“Carlita is right. She wasn’t there.”
“Which means she wasn’t the person who put rat poison in my fettuccine, although she could have visited him in the hospital and taken him out.”
“I guess we’re back to square one.” Elvira started to click away.
Carlita stopped her. “Hang on. I think we should watch until we get to the part where you and I show up.”
“The longer we’re logged in, the greater the chance of me getting busted.”
“A deal is a deal. Besides, it can’t be much longer.”
“I’ll keep going.” Elvira heaved a heavy sigh and hit the play button.
The trio continued watching as the time ticked past. Ten minutes. Twelve.
A hooded figure, carrying a small grocery bag, appeared. Looking in both directions, they strolled past Sonny’s room and disappeared. Seconds later they reappeared and slipped into his room.
“Did you see that?” Dernice said. “Someone walked past his room, turned around, came back and went in.”
“I’ll hit the replay.” Elvira replayed the footage of the stranger passing by the camera. Sure enough, they returned a short time later. With their head down, they entered the room.
Hospital staff and employees strode past. According to the video’s minute counter, a full sixty seconds went by. No one entered or exited his room.
At the one minute and forty-five second mark, the hooded visitor emerged. With a quick check in both directions, they took off, moving at a fast clip in the opposite direction of the nurse’s station.
The recording continued. A couple, part of the biker group who, according to Dernice, weren’t at the party, entered his room.
Carlita and Elvira appeared on the screen. They started down the hall, turned around and walked off.
“This must be when they told us we would have to wait for the other visitors to leave,” Elvira said.
Carlita wandered down the corridor. “I was looking for the restroom. You won’t see me again until we go into Sonny’s room.”
The couple exited and strolled out of sight. Less than a minute later, Elvira and Carlita, accompanied by the hospital employee, walked past the camera and were allowed into Sonny’s room.
It wasn’t long before Carlita ran out and toward the nurse’s station. Elvira was close behind.
“This is when Sonny said he wasn’t feeling well.”
Things moved fast as several hospital workers rushed into his room. The commotion abruptly ended, and the employees exited.
“He was gone within a matter of minutes,” Dernice said. “Not long after the hooded figure went in there and you two showed up.”
“I want to take another look at the visitor,” Carlita said.
Elvira pointedly tapped the top of her watch. “Every second I’m in here increases my chances of getting caught.”
“It won’t take long.”
“Make it quick.” Elvira slid the bar back until the exact moment the hooded figure appeared. Frame by frame, she paused and zoomed in so they could take a closer look. “This is about as slow-mo as I can go.”
Removing her cell phone from her pocket. Carlita snapped photos of the computer screen and the mysterious hooded visitor.
They reached the end, and Elvira abruptly clicked out of the program. “We were in there way too long. Hopefully, the IT guys took an extended coffee break and didn’t notice any suspicious activity.”
“Thank you for your help,” Carlita said.
Dernice tapped the side of her forehead. “Smart thinking to take still photos of the possible perp. Can you send me copies?”
