Tampa FBI Field Office Sunday Evening October 23
"We've only got one more set of the hotel security camera tapes to go through," Hayley stretched and yawned, "You want to wait and do it tomorrow or plow on through it tonight?"
"I vote for plowing," Javier replied. "I have a lot to do at the Institute tomorrow. I doubt I'll have time to come over."
"Okay, let's get at it then." She reached for the next cartridge.
"Wait Hayley, I just had a blinding flash of light."
She smiled at his choice of words. "You've been around Rick too much."
"No doubt," he agreed, "But at least it's never boring."
"I'm starting to see that. Anyway, what's your idea?"
"I think we should build a timeline with the security system videos starting at the point where Kate first appears. Then look at them in time order. Maybe we can spot a trend in her behavior."
Hayley gave herself a theatrical head slap. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Probably just tired."
For the next fifteen minutes they worked industriously organizing the tapes. "Okay, now where do we start?" Hayley asked.
"How about here?" He responded as he plucked the tape for camera number 7 out of the line-up on her desktop. "This is the lobby camera."
Hayley plugged the disc into her computer "Let's start about fifteen minutes before the Auction was supposed to start." She scrolled forward to the appropriate time. "Ah hah, There's our girl." Kate was pacing back and forth in the lobby, looking up whenever the automatic door slid open.
"She seems to be waiting for someone," Javier observed. "Alexyev?"
"No, I'm sure they had never met until that night."
"Who then?"
Hayley had her own blinding flash of light. "Rick, she was waiting for Rick."
"Whoa there," Javier protested. "She told him not to come."
"Does Rick always do what you tell him to do?"
"Point taken," Javier acknowledged.
"You know, that explains some things. Like the fancy dress. She didn't buy it for some unknown dinner date, she bought it for Rick."
"She doesn't look very happy." Javier observed.
Kate continued to pace until five minutes after the auction started. Then she visibly shrugged and slipped into the auction hall and found her seat.
Hayley scrolled forward to the point where Kate was called to the stage to be auctioned off. "She's still not happy, and she keeps looking back to the entrance."
"Yep, let's see if we can find where she meets Alexyev." Javier suggested.
Hayley scrolled forward to the point where the auction was over and Kate was walking toward the exit. Someone apparently called her name. She stopped and turned as SergeiAlexyev stepped into view. Kate offered her hand for a shake, but he tried to pull her into a hug, which she resisted rather forcefully. He offered her an arm but she refused with a head shake.
"That's my girl," Hayley cheered. "You know, everything we've seen so far is totally in character, she was determined to stick to the letter of the agreement, dinner and nothing else."
"Sure looks that way," Javier agreed. "Let's go on."
After the waiter had taken their orders, Alexeyev pulled a small box, about the size of a Girl Scout cookie box, out of the bag he had been carrying and slid it across the table to Kate. At first she refused to accept, but he kept insisting and eventually she caved and accepted the box. When she opened it, Javier and Hayley saw the first smile on Kate that night.
"Must be pretty good," Javier muttered. "My bet is on lingerie."
"Box is too small," Hayley said. "Now hush, I have a feeling we're just getting to the good part."
Kate reached into the box and reverently removed an orchid corsage. Alexyev made a comment and they both laughed. Most likely his comment had to do with the dearth of places to actually pin a corsage on her dress. Alexyev made some more comments and Kate buried her nose in the orchid and took a giant sniff.
"What the heck did she do that for?" Javier asked, puzzled.
"Unless I miss my guess that is a New Guinean Sunset orchid. It's the second rarest orchid in the world."
"How'd you know that?" A clearly impressed Javier asked.
Hayley flashed him a brief smile, "I'm one of those girls that loves flowers."
"What about the sniffing thing?"
"They say the scent is very subtle, so to enjoy it, you have to do what Alexyev had Kate do. The scent is also said to be slightly intoxicating.
They continued watching the video. Kate's demeanor clearly changed, talking and laughing with Alexyev and taking periodic sniffs of the orchid. Then she leaned across the table and kissed him, on the lips.
"Now that was out of character," Hayley growled, "dammit, I don't think she's even let Rick kiss her more than once."
Then Rick walked in and they had their little discussion and then he left. Shortly Kate and Alexyev left to go up to his suite.
"Look at how they're walking." Hayley noted, "It's like they're welded together. And he's got his hand all over her butt."
"So between the time they sat down in the restaurant and Rick walking in, something happened that made Kate start acting completely out of character.
Hayley turned off the video and they both sat silently mulling over the implications of what they'd seen. Suddenly they turned to each other and they both blurted out the inevitable conclusion.
"The flower!"
