Page 42 of Special Agent Isabella

Bruce spoke up. “Not an hour, that’s for sure.”

As the video continued with no sight of Stacy leaving, they watched two other females enter. One exited, and the other, Edith, came out to face a flushed Peter. They watched as Bruce rushed up and a very short, terse conversation later, Peter rushed inside the empty room.

Eventually, Tanner sat back, rubbing his eyes. They’d run through the tape a number of times, but nothing changed. Their FBI techs cordoned off the washroom and had their workers in there to look for any kind of evidence that might prove useful, blood or hair, anything with DNA.

Then they brought the two women into the office to interview them about what they saw while using the washroom, getting absolutely no help from either of the terror-stricken females.

After some time, Tanner and Bella headed back to the governor’s mansion. They discussed the facts as they knew them. Tanner spoke out loud, voicing what Bella had already concluded. “It had to be the maid.”

“Right. We looked her up and found no evidence that she could have been employed by their cleaning service. In fact, we were informed that they don’t have staff on the premises during the day, only after business hours.”

“True. Unfortunately, most people think nothing of seeing a person like that in the building.”

“But she didn’t arrive through regular channels. No one saw her enter, and as per instructions, they check everyone passing through.”

“I’m thinking she could have come in the night before with the rest of the cleaning staff and just found a place to hide in the supply room as the others left.”

“Yeah. That seems to be the consensus, and I have to agree. When she left the building earlier, the guard waved her past without any thought about her being there.”

“Because she told him she’d been called in to do a big cleanup from a broken window that knocked over a plant.”

“Right. It makes sense. He even saw the leaves of the plant over the top of the cart which verified her account.”

“So… the maid gets to the parking lot, takes the large bag from the cart where she’s hidden the governor under a plant, places it in her van and drives away.”

“Just like that. Pisses me off to no end that the license plate isn’t visible enough for us to read it. Either her body blocks the view or another passing car does.”

“Right. At the Bureau, we had them follow up with the traffic cameras. They showed the van for two blocks and then lost it when it turned into the underground parking lot on the corner and never came out. Who knows what vehicle they moved the body to.”

“They’re going over it as we speak, but I bet they won’t find a thing.”

“Probably stolen.”

“No doubt. Which leaves us with a dead end.”

“The office is streaming now for all the vehicles leaving the lot with a woman driver.” Bella turned to him, an earnest look on her face, warning him to take whatever she said seriously. Biting her nail, her body stiffening, she voiced her thoughts. “I think the maid is a man.”

“What?” He could tell by her tone that she’d given the matter a lot of thought. Therefore, he waited for her to carry on with her premise.

Bella yanked back her hand from her mouth and earnestly started to speak. “Think about it. She didn’t have a lot of time to put Stacy inside the cart. Had to have the ability, and most women, no matter how stout they are, don’t have that kind of strength.”

Tanner’s thoughtful expression told her he was taking her suggestion seriously. “If so, he’s pretty well-endowed.”

“Hey… it’s easy enough to wear fake boobs and a wig.”

His mind zeroed back to the person in question. “You’re right. Guess it was the way she… ahh, he walked, kinda swaying his backside. It never dawned on me that it could be a man, but you know what? It makes a hell of a lot more sense.”

“I’m going to send the office a message to be on the lookout for either a man or woman who fits that rather pathetic description we were able to come up with.” Bella worked her phone and he added, “After I drop you off, I’ll go in and check up on what they’ve been able to find.”

Seconds later, Bella questioned using sarcasm. “By the way, what happened on your date with her royal bitchiness?”

“I’ve forgotten all about that distraction. Feels like it happened to someone else in the last century.”

“Right, it was lunchtime.”

“Yeah, well, so much has transpired since then, it completely slipped my mind.” Tanner looked at her and she saw his seriousness. “So you know, she’s easy to forget.”

Flustered, she remembered to ask, “Did you delete her film?”

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