The Riddle (A James Acton Thriller, Book #11) by J Robert Kennedy Page B

Acton shrugged again. “I really don’t think I can be
of much help.”
    Mai
stepped forward. “There are cameras in the museum.”
    “Can you
get the footage?” asked Laura, turning toward her.
    “Possibly.
But they would already have seized it I would think.” She paused. “Wouldn’t
they?”
    “Most
likely,” agreed Dawson. “Are they digital or tape?”
    “Digital.”
Mai’s mouth opened a little wider. “Ahh, yes, maybe they just copied them!”
    “Let’s
hope,” said Dawson. “I’ll call in some favors to see if we can get our hands on
that footage.” He paused for a moment as he saw the evidence of Mai’s
interrogation. “Did they do that?”
    She
nodded.
    “What
about you two? Did they hurt you?”
    Laura
shook her head. “No, but they tried to intimidate us into agreeing Niner was
the shooter.”
    “Who is
this Niner?” asked Mai. “You know the shooter?”
    Acton
looked at Dawson who nodded slightly. “No, we don’t know the shooter, but we do
know who they think is the shooter. He’s a friend of ours and definitely
not involved.” Acton’s eyes narrowed. “You did see the shooter, didn’t
you?”
    She
nodded.
    “And you
agree it wasn’t our friend?”
    She
nodded again. “Yes, sorry, I’m just upset.” Her eyebrows popped. “ I could describe him! Maybe someone could draw him.” She smiled slightly at
Acton. “After all, all Vietnamese don’t look alike to me.”
    Acton
felt his cheeks burn red. “I—” He stopped himself, not sure what to say, Laura
delighting in his discomfort.
    “I think
that’s a great idea, Mai.” Laura frowned. “But where are we going to find a
sketch artist?”
    Dawson
shook his head. “No need. We’ve got software. I’ll have a tablet brought down
to you. In the meantime I’ll try to get a hold of the footage. This is going to
turn into a he said-she said incident and we need to get it before they erase
it.”
    “I don’t
think your people will be able to access the tapes,” said Mai. “I remember
somebody saying that the security computers weren’t networked.”
    Acton
cursed. “We need that footage if we’re going to prove Niner’s innocent.”
    “I can
get it.”
    All eyes
turned to Mai.
    “How?”
asked Laura.
    “I work
there. I could go back and get it. The office computers are networked, but only
a few isolated computers are connected to the Internet for research purposes.”
She dropped her head shyly, looking up as if ashamed of her country. “They
don’t want us communicating with the outside world too much.”
    Acton
shook his head. “Ridiculous. You’re educators. How are you expected to do your
job?”
    Mai
shook her head quickly, as if wanting to defend her native land. “No no, don’t
misunderstand me. Things are getting much better. Just slowly.” She sighed. “I
went to Australia once and couldn’t believe how they lived. Such…” Her voice
drifted off as she was lost in a memory.
    Dawson
brought them back to business. “We’ll need to get you out of the hotel.”
    “How?”
asked Acton.
    “We’ve
got a secure egress route manned with our personnel through the basement and
into the parking garage. We can get her into a diplomatic vehicle and off the
premises then into the American Embassy. From there she can just leave as one
of the visitors.”
    Laura
shook her head. “No, they took her ID as well.”
    “I need
to get to my brother. He can get me ID.”
    “Fake
ID. If you’re caught…” Laura was clearly not happy with the idea.
    “Out of
the question,” said Acton. “We can’t have you risking your life for something
you have nothing to do with.”
    Mai
shook her head. “I’m involved. I was there. If we don’t get proof that your
friend is innocent then they will eliminate anyone who might deny the official
story. You two are probably safe because you’re foreigners. Me? I and my family
will be thrown in prison or worse.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “If I don’t
help