Page 11 of Just Right

He called out to the two men, who were busy walking toward the office.

"We need to see the parking camera footage from yesterday afternoon. Can you take us in and show us?"

As Connor had predicted, the aquarium manager was now all eagerness.

"Sure. Of course I can. The sooner we can get everything wrapped up and reopened, the better. Come this way."

“I’d actually like you to send us all that footage,” Connor said, clearly thinking ahead. Cami thought this was a good idea. Although hundreds of cars would have headed in and out of that large, busy parking lot, it would provide them with a way to check if the killer had been there—assuming Nick wasn’t the killer. But if they were lucky, he was.

As they headed into the aquarium buildings, Connor was already on the phone to Ethan.

"Do me a favor," he asked. "Background check. Guy called Nick Simmel. I'll send you through his details. See if there's anything on him, will you?"

Then, following the manager, he strode through the blue-painted doorway, down a short passage, and into another office with walls decorated with fishy friezes. Cami followed close behind.

"The camera feed is on a computer that's through here," the manager said, pacing to the far end.

The old-looking monitor was placed on a desk in the corner, next to a few spare cables and an empty fish tank. Cami immediately thought it was just as well that the aquarium manager had been agreeable, because this was old technology—basic, simple, and ironically, difficult to hack.

But the manager bent over the machine and within a minute, the footage was playing.

Cami took another look at the number plate and then, with the digits firmly in her mind, turned back to the screen. She felt her pulse quicken. This might get them the lead they needed. There had to be a reason why Nick Simmel had linked up with both the victims so recently.

"There's Patti's number plate," Connor said thoughtfully. "This is playing in reverse. So, he didn't follow her here. He didn't come afterward. But did he get here earlier?"

Now, they were all leaning forward, intent on solving this puzzle. Car after car turned silently in and out of the lot, in the footage, which was black and white with the occasional wavy line.

And then, she saw it. She and Connor drew in a sharp breath at exactly the same time. It was the car they wanted. The silver Ford. Turning into the aquarium just half an hour before Patti had arrived.

"It's a clear link," Connor said decisively. "He was there, on site. He has had contact with both victims. We need to find Nick Simmel, now."

CHAPTER SIX

The stars were bright above him as he looked up to the darkened ceiling. Outside, it was a sunny morning. But inside the planetarium, it was night. Deepest, darkest night.

The lost man had come here hoping for guidance. Hoping that he might be able to use the stars to find them, these people he had lost. Surely, it was possible? With the alignment of the stars, he might be able to map his route.

"I feel so lonely. So lost," he murmured, but softly. He didn't want to interrupt the voice of the announcer as he calmly explained the planetary movements and highlighted the constellations in the twinkling lights above.

He tried his best to fix their positions in his mind, feeling panic rise, because they were so complex, so difficult to remember. But they must be able to help him somehow, to find his way back.

Then he gasped as all the twinkling lights went off, leaving the blackness above him blank and absolute.

"On its own, the human eye finds it difficult to fix in one place. Especially without visual references to help. And here is proof of this.”

In the black ceiling, one pinprick light appeared.

"Watch this star."

The light shone a few moments and then it went out. After another few moments of blackness, the star reappeared, but it was now a good distance to the right, the lost man saw.

"This is in the same position as last time," the announcer continued implacably. "But to the human eye, it will appear to have moved, because without any light to focus on, our vision constantly moves and adjusts, and our eyes don’t remain looking at the same place we saw."

The light winked out again. Then it reappeared, but higher up in the ceiling. Except it wasn't higher, the lost man realized, panic now blooming inside him. It was in the same place it had been, but he wasn't seeing it so. He was incapable of seeing it that way because he was lost, he was disoriented, his vision was faulty, and it was going to prevent him from ever finding his way back again, with or without stars to help him. Nothing could help him. What chance did he have?

Taking a deep, panicked breath, he scrambled up from his seat, stumbling in the dark, pushing past the other people. He tripped over their legs, hearing their annoyed murmurs but not caring. He was blind in the absolute blackness, but knew that he needed to get out, that he couldn't stay in this prison anymore, that this lesson on the heavens was not going to help him.

"Excuse me, please. Excuse me."

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