Page 17 of Stuffed
Sheila's eyebrows rose slightly. This was unexpected. "That would be very helpful," she said slowly.
Marcus led them into the house and to a small room off the main hallway, filled with monitors and computer equipment. He sat at the main console, where he pulled up the footage from the previous night and early morning.
"Here," he said, gesturing at the screens. "This covers all the exits."
Sheila and Finn leaned in, watching intently. The time stamp in the corner showed the hours ticking by, but there was no sign of Marcus—or anyone else—leaving the house. As dawn broke in the footage, the house remained still and quiet.
"As you can see," Marcus said, his voice carrying a hint of satisfaction, "I was here all night. Haven't left today, either."
"And how do we know you haven't tampered with this?" Finn asked.
Marcus's face flushed slightly, and his expression hardened. "Because I can't," he replied, his tone clipped. He tapped a few keys on the keyboard, bringing up a secondary display. "This system is synced with an offsite server. It stores everything in real-time. Even if I wanted to alter the footage, I wouldn’t have access to the raw files. The data is encrypted and backed up automatically. Any changes would leave a trace, and frankly, I don’t have the skills to pull off something like that."
Sheila leaned in, her eyes narrowing slightly as she assessed his explanation. "So you're saying the footage we're watching is exactly as it was recorded, with no gaps or edits?"
"Exactly," Marcus said, crossing his arms. "The server’s handled by a third-party security firm. You can check with them if you don’t believe me."
Finn glanced at Sheila, clearly considering their next move. "We will," he said, his voice cool and measured. "But until we do, we'll need to take a copy of the footage for review."
Marcus sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine. Take whatever you need. I’m telling you, though, you're wasting your time. I didn’t kill Jake."
Sheila nodded, feeling a mix of frustration and relief as Finn directed Marcus where to email a copy of the footage. She felt frustrated because they were back to square one with no suspects, but also relieved that they hadn't wrongly accused an innocent man.
"Thank you for showing us this, Mr. Holbrook," Finn said. "It's been very helpful."
As they prepared to leave, Marcus walked them to the door. He paused at the threshold, his hand on the doorframe. "Deputies," he said, his voice low and serious. "If someone really did hurt Jake, I hope you find them. Despite our differences, he didn't deserve to die."
Sheila nodded, but before she could respond, Marcus continued, his eyes distant. "Then again, if a climber doesn't respect the mountain, the mountain won't respect them either."
The statement hung in the air, heavy with implication. Sheila felt a chill run down her spine, though she couldn't quite explain why.
"What do you mean by that, Mr. Holbrook?" she asked.
Marcus shrugged, his expression unreadable. "It's just an unspoken rule in climbing. I'm not saying Jake had it coming, but… given how reckless he was, is it really any surprise he ended up that way?"