Of course. He didn’t want other contestants to see her enter his office. If she won, it would look bad. Lara took the elevator to the fourth floor, found the hallway empty, and hurried to the commissioner’s suite, which was three rooms away from hers.
She started to knock, then heard a soft click and the door came open. Glancing up, she saw the security camera.
Morton was seated at a large desk in what looked like a luxury apartment. “I’ve been expecting you.” He motioned for her to sit at a smaller desk nearby. “Congratulations on your excellent performance in the Puzzle. I don’t usually watch the footage unless I need to make judgments, but I wanted to see if you’d still be here tomorrow.”
It wasn’t necessary to witness her efforts in the cube to learn her outcome, and Lara was surprised by his personal interest. “Thank you. I’m starting to feel optimistic about winning this thing. Provided I don’t get killed first.”
“I was hoping you’d fail today, get on a plane, and go home. It would make my life simpler.” The commissioner leaned back in his chair. “You’re here to look at security footage?” He gestured toward the smaller desk.
“We need to find this guy.” Lara sat down at the NetCom and tapped the fingerpad. “Has he come after you again or contacted you?”
Morton shook his head. “I really don’t think he’ll be back.” He reached for the control pad. “I’m sending you the video section the security staff isolated for us.” A few seconds later, an icon appeared on her screen. “That’s the footage of the orientation,” he added.
Lara opened the file and saw the front of the auditorium. “I need the footage from the camera aimed at the back of the room.”
“Fine. I’ll send the whole folder. I asked for two-hour sections, so you’ll have to skim through the beginning.”
A small blue folder appeared on her screen. Lara opened the file marked Camera 3 and started a video clip. The auditorium was clearly empty, so she fast-forwarded to the point where a service worker opened the doors at the back of the room. From there, she skimmed until the first contestants started filing in, then slowed it down and watched in regular time. After twenty minutes, she saw herself come into the room, look around, and take a seat near the back. Watching herself was a little creepy, and she was glad to move on. Some of the contestants came in pairs, roommates likely, but most were alone. The media people were easy to spot with their Docks and shoulder cameras.
The room had nearly filled, and the audience turned to face forward, as if someone had taken the stage. A moment later, she spotted the guy. A shaggy-blond man in blue slacks and a gray sweatshirt slipped in. He hung in the back instead of looking for a seat. A minute later, the service worker closed the doors.
Lara zoomed in on the guy and the image went blurry. He had the same build as the man she’d seen in the driveway at the commissioner’s house in Eugene and the same dirty-blond hair, parted in the middle and tucked behind his ears. Generally, the shape and color of his face looked similar too, but she couldn’t make a positive ID because she hadn’t seen the shooter’s face clearly, and this image wasn’t in focus.
She panned out and watched the footage as he stood in the back, listening to the speaker. After a few minutes, the man took a seat. Lara zipped the clip forward through twenty minutes of the commissioner’s presentation. Blondie stood, so she slowed the speed and watched in real time and he walked to the wall and leaned against it.
Moments later, she watched herself rise and head for the doors. Blondie saw her coming, did a startled double take, and charged for the exit. Lara was now certain he hadn’t followed her into the room. He’d gone there to hear Thaddeus Morton and had been surprised to see her, the witness at his earlier crime.
“Come look at this guy.” She reversed the clip while the commissioner walked over. She stopped it at the point where Blondie stood near the end of the speech. “Is this the man who shot you?”
“Sure looks like him. Not many men wear their hair like that.”
“You’re right.” Lara zoomed in again. “You know what? I think it’s a wig.”
“You might be right.” The commissioner squinted at the monitor. “Do you suppose his mustache is fake too?”
“I’m starting to think so.” Lara turned to Morton. “Can you visualize him with shorter hair and clean-shaven? Could he be someone you know?”
“Without the hair, he seems vaguely familiar.”
Lara selected Tools, clipped the frame, and saved it as a separate file. She sent the image to her iCom number and turned to Morton. “If we took this to the police, they have software programs that generate and modify a suspect’s looks.”
“No.” Morton’s jaw tightened. “It’s too late now. I have political enemies who would use the scandal to run me out of office. Besides, the police rarely solve anything. They don’t have the resources.”
“Could your political enemies be behind this?” Lara had to look at every possibility; it was the way she’d been trained.
Morton rolled his eyes. “Shooting me in broad daylight doesn’t seem like their style.”
“Could they have hired someone?”
“It’s possible but unlikely. Remember, Kirsten was killed too. I think this guy might be insane.”
“Why target you?”
“I don’t know. It may be related to the Gauntlet. Some people take it way too seriously.”
“You mean like that group from Iowa last year?”
“Exactly.”
Lara remembered the news story. Four men in their late twenties had been watching the Challenge in a bar and became infuriated when the Iowa contestant was given obstacles to overcome that his competitor had not faced. They’d gone berserk, smashing up tables in the bar, then stormed outside to overturn a car. They were on the freeway to Indiana when state police stopped them. The talking media heads had speculated the enraged men might have killed the first Indiana resident they came to if they hadn’t been apprehended.
“That was a bunch of idiot drunks. This guy seems focused and determined.”
“Do you still plan to run his image through the criminal database?”
“Of course.”
The commissioner’s iCom beeped, so he stepped away. After a moment, he turned to Lara. “I’m taking this in the other room and I’ll be a while. After you get what you need, just let yourself out.” He headed for what she assumed was a bedroom.
Lara saved a second clip with just Blondie’s face and sent it to the NetCom in her hotel room. She remembered the hotel manager had sent a file of the hallway footage to Morton. She scanned through the rest of the folder but didn’t see a video file labeled hotel or anything similar. Wondering if it was on Morton’s Dock, Lara glanced at the bedroom door and considered interrupting the commissioner to ask. He’d said he would be a while. She hated to wait and she didn’t want to have to come back for it either.
Lara moved quickly to the big desk where Morton had left his Dock. She would do a quick search for the hotel footage, then ask for it at the front desk if she didn’t find it. Not a single file appeared on his screen. Morton guarded his information. She was curious about the commissioner and skeptical of his denial of knowing who Blondie was. She decided to conduct a quick scan of his files. As a detective she’d searched a few devices and had learned from reformed hackers how to find and screen a directory.
She narrowed her search to just video files and was surprised to see a folder marked game room that had 422 files in it. The folder was password locked, piquing her curiosity, but clearly not what she was looking for. Lara moved on but didn’t see any files labeled hotel or hallway footage. She heard Morton’s voice near the bedroom door and quickly closed the search window.
As she scooted back to the small desk, he stepped out of the bedroom. “I have to get my Dock. Were you leaving?”
“Yes. Thanks for your help.” Lara grabbed her bag and headed out.