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“You were doing it on purpose.”

“I was,” he agrees, and steps back.

“Tara,” William says.

He’s turned the laptop toward me. On the screen is a long list of tasks and times and names.

“The work queue,” he says. “Corinne runs it. Every request in this building goes through it, and it records whose account entered it.” He points. “Sunday, 10:22 p.m.”

Inventory count, walk-in freezer, frozen purée. Assigned: T. Iverson. Entered by: C. Vale.

“Corinne sent me,” I say. “I know that. She told me to my face. I didn’t know it went in a computer.”

“Everything goes in the computer.” He scrolls.

Owner access, records vault, 7:30–8:30 p.m. Hold back corridor clear. Entered by: C. Vale.

I read it twice.

“Why the hell would she tell everyone to stay out of that hallway?”

“If somebody wanted you alone in that vault,” William says, “clearing the hallway would help.”

Nobody says anything for a second.

“It came from Corinne’s account,” he says. “That doesn’t mean Corinne typed it. The system’s old. Half the managers in this building have watched her log in at the bar terminal. I’ll find out where both of these were entered from.”

At Lucky’s, Rick used my manager code for six months because he couldn’t remember his own. I got written up for comps I never touched. So I know how that goes.

But I also know Corinne. She was kind to me the first morning I walked in here. On Wednesday, she went white over that double booking and said it was her mistake before anybody could blame her. People who are trying to hurt you don’t usually look that sick about a scheduling error.

I don’t want it to be Corinne.

I don't want it to be anybody.

“Tara.” Tav has one of the maintenance binders open across his forearm. “Look at this.”

He points to two entries in the inspection log.

June 15. Walk-in freezer, interior release. GRADY.

June 15. Records vault, interior release. GRADY.

“How often do they check those?”

“Every six months. Unless there's a problem.”

“Okay. So they passed?”

“According to the log. But the inspection sheets are missing.”

“Both of them?”

“Both. I checked the other binders.”

“Did Grady actually inspect the doors?”

“That's what I want to know. If he did, the releases were working four days before you got locked in the freezer. If he didn't, he signed off on work he never did.”