Page 79 of Backwater Justice
“Yes. Hi. What can I do for you?”
“Nothing, really. Just wanted to take a look around again. It was a lot to absorb today.” She tapped her notepad with a pen. She didn’t want to ask any questions about Lori, since she wasn’t sure whom she could trust.
“Gotcha.” Bethany bobbed her head.
“Oh, Bart mentioned the laundry room is closed.”
“Yeah, a leak or something.”
“So when it’s fully functional, how does housekeeping get everything up and down the stairs?”
“A dumbwaiter.” She craned her neck. “Down the hall next to the staircase.”
“Clever.”
Isabelle went down a short hall that led to a small storage space for the office supplies, water, and snacks. At the end of the hall was a fire exit, a door that led down to the basement, and another door that covered the dumbwaiter. There was a hydraulic lift that could hold up to two hundred pounds. It was large enough for a single laundry cart. Or a single person, if they were petite.Maybe that’s how they got her out of here.
Isabelle needed no further convincing that Lori George had not left of her own volition. She felt it in her gut. Which was confirmed by everyone’s bizarre behavior at the mere mention of Eugene. She had to get down to the basement level. Change of plans.
She sent Kat a text to tell her to distract the manager. Ask her to go outside and gaze at the constellations. Anything to get her out of the building for a few minutes.
Kat sent back a message that she would get her phone and pull up the app for Night Sky. Wherever you aimed your camera, the name of the constellation would pop up at the bottom of the screen. It was the one gadget Kat really appreciated, especially when she was in Montana. She figured she could get some pretty good stargazing in here in the Pacific Northwest.
Kat walked into the main office. “Hey there. I was wondering if you could help me out. I have this app on my phone that tells me what the constellations are. You have any favorites I should try to catch?” Kat made a gesture for Bethany to follow her.
Bethany looked around. “I guess it’s alright. I’ll leave the door open in case the phone rings.”
They walked a few feet from the main entrance to the side of the building. Close enough to hear any incoming calls, but dark enough to get a decent view of the sky. Bethany was curious about the sky map, and Kat was more than happy to explain and show her how to use it. Before becoming a long-hauler, Kat had been a nuclear engineer. A graduate of MIT. All things cosmic and subatomic were of interest to her.
* * *
Isabelle pushed the button that opened the door to the dumbwaiter. She peeked inside to see if there were any other buttons to push to lower the rig, then spotted the emergency lever. She looked closely. It was separate from the alarm. She took a chance, folded herself in, and pushed the button with aD. The motor whirred quietly, and the lift descended to the basement floor. Except for the light coming from the shaft, the room was dark. She turned on the flashlight part of her phone and scanned the room. No signs of flooding, but maybe the cleanup company had done an impeccable job. She looked at the blueprints and counted off feet the old-fashioned way by using her own. She had done it over a hundred times and had a pretty good idea her foot was nine inches if she wasn’t wearing shoes. According to the blueprint, the room should be twenty-five feet deep, but she counted only twelve. Half the size? She measured again. When she reached the other side of the room for the second time, she placed her hands against the wall. It was a sliding panel. She saw there were latches at the top and bottom, keeping the panel secure. Isabelle placed her phone on the floor with the light shining upward.Click.Got the first latch.Click. Got the second one. She took a deep breath. Moving the panel could set off all sorts of alarms, but she had to go for it. She slid the door slowly. No alarms, but there was another door in front of her with a digital padlock. That was going to require some help, and she wasn’t equipped with the tools she needed. She took a close-up photo of the lock and sent it to Charles and Fergus. Maybe they could come up with a solution, except time was of the essence. Bethany would be looking for her. Charles answered immediately.
Try: 6-4-3-5-7
Isabelle had no idea where Charles got that number, but she gave it a go.
No
Try: 4-6-3-5-7
Still no.
Try: 7-5-3-6-4
A slight buzz sounded, and the door unlocked.
How did you do that?
Charles replied:Greasy fingerprints. It had to be a combination of those.
Glad you got it on the third try. Don’t go anywhere.
She scanned the small room with the light from her phone. And there it was: a long steel table with a machine at one end, covered in white dust. A cart containing boxes of one-and-a-half-inch-square glycine envelopes was against the wall. She pulled out one of the small bags and tried to scrape a few flecks of dust inside. It wasn’t much, but it was something. She took a few photos, backed out of the room, and pulled the door shut. The lock engaged automatically. She moved the panel back into place, fastened the latches, and folded herself back into the dumbwaiter. She pressed the redUbutton and hoped no one had noticed she had been missing for almost fifteen minutes. As the cart moved upward, she sent the photos off to Charles.
When the dumbwaiter reached the main floor, she peered out to see if anyone was around. Empty. Her heart was racing. She had to get back to secure quarters quickly. She climbed out of the dumbwaiter, shut the door, and walked back to the small lobby area. Kat and Bethany were entering at the same time. Isabelle let out a long exhale. A little too close for comfort.
“Kat showed me this really cool app on her phone.” Bethany grinned. “It has a telescopic lens, too!”