Page 36 of The Girl on Hallow's Eve

She lingers by the side of the table for a few seconds after each of us orders. It’s her less-than-subtle way of trying to find out what’s going on. Sam and I have caught on to the method and know to not talk while she’s doing it or switch the subject to something meaningless and preferably dull until she gets tired of waiting or knows she can’t pull it off any longer and leaves.

When she’s gone, I take a sip of my coffee and look back across the table at the two men who both seem to be seething but also feeling regret.

“I need to know everything you can tell me about the security measures for the mall, especially those that were in place during the event. There was a security guard present, but he was found dead in the fountain. It’s very likely he was one of the first, if not the first, to be killed within the mall itself.”

“Within the mall?” Keilan asks.

“It can’t be confirmed yet, but we believe the police officers stationed outside and the news crew that was present there were killed before he entered the building and started killing there,” I explain. I pause. “Before I go any further, I don’t think I need to tell you that nothing we discuss is public knowledge and none of it should be shared outside of this meeting. Because of your unique perspectives of the mall and the event itself, you’ll be privy to information and details that are not being openly shared, even among some of the law enforcement involved in the investigation. It is absolutely crucial that you keep everything we discuss absolutely confidential.If there’s anything that you need to talk about regarding the investigation, things you remember, questions you might have, you need to come to me or to Sam, not to each other and not to anyone else. Understood?”

The three of them exchange a look, then nod in unison.

“Alright. Thank you. Now, about the security measures. Was there the intention of having additional security guards once the mall opened?”

“Yes,” Cary starts. “Especially because of the busy shopping season coming up, we had already hired several guards and were working with a professional company to train additional guards with our security specifications.”

“What does that mean?” Sam asks.

“It’s important to us that people at our malls feel like they are safe and have a different shopping experience than they have ever had. They shouldn’t ever feel like they are being questioned or watched, or that anyone suspects them of doing anything criminal,” Cary says. “And at the same time, we want them to feel absolutely secure and that no one around them is doing anything illegal or dangerous, either.”

“Which can be very difficult if there are highly visible security guards all around,” Marissa adds. “It’s difficult not to have that feeling of being watched or like there is the possibility of some kind of threat when you see large men in guard uniforms at the entrances and roaming around the stores.”

I give my head a slight shake. “Most people believe that having a strong, visible security force creates more of a sense of safety and acts as a deterrent for potential offenders.”

A small smile sneaks onto Keilan’s face before he catches it and sets it aside again.

“That’s something law enforcement says,” he counters. “The concept of a strong police or other security presence being reassuring is really only effective in inherently dangerous or problematic areas. It’s hardly translatable into a contemporary mall experience.”

“We don’t want people to feel like our spaces are inherently dangerous or there’s potential for crime,” Cary says. “We don’t want them seeing guards and thinking there’s a reason they’re there. Guests should have the sense that everything is good and under control. But of course, we do still need to provide security. It’s just the way of things. Which is why we have several innovative, discreet forms of security for our developments.”

“Like what?” I ask.

Pearl has returned with our breakfast and we pause the conversation while she puts plates in front of each of us. Just as I suspected, Sam and I each got exactly what we asked for, with the minor exception of her setting a small bowl of strawberries beside me. Apparently, I am looking pale. She’s always saying that strawberries are good for vitality. I haven’t seen her research, but I’m not going to question it.

Cary, Keilan, and Marissa, however, are looking at plates that only vaguely resemble the meals they randomly rattled off. Marissa’s pancakes have become French toast with sausage. Keilan now has a plate that looks very much like mine, biscuits and gravy replacing the plain biscuit with honey he’d requested. And Cary has a bowl of grits topped with butter and cheese with a side of bacon and strawberries instead of cornflakes. Apparently he, too, looks pale.

“Um,” Cary starts.

“Thank you,” I tell Pearl pointedly. “This looks fantastic.”

Peal nods and hovers, but a call from one of the old timers in need of a coffee refresh cuts short her attempts at eavesdropping. She walks away and Sam gestures at the food.

“Just eat it. Trust us.”

Each of them picks up a fork and takes a bite.

“Discreet security,” I say, reminding them of where we are in the conversation and prompting them to keep going.

“Right,” Keilan nods. “Rather than having security guards in uniforms with visible weapons and things like that, we establish a team that dresses in plain clothes so they look essentially like any other shopper. In fact, we prefer when the different members of the team dress in distinctly different styles so they blend in even more. These people then spend their shifts around the mall, looking like they are just there to shop, take in a movie, get something to eat, what have you. But they are actually assessing everything around them constantly and looking for any potential threat.

“If they notice something, they are trained to swiftly and subtly surround the person and get them out of sight. This often means bringing them to the storage areas or the tunnels either through the large main doors or through the smaller access points located in the backs of some of the stores.”

“You can get to the tunnels through doors at the backs of the stores?” I ask, unhappy that bit of information wasn’t shared when we were talking about the unlocked doors earlier.

“Yes, but they aren’t like the other entrances. Those can only be accessed by upper management. They use a keypad locking system rather than a traditional key. Only a very few people know those codes and they must also input their own personal code along with the access code. That allows the computer to track who used each of those points and when,” Keilan explains. “They’re to be used when bringing in large amounts of stock, bringing out money, or, because we’re discussing security, if there is a threat and someone needs to be isolated or removed from the property.”

“So, they are basically Shanghaied,” Sam notes.

“I think that might be a little extreme,” I say under my breath to him.

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