Epilogue One
Midnight Blue
Security for the wedding had been tightly managed by PTI's Security Chief, Mr Hamlin, causing him a huge pile of extra work, but one in which he reveled, rising to the challenge like he always did. He was determined that every detail would be perfect, that nothing would ruin the day for the Boss's daughter. Now, as the party moved from ceremony to celebration, and the deejay started a popular wedding song for the newlyweds' first dance, he thought perhaps everything might go smoothly after all.
Don't let your guard down now! He told himself. The party's just beginning!
As the thought crossed his mind, one of the waiters hired for the occasion caught his eye. The man was standing perfectly still at the back of the encircling crowd, holding a tray of champagne glasses, watching the couple take the floor along with everyone else. Something about him, though, made Hamlin automatically file away a police description: slightly tall, medium build, athletic – a runner's body, piercing blue eyes, very curly short black hair, handsome, vaguely Gallic face. Hamlin began moving slowly around the perimeter of the circle towards him.
The song ended, but the groom held on to his bride's hand, signaling the deejay. He had a surprise planned. As Glen Miller's In the Mood began to flow from the speakers, the bride's laughter pealed through the crowd, and she swung with her new husband into a spirited Charleston.
Hamlin, though, still had his eye on the waiter. The man's eyes had closed when the new song began, as if in deepest pain, then he had opened them again, gazing at the couple with such an expression of intense longing that Hamlin's internal alarms started clanging. He made his way faster through the crowd, which was now milling towards the dance floor at the couple's waved invitation to join in, losing sight of the waiter as he dodged people and tables. By the time he reached the spot, the waiter had disappeared, leaving the tray of glasses on a nearby table.
Hamlin searched, but the waiter was never found.