Chapter 2 - THE BADGE THAT SAID I WAS THERE
Camille stared at the tablet.
“That is impossible.”
Marcus Ellery didn't disagree.
The access record showed:
3:51 P.M. — CAMILLE BOUDREAUX — EXECUTIVE CORRIDOR.
Vincent had been found shortly after four.
Camille's stomach turned.
“At three fifty-one I was downstairs.”
“Where?”
“Laundry room.”
“Witnesses?”
“Mrs. Gable. Two laundry attendants.”
Marcus nodded.
“We're checking.”
Camille tightened her arms around Adeline.
Her daughter had cried herself exhausted and was now asleep against her shoulder.
“Am I being accused?”
“No.”
“But I'm not allowed to leave.”
“Not yet.”
That sounded exactly like being accused.
Members of the Castellano family arrived one after another.
Vincent's aunt Rosalia.
His younger sister Sofia.
Two cousins.
Then Enzo Castellano.
Thirty-eight.
Elegant.
Expensive navy suit.
The man Vincent trusted to oversee most of Castellano Logistics.
Enzo looked pale.
“What happened?”
Marcus answered:
“Vincent was attacked.”
“By whom?”
“Unknown.”
His eyes shifted to Camille.
She noticed.
Then Rosalia noticed the security tablet.
“What?”
Marcus said nothing.
Rosalia took it.
Read.
Then looked at Camille.
Her expression changed instantly.
“You.”
Camille stood.
“No.”
“Your badge accessed his corridor.”
“I wasn't there.”
“Then who was?”
“I don't know.”
Rosalia's voice sharpened.
“You expect us to believe—”
“Mama.”
Adeline had awakened.
Everyone stopped.
The child looked around sleepily.
Camille lowered her voice.
“It's okay.”
Rosalia stared at the little girl.
Perhaps remembering who had found Vincent.
She said nothing else.
Marcus took Camille's access badge.
Then immediately sealed it in an evidence pouch.
“Until we understand this.”
Camille nodded.
Fair.
Humiliating.
But fair.
At the hospital, Vincent underwent emergency surgery.
The injury had damaged tissue and caused dangerous internal bleeding but missed major vessels by a margin Dr. Morales later described as “luck we should not test twice.”
By midnight, he was stable.
Still unconscious.
Camille waited at the estate.
She could have taken Adeline home after investigators verified her alibi.
She didn't.
Something bothered her.
Vincent's last word.
Inside.
Inside what?
At 1:10 a.m., Marcus returned.
“Your alibi checks.”
Camille exhaled.
“So I'm cleared?”
“From physically being in the hallway.”
That wording mattered.
“The badge?”
“Real access credential.”
“I had it.”
“All day?”
Camille froze.
Yesterday.
For perhaps twenty minutes.
She had left her housekeeping cardigan in the staff break room while helping Adeline clean spilled juice.
Her badge had been clipped to it.
Anyone could have taken it.
Copied it.
Returned it.
Marcus saw her expression.
“What?”
She told him.
His face hardened.
“Who was in that room?”
“Half the household passed through.”
Not helpful.
Then his phone rang.
Hospital.
Vincent was awake.
May you like
And the first thing he asked was:
“Where is Camille?”
