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“Hazel,” I say. “You told us the music box was inside the trunk.”
“It was.”
“But the trunk was already open when the camera came online.”
“Yes.”
“How would he know about the false bottom?”
Hazel turns toward Thomas.
“You said Grandpa built it after Dad died.”
“He did.”
“Did Marcus Bell see him working on it?”
Thomas’s face tightens.
“I don’t remember.”
“Try,” Marquez says.
“I’m trying.”
“That isn’t good enough.”
Nathan steps beside Thomas.
“He’s eighty-six years old, Agent Marquez. Shouting at him isn’t going to bring back a memory from more than twenty years ago.”
“Someone inside that apartment knows about a compartment Mr. Sinclair built after Daniel was murdered. I need to know how.”
Thomas grips the edge of the table.
“James rebuilt several trunks at my boathouse. Marcus could have seen him working on one of them.”
“Could Elliot?”
“Yes.”
“What about Simon Vail?”
“I never saw Simon with the Bell boys.”
Ward folds his arms. “That doesn’t mean they didn’t know one another.”
“We already know they do,” Ivy says. “Elliot Bell broke into my studio tonight. Simon broke into Hazel’s apartment. That isn’t a coincidence.”
“No,” Marquez says. “It’s coordination.”
Keating looks toward the dark monitor.
“If Simon is working with the Bells, he may have known police would respond after Elliot was caught.”
“He wanted us looking at the studio,” Ben says.
“While he searched Hazel’s apartment,” I finish.