Savior | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 27

Maddy didn't like playing detective.

First, she'd struggled to find someone who could accurately point her in the direction of the main security room where the cameras were. The hospital employees either didn't trust her enough to tell her, or they genuinely had no idea.

Then, when she got there, she could smell the vervain in the cup of coffee that the singular guard was drinking, which meant he couldn't be compelled. Grateful for her formal attire, she went up to him and sat down, trying her best to look as official as possible.

"Hello there, sir," she said, tucking her hands together. "I'm an off-duty officer working for Sheriff Liz Forbes. I was wondering if I'd be able to take a peek at the security camera footage for the third floor over the last twenty-four hours?"

The man was suspicious, which made it worse. "No one said you were coming."

"It was an emergency, I'm sure the email will be sent later today to confirm this visit. It's urgent. It could pertain to an open murder investigation we're currently following leads on. The information has not yet been released to the public, but with this footage, we could come up with an accurate sketch to give to the press promptly."

He narrowed his eyes. "Show me your badge."

"Sir, forgive me for having to reiterate, but I'm off-duty. I was called in because everyone else is busy. My badge is unfortunately at the station. I could give Liz Forbes a call if you really want, but she's going through something pretty difficult at the moment, and although it would really disturb her if we were to contact her now, I would be more than happy to dial her number if it would dissuade your concerns."

He finally relented. "Fine. But if I get in trouble for this—"

"You won't."

She slid her chair closer to his as he pulled up the footage of the third floor. She peeked at her phone. "Could you perchance limit it to just Room 245 and the surrounding hallways?"

He nodded, and switched the camera angles to show that hallway. He started it since last night, fast-forwarding until Maddy gestured him to stop, when she saw Bill Forbes being wheeled into the room. She watched intently as the hours went by. Nurses entered to check on him. Meredith Fell was there. Alaric and Jenna, it seemed, had been there already and had been allowed to visit while they waited for Caroline and Liz to show up.

Fast forwarding to hours later, Bill was upright, and walking out to the nurse's desk.

"Follow that man, please," said Maddy, pointing at him as he handed a clipboard to the nurse and started to walk away. The security guard obeyed, and the angles switched every few seconds as he moved down toward a back exit. He entered one of the medical supply rooms, but never emerged.

"Do you have cameras in that supply room?" asked Maddy.

The man nodded, and switched to the interior of the room. Light shone into the dark room when Bill went inside, but when the door was shut, and Bill didn't turn on the lights, the camera was unable to pick up more than a dark silhouette coming up to Bill and stabbing him in the chest from behind.

"Oh my god," said the security guard, in shock. "They didn't tell us that the patient was murdered."

"All details will be released to the public once we have more information," said Maddy, drumming her fingers anxiously on the desk. She continued to look at the screen, hoping the person would exit through one of the two doors.

He chose the door opposite of the one Bill had entered through. Though the guard switched to footage of that back hallway, they couldn't find a face. It was as if the man knew exactly where the cameras were, and knew how to keep his head down so that he wouldn't be seen. His clothes were dark and unfamiliar. At one point, when Maddy thought the camera was finally going to get a clear view of his face, he pulled up the hood of his jacket and darted down the stairwell. According to the guard, there were no cameras there.