Why Not Murder

18. Videos

18. Videos

It was a Sunday. Maya, Harriet and Winnie were all in the reception area of Hudson's office. Maya was driven in with Harriet and Winnie. Hudson was already there and was furiously working on a deadline. Two of his draftsmen were also there working overtime. Hudson had given permission for Maya to review the security camera videos at his office regarding the night of the car theft and recorded at his home which were normally kept on the office computer system. Harriet was operating the computer and taking Maya through the footage. Winnie was watching closely. There had been stubborn technical difficulties with the cameras and this was the first time they were able to see the recordings.

They were viewing the video taken at the Laymuir home on the afternoon, evening and night of the car theft. Cameras had been positioned so that the entire exterior of the house and grounds could be seen. They fast forwarded through the gardeners work, put away their tools into the shed, and after dinner walk out the back way to where Conrad's car was parked. The weather was a mix of sun, cloud and rain. At times the video was brilliant with light and at other times very dark from rain and cloud. Trees were swaying in the wind. When the sun was setting, the shadows were very long. Now and then the Doberman was let out to run and then went back inside again. They watched Hudson arrive home in his sports car. Later they watched Hudson pack up his SUV with many large scrolls of paper and a few briefcases. Then he went inside again, reappeared and drove off in the SUV. Some time later the SUV drove in and Hudson got out. "That was when he forgot something," Winnie said. When Hudson came out again it was very dark and raining hard. He got into the sports car and drove away.

"That doesn't confirm what Mr. Laymuir said he did that evening," Maya said. Harriet got Hudson to come away from his work and view the footage with them.

"There's definitely something not right here," Hudson exclaimed, "No way did I come back to the house at that time. When I left the house I went in my SUV. I never came back and went out again in my sports car. If that had happened, it would never have ended up in the opposite direction falling over a cliff. Neither would I have packed my SUV with the drawings I needed and then taken the sports car without the drawings to my office."

"That's what the video shows," Winnie said, "Can the video lie?"

"Replay it," Hudson commanded. Then "Again!" and "Again!" Three times Harriet replayed the video and on the third time, Hudson leaned forward so that his face was the closest to the screen. "I've got it!" he exclaimed and froze the screen. "Look," he continued, addressing them all, "This segment of me coming back because I supposedly forgot something is a repeat of some other time. Where's my tie? My shoes are different. There's something off about my hair. I didn't come back after I left in the SUV. Why do you say I did?" He was looking directly at Winnie and sounded angry.

"I assumed you did when I saw the video now," Winnie replied defensively. "It's been awhile and I don't remember exactly what happened. You could have left your tie at the office and changed your shoes. The wind is blowing. How can you tell there's something off with your hair?"

"There is no mention of me forgetting anything in the statement I gave the police at the time," Hudson said. "How was this messing up of the video done?" He banged his closed fist on the reception desk and the others jumped.

"Maybe it happened because you decided to change security companies as a result of the theft," Winnie said.

Hudson huffed out hot air. "Total incompetency, for all the hype about them being top of the line and the endless success testimonials. Squirrels were living in the eaves troughs and displaced many of the cameras. I'll sue," he snarled. He stood back and turned away from the screen thinking how he could put them out of business.