Chapter 5: The Witness Who Wasn't There
The name was Dominic Farrell.
Daniel had it on his screen within twenty minutes — pulled from the statement Isabella's lawyer had transmitted to the officers downstairs.
Dominic Farrell.
Event staff.
Employed through a third-party hospitality contractor for the charity gala.
"He's saying he was in the corridor," Daniel said.
"That he saw Khloe enter the suite in an agitated state.
That he heard raised voices and then saw Khloe shove Isabella before the door closed."
"That's a lie," Khloe said.
"I know."
"The corridor camera —"
"Shows the door," Daniel said.
"Not the full corridor approach.
There's a blind spot of approximately four meters near the service alcove." He pulled up a diagram on his phone.
"He would have been standing right in that gap."
Marcus was at the window again.
"Who hired him for the event?"
"The contractor is called Meridian Hospitality.
They supply staff for about sixty percent of the high-end events in this city." Daniel paused.
"Isabella's family foundation has used Meridian for the past three years."
The room went very still.
"She planned for a witness," Khloe said.
Not a question.
"It looks that way," Daniel said.
"Which means she planned for the confrontation itself.
The suite, the timing, the camera blind spot — she knew where it was.
She chose that location deliberately."
Marcus turned from the window.
His voice was measured.
"Can we break the witness?"
"Possibly.
His account has a problem." Daniel scrolled on his phone.
"He says he saw Khloe shove Isabella before the door closed.
But the suite footage shows Khloe entering the room calmly, alone, and Isabella following her in.
If he saw a shove in the corridor, it didn't happen in the corridor.
The geometry doesn't work."
"Then why is he saying it?"
"Because he's counting on the corridor blind spot creating enough doubt.
A jury hears 'eyewitness' and 'I saw it myself' and it plants something.
Even with the suite footage, a skilled defense attorney can argue the footage only shows what happened inside.
What happened before the door closed is, technically, unverified by camera."
Khloe pressed her hand flat against the hospital blanket.
"She thought of everything."
"She thought of a lot," Daniel said.
"But she didn't think of one thing."
He pulled up a second screen and handed the phone to Marcus.
Marcus looked at it.
Then looked up.
"The gala photographer," he said.
"Hired independently by the hospital foundation.
Not through Meridian.
He was shooting the corridor arrivals all evening — candid shots of guests moving between floors." Daniel took the phone back.
"He captured the corridor outside the suite at 9:38 PM.
Three minutes before the timestamp on the suite footage."
He turned the screen toward Khloe.
The photograph was slightly blurred at the edges — a wide shot of the corridor.
In the background, near the suite door, a figure in a crimson gown stood with her back to the camera.
And beside her, in the service alcove, a man in a white hospitality jacket stood watching.
Dominic Farrell.
Already in position.
Before Khloe had even arrived on that floor.
"He was placed there," Khloe said.
"Before you ever walked down that corridor." Daniel nodded.
"Which means his account of seeing you shove Isabella is not just false.
It's impossible.
He was already in the alcove when you arrived.
He couldn't have seen what he claims from that position."
Marcus handed the phone back.
"Get me the photographer's name.
And every shot he took on that floor tonight."
"Already requested."
A knock at the door.
One of the officers from downstairs — a woman in her forties with a notepad — stepped in.
"Mr.
Thorne.
Ms.
Reeves.
I'm sorry to interrupt." She looked at Khloe.
"We need to take your formal statement when you're ready.
There's no rush — the doctor has cleared a window for later tonight." She paused.
"I also want you to know that the witness statement submitted by Ms.
Rossi's attorney is being evaluated.
We're aware of the corridor camera limitations."
"Are you aware of the gala photographer?" Daniel asked.
She looked at him.
"We are now."
She wrote something on her notepad and left.
Marcus sat back down beside Khloe.
He was quiet for a moment.
"She built an entire trap," Khloe said.
"And she walked into it herself."
"Not yet," Marcus said.
"Her lawyer is good.
This isn't finished."
Khloe looked at the fetal monitor.
The heartbeat was still steady.
Still fast.
Still there.
"Then we finish it," she said.
From somewhere down the corridor, a door opened and closed.
Then a voice — sharp, carrying — cut through the quiet.
Isabella's voice.
"I want to speak to my attorney.
Right now.
And I want to know who authorized the release of that footage, because that is a violation of —"
Then a second door closed and the voice was gone.
Marcus looked at the ceiling.
May you like
"She's scared," he said.
"Good," said Khloe.
