Why Not Murder

21. Save & Secure

21. Save & Secure

It was extremely windy and joggled the train. Maya wondered if it could be lifted off the tracks. On the sides of the hills trees swayed so far over the uppermost branches swept the ground. It had been calm when she left her cabin in the morning and didn't gust up until after the train was part way into the journey. In Marhaven the wind was even stronger. People were bent over ninety degrees at the waist barely able to walk forward into the oncoming force or else they were thrown about if it was coming at them from behind. Garbage was everywhere and smashing into everything. Maya stayed out only a minute and then returned to the train station to use the city's system of underground tunnels to reach her destination. There were many maps between the underground shops and Maya soon reached Safe and Secure, the security firm Hudson had fired.

She took the elevator to the main lobby of the building and was directed to the applicable suite. Hudson had made the appointment for her. She had his written authorization and her photo ID. She waited in a small meeting room. A man bustled in, in a suit with the company logo on the jacket pocket. He asked for and inspected the authorization letter and her ID. Then he photocopied them using a machine in the room. He sat opposite Maya and introduced himself as the security supervisor and manager of Hudson's account which he said had been regretfully cancelled.

"We are not retained to ensure that nothing adverse happens," the manager said, "It is not our job to stop any crime in process and that is all spelled out most clearly in the contract. We are the intelligence behind the cameras. If anything we consider suspicious occurs we immediately contact the account holder and inform them of such. Thereupon they may or may not instruct us to send in the police. If we are not successful in immediately informing the account holder, we leave the message that we are calling in the police to attend on the account site. The reason we contact the account holder and get their instructions is because the actions that arouse our suspicion may or may not be something the account holder considers a security threat. For instance in this case, the reason for Mr. Laymuir's closing his account was the alleged theft of his sports car. We have video showing that it was driven off the property late the night of the event, but there was nothing suspicious about it. It did not appear in any way to be an illegal activity."

"I see," said Maya, "but did the cameras record who got in the sports car and drove away?"

"Not exactly because there was a flash power-out due to the storm and while there is a vague image of someone getting into the car before it drove off," the manager said, "the face of the person was completely hidden in the shadow of the person's rain hood. It was someone coming out of the house and it looked like Mr. Laymuir. No suspicious persons were observed on the property."

"Are you aware," Maya asked, "that according to the government weather records, there was no storm that night in the area of the Laymuir residence? This can be verified."

"No?" the manager asked, "Are you saying that the videos are not accurate?"

"What could the explanation for the discrepancy be?" Maya asked.

"According to our records," the manager said, "all regular inspections of equipment were performed as required on a monthly basis. The next was due to be conducted the following week, however the account being closed, the inspection was not done. A final inspection to ensure that all of our equipment was returned to us was done and the cameras were inspected at this time and found to be operating according to specification."

"I would like to point out," the manager continued, "that any individual camera may be switched off from the residence's main panel. The account holder is made aware of the location of each individual camera and he must sign a statement to that effect when the account is opened. This is done for reasons of privacy. None of our residential account holders want to be under constant observation. Ultimately, they are the masters of their own security system."