Chapter 16: The Rest of the Video

"I've already chosen," Brennan said.

He did not look at the board. He looked at Edwin.

"She stays, and the deal goes if it has to. I'd rather lose the company than sit at a table that calls her a thief."

A director down the table drew a breath. Somebody's pen rolled off the edge and hit the floor.

"You understand what you're saying?" Edwin asked.

"I understand it better than I did a month ago."

I turned my head and looked at him.

His hand was still wrapped around mine under the table, and it was not steady.

I stood up.

"May I?" I said.

Edwin lifted two fingers from the head of his cane. "Please."

"Before you vote, I'd like you to see the rest of that video."

The room shifted.

Brennan's voice came from beside me. "The security company kept a backup, and a technician drove it over an hour ago. It's the whole night."

He nodded to the man by the door, who pushed a drive into the laptop.

The screen went black, and then it showed the study in the dark.

I watched myself come in, in the robe.

The first thing I did was turn on the flashlight on my phone, because I couldn't find the lamp switch.

The light pointed at the desk. That was the shot Bree had cut.

A man lay slumped asleep in the chair with his head on his arm.

I crossed the room on the screen, took the coat from the stand and laid it over his shoulders.

I stood there for a moment looking at him. Then I turned the light off and left.

Nobody at the table spoke.

"I wasn't photographing your draft, Mr. Hartwell," I said. "I was looking for a lamp."

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