And it was true.
Professor Weston looked down at my business card for a moment and then nodded, lifted her head and
looked me straight in the eye.
‘Just tell me what you need.’
Chapter 34
SUZY CRADLED THE phone to her ear and typed on the computer keyboard in front of her.
‘Copy that, Dan,’ she said as the crest of Chancellors University appeared in the centre of the screen above the word SECURITY printed in block capitals.
She clicked on the crest and the image fragmented into a thousand pixels floating off the screen, leaving a plain password box in its place.
‘Okay, I got it,’ she said. ‘I’ll get back to you.’ She clicked her phone shut as Lucy came in.
‘What have we got?’
‘Dan’s been to see Hannah and Chloe’s tutor. She’s the faculty liaison officer with security at the college.’
‘Which means?’
‘She has access to the security files online. Including CCTV footage.’
Suzy quickly typed in the password. Flicking through several screens and pulling up a list of digitally stored data. She clicked against yesterday’s date and then against the cameras marked for the union bar and then the quad outside. She right-clicked and saved them as AVI files.
She stood up and grinned. ‘Come on.’
‘Where to?’
‘You haven’t seen this yet. It’s fun.’
Lucy followed her, puzzled, as she walked away from her desk and led her back to the conference room.
Inside, Suzy opened the top drawer of a storage unit and took out two pairs of what appeared to be lightly tinted sunglasses. She threw Lucy a pair, slipped hers on and picked up the thin wandlike remote control that operated the television that dominated the far end of the room. She stepped to the side and flicked a switch. Shutters dropped over the exterior and interior of the windows and the lights dimmed to almost darkness.
‘Lights, camera, action,’ said Suzy, pressing the control, and the Union Bar of Chancellors College filled the screen. Suzy freeze-framed the image and pulled out her notebook.
She pointed the control at the monitor again, clicked the button and light danced into the room, transforming the two-dimensional image in a full holographic-style 3D effect as the tape played and a burst of motion surrounded the on-screen figures.
‘Last night’s footage,’ explained Suzy. ‘The computer takes the feed from each camera and triangulates it, making the image three-dimensional.’
Lucy held out her hand and flinched as a large and extremely drunk young man seemed to walk straight at her.
‘The police will have this footage as well but they have nowhere near this kind of image-enhancement and three-dimensional-projection technology.’
Lucy nodded, impressed. It really felt as if she could reach out and pick up a glass off one of the tables.
‘Sound as well. Chancellors recently had their whole security network upgraded.’
Lucy pushed another button and the deafening noise of the bar filled the room. She adjusted the volume to a reasonable level and used the control to navigate around the room, coming to the entrance door where she fast-forwarded until Chloe and her two friends came in and walked up to the bar.
Two brunettes and a blonde. Young, vibrant, beautiful.
Dressed up for a night of partying, by the looks of them. There was no shortage of young men hitting on them and they particularly drew the attention of a large crowd who were wearing CUL rugby shirts. They seemed perfectly capable of deflecting the unwanted attention. Suzy guessed they were probably used to it.
Lucy and Suzy let the tape run and the events unfold around them. The girls were downing vodka and Red Bulls like they were going out of fashion. At least, Hannah and Laura were. Dan’s god-daughter Chloe seemed to be holding back.