DEAR DIARY

Chapter 5

The atmosphere of the office at night differed vastly from daytime despite people being present. The police station was never empty and the wide room that was divided into little cubicles bustled with men going in and out. One could see a couple of officers busy interrogating some men, while a few other attended telephone calls. It was comparatively quieter at night though, providing some privacy to the two men sitting inside the cornermost cubicle, their eyes fixed on the video clip playing on the desktop screen.

The footage showed a section of an empty factory warehouse at night. There wasn't any discernible change on the screen worth looking for though. It could have been a still picture had it not been for the changing numbers in the corner, recording the time. But then, suddenly, a tiny movement made the taller man lean attentively towards the monitor.

He watched closely as the silhouette of a person emerged from the shadows, walking briskly across the warehouse, navigating his way between the stacked crates and boxes. As the silhouette neared the camera, the shorter man put out his hand and paused the video.

"Take a close look."

Forth squinted at the screen. "Could you please zoom on it a little?" He watched closely as the officer complied with his request.

The person was wearing an oversized hooded jacket that made it difficult to determine whether it was a man or a woman. The hood was drawn over a cap, making the person's attempts to hide obvious. Despite the cctv camera being a top quality one, Forth could not discern any features at all.

He leaned back, aggravated. "The bastard's clever." His low voice issued through his clenched teeth.

"Can't recognize him at all can you?"

Forth shook his head, his expression dark with hate. "You were able to get nothing else from any other CCTVs?"

"No. And that's the real mystery. How did he manage to avoide them all except this one?"

"Because this was newly installed. Not everyone knows about it. But he...or she still managed to mask the identity."

"Could it be an employee working late?" The officer asked.

Forth shook his head again. "Look at the time. Even if they do overtime, no employee is made to work after nine o'clock. And this shows quarter to one. They are allowed to join the work early in the morning for extra shifts if they wish to make more money. But not at night. This rule was set by the CEO's grandfather. And it's still in effect."

The two men gazed at the frozen video clip silently for a few seconds.

"Let me try once more." said Forth, reaching for the mouse.

But no amount of pause, zoom, play forward or rewind revealed anything new apart from what they had already seen. Forth gave up, frustrated.

"There is one more thing." The officer's voice made Forth look up. "We were wrong about the pulley."

"What do you mean?"

"Initially it looked like it was intentionally damaged. But it wasn't. The whole pulley, from the sheave to the narrow hook was rusted through. It was so old that it should have been discarded."

Forth's grim face darkened even more at the other man's words. "It is even more obvious about it being intentional."

"How?"

"Standards are always maintained at Kiing Daichar. Every equipment and machinery goes through periodical inspections, discarded and replaced when necessary. Did you notice the iron beam from which the pulley hung?"