Chapter 10 - THE SECOND MAN
Ward heard movement on the ladder below.
He assumed Michael had another security person inside the shaft.
Then a flashlight went dark.
No voice.
Ward climbed upward instead.
Toward roof.
So the killer may have entered before Ward left.
Not through the front door.
Through the shaft.
That reversed everything.
Hallway camera showed one man entering.
But another could already be inside.
Robert said:
“Then our impossible room had two visitors.”
Jack mapped the timeline.
8:37 Michael home.
8:51 calls Shaw.
8:55 messages Ward.
Before 9:12 unknown person enters via shaft.
9:12 Ward enters front door.
9:13 deadbolt locked.
9:26 Ward leaves shaft upward.
Unknown remains.
Michael dies.
Unknown exits shaft downward or upward.
Then who locked the balcony?
Michael probably already had.
Who locked front door?
Michael or Ward.
Ward said Michael did it.
The locked room was not staged after murder.
It was created before.
Jack smiled.
“That’s why the locks are genuine.”
Robert nodded.
“The killer never touched them.”
Then the weapon.
Cane spike.
Who triggered it?
Ward said Michael carried the cane normally during the meeting.
No visible spike.
Could the second man hide and attack afterward?
Yes.
Then remove spike from cane.
Exit.
But where hide?
Apartment searched.
Unless second man emerged from wine cabinet after Ward left.
Exactly.
Then Jack asked:
“Who knew Ward was coming?”
Michael.
Ward.
And whoever saw burner messages.
Or had access to Michael’s hidden communication system.
Laura?
Gavin Shaw?
Samuel Pike?
Then forensics found one more fingerprint on the hidden panel release.
May you like
Gavin Shaw.
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