Page 55 of Hidden
“I said proximity wasafactor. Not the sole factor,” JJ corrected.
Ellie’s eyes narrowed. Asher squeezed her hand again, and she looked at him.
“Think of all the people you sit next to in a restaurant or pass on the street or who work on a set,” he said. “To you, they all appear to be going about their business. I’m guessing what JJ and the others are saying is that whatever put this person in proximity to you was something so common that you wouldn’t think twice about it. Maybe they’re the new barista at your favorite coffee shop. Or the new masseuse at your favorite spa.”
Ellie’s gaze held his then shifted as she scanned the table. “Most of those people wouldn’t have had access to my home, but I get what you’re saying.” She looked at Chad. “Is that what you think? That it might be someone I never even noticed?” she asked, her voice hollow. He understood why, too. In the scenario the HICC team and JJ were proposing, the perpetrator could be one of the dozens of people who passed in and out of her life.
“We do,” Chad said, his voice filled with compassion. “But it’s not as overwhelming as it might seem. We know roughly when the intrusions on your phone started, so we can narrow down the time frame the perpetrator had access to the device and reduce the suspect pool that way. Also, the cloning app they used takes some time to run. That means we can also rule out anyone with whom you only had a short time in each other’s vicinity. Like a barista.”
“Also,” Ethan said, “when they planted the device beside your bed, they had access to your house. Your security system includes cameras, so we’ll be able to identify every visitor you’ve had.”
Slowly, Ellie nodded. “Okay. Have you started either of those activities?”
“We have,” Ava confirmed. “Collin is downloading all the footage from the cameras and setting up a facial recognition program.”
“And as for your device,” Chad said, “we’ve started looking at your activities in the two weeks prior to the first intrusion. The first week, you were finishing a shoot, so we’ll be investigating the cast and crew who were present during that time. The week after that, just before the intrusions started, you were back in LA, so we’re looking at the people in your life there.”
“I’ve given them a basic profile and some key factors to help narrow the pool even further,” JJ said.
“Factors?” Ellie asked.
“Characteristics that, if present, would likely exclude that person from consideration,” JJ elaborated.
“Like what?” Asher asked. “What is the profile and what are the exclusionary factors?”
JJ withdrew a piece of paper from her file and slid it over to him and Ellie. “The profile is basic at this point, but someone younger than Ellie, likely between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five. Educated. Lower to middle class. Works, but at a job that is low-profile and doesn’t carry a lot of responsibilities outside of the work itself. Undetermined if it’s male or female at this time.”
“And I assume the exclusionary factors are the opposite characteristics?” Ellie asked. “Like someone older than me, uneducated, upper class, and with a high-profile or high-stress job?”
JJ nodded. “They won’t be poor, though, either. And they won’t be someone who’s worked in the film industry for a long time. If nothing else, networking is required to sustain steady work in your field, and networking won’t be a skill this person has. Or one they’d want to cultivate.”
“That should rule out a lot of the crew, I would imagine,” Ellie said. “I guess that’s good news.”
“What does this person hope to gain?” Asher asked. “I mean, do theyjustwant Ellie destroyed? Or do they want something else, too?”
JJ’s lips pressed together. “That’s a good question, and one we don’t have the answer to yet. It’s possible they want something more. That they think her destruction will bring them something other than just satisfaction. But we haven’t identified what that might be yet.”
“I hate to ask this, Ellie,” Chad said. “But in the event that something happens to you, what is the disposition of your estate?”
Ellie drew back at the question then gave a little shake of her head and answered. “About half goes to my father and the other half to various charities that I support. I have cousins on my dad’s side, but they’ve made it clear they don’t want anything from me. I paid for their college. And they’ve made the best of the opportunities I gave them. They don’t want anything more than that.”
“We still have to look into them,” Sabina said softly.
Ellie swallowed. “All of them, and there are five, possess one, if not more, of the exclusionary factors. But I understand you need to come to that conclusion on your own.”
She might understand, but judging by her tone, she wasn’t happy about it.
“What now?” Asher asked. They’d covered a lot of ground in the ninety minutes they’d been sitting there. And yet it seemed like they had so much further to go.
“We’ll keep working on the list of potential suspects,” Chad said. “We should have it whittled down in the next twenty-four hours. Let’s meet at the same time tomorrow and we can get Ellie’s take on it.”
“Can we make it later in the day?” Ellie asked, surprising him. “Asher needs to work, and I want him here. I know it might make your day longer than usual, but I’d appreciate it.”
Ava and JJ didn’t seem to find anything unusual in the request and both nodded. But Sabina, Chad, and Ethan all stared at the two of them.
“You have someone essentially waging psychological warfare on you and you’re worried about Asher’s work schedule?” Ethan asked. Or more like exclaimed.
Ellie frowned. “You do realize that he runs the biggest hospital in the county.” Sabina shot Chad a look, but both remained silent. “And that he deals with life and death on a near-daily basis?” she continued.
