye, George replayed Jim’s exit scene. “There,” he said stabbing a finger at the first guard. “Look, his hand disappears into shadow. This proves that the room was dark. Also, look at how none of them actually steps onto the mat. One strides inside and the one you pushed,” Here George zoomed the image, “nearly falls inside but I don’t think his foot connects with the mat.”

Then his smile vanished. He murmured, “Wait...is there some kind of stain on the front of his uniform?” He resumed the video and paused, zooming in at the point when Jim was twisting his finger. His sharp eyes noticed a flash of silver and he muttered, “I knew I had seen that hand movement before.”