Chapter 25 - Faces in the Crowd
Rebecca immediately requested every surviving photograph and video from Richard Collins' funeral.
Within an hour, hundreds of digital files covered the conference room screens.
Executives.
Employees.
Family friends.
Government officials.
Journalists.
Nearly a thousand people had attended.
Michael divided everyone into teams.
"We're looking for unusual behavior."
Hours passed.
Nothing.
Then one young forensic analyst raised her hand.
"Stop."
She enlarged a photograph taken outside the church.
Most people were watching Richard's casket.
One man wasn't.
He was watching Margaret.
Another image appeared.
Same man.
Different location.
Again...
His eyes never left Margaret.
Rebecca searched the guest registry.
"No record."
Edward checked security permits.
"No authorization."
Michael enlarged the face.
Artificial intelligence reconstructed the man's appearance.
Father Benjamin leaned closer.
"I've seen him."
"When?"
"Yesterday."
The room fell silent.
"He was standing among the television reporters."
Rebecca quickly compared the two images.
Despite twenty-five years passing...
The facial recognition system returned a ninety-eight percent match.
The same man.
The same expression.
The same cold stare.
Michael quietly spoke.
"He has been watching Margaret for at least twenty-five years."
Another analyst interrupted.
"There's more."
She displayed aerial footage from the funeral.
Just before the ceremony ended...
A black sedan left the cemetery.
License plate unreadable.
But another vehicle quietly followed it.
Michael zoomed in.
His expression hardened.
"It wasn't following the sedan."
"It was following Margaret."
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Someone had begun tracking her...
The very day Richard Collins was buried.
