Complicated Feelings

"That would be a big ignorance on their part. I know my father."

"Then we agree that they didn't see it?"

Oliver fell silent for a while. If they didn't see it then they have all the reasons to believe that he did commit the crime but then again, the blackmailers had a copy of the video and given how paranoid his family is towards keeping their reputation, it would be a blunder if they didn't at least try to look at the videos before getting them wiped.

"Not totally. We can't rule out that possibility." Oliver finally said. "There're too many variables here and we need to deal with them."

Steve nodded with a smile. "Let's assume—at least for argument sake—that your family didn't get the records wiped."

"Okay."

"Let's imagine that your family wanted to buy the hotel's silence and they paid huge money both to the blackmailers and the hotel, right?"

Oliver nodded again. He went on. "Let's also imagine that the hotel took the money and promised your father that they'll send the video only for the hotel to discover that it had been wiped."

Oliver stroked his jaw a bit and came to a realisation. "You're saying that maybe the hotel weren't fast enough to wipe it and my father didn't see it but had intended to wipe it?"

"Hypothetically, yes," Steve nodded. "The details might be different but look at it yourself. If you were the hotel management would you go to your father and tell him that the records had been wiped by someone else?"

Oliver shook his head. "I'd take the money and pretend that I did it after all, if my father got news that someone else had wiped the records then it would mean two things:

"Either someone else has wiped the data and kept a copy which could be anyone—including the blackmailers. Or that would paint the hotel as the blackmailers."

"Good thinking," Steve nodded with a smile. "Now let's deal with this part of the problem. In a hotel, no one—not even the staff—have access to the rooms a particular guest will stay in, correct?"

Oliver nodded. "Unless they know where the guest is staying."

"Good man," Steve took another gulp of his beer. "If they knew ahead of time that you would be staying in that room, doesn't that mean you made a reservation prior to the night? It would imply that you might have planned this rape for weeks!"

Oliver's eyes widened as he put the pieces together. 'Seriously, I should stop drinking too much. Steve is so good at this!' outwardly he, however, said, "But I made no such arrangements!"

Steve nodded. "Exactly. I checked the records and you haven't made a reservation with the hotel except that night. So the question is, the staff didn't know what you were going to do that night so how could they have planted a camera unless…"

Oliver nodded. "Unless the hotel was let in on the stuff. It is a calculated attempt to blackmail me?"

Steve shook his head. "Far from it. Now let's modify the story a bit. Your father paid them to wipe the videos but unknown to him, the hotel were the blackmailers!"

"But that doesn't explain how they knew if I made a reservation that night while dead drunk."

Steve thought for a bit and nodded. "It doesn't. Have you talked to Valerie yet? To know how she was dragged down into this?"

"No," Oliver shook his head. "We aren't talking."

Steve eyed him but went on. "All in all I have something that might prove our theory."

"Let me see it."

"I checked the hotel's management team. My main purpose was to see those who were on duty that night but instead I found something interesting." He pushed a photo to Oliver.

Oliver observed the photo keenly. It was the photo of a man in his late fifties. He had a slightly balding head and looked chubby. "Who's this?"

"That's Devin Berg. He worked at the hotel but what's surprising is that after that night he resigned and recently he bought a condo. The bottom line is that he is now living an extravagant lifestyle which his salary can't support. He knows something."

"Then we must find him."

"Agreed, but you should know that he might not talk freely." Steve said. "In the meantime you should try asking your father if he by chance saw the hotel's records."

Oliver nodded though in his mind he rated the difficulty of such a task. He heaved a sigh and rubbed his tired eyes. This was getting out of hand for him and it went to prove that he might have been a scape goat used to redirect the attention of this case to him.

Steve pulled out his phone and played a video for him. "While the hotel cameras might have been wiped, the nearest camera at a shop wasn't. I was able to retrieve this. The video is blurry."

Oliver watched with interest. It was a footage of two men—he assumed they were men from their bearing—walking side by side. One seemed to be walking a bit backward while the other was dragging him along.

It was blurry and dark and the motions of the two men were unclear. Oliver gave the phone back. "It matches the said time of my arrival at the hotel theoretically."

Steve nodded. "That's a lead. I'll keep digging but for now, try and talk to Valerie and get her to tell you what happened on her end."

Oliver frowned. Steve caught on to this and sighed. "Tell me what the deal is between you two."

"She's pregnant."

Steve's jaw dropped to the ground from shock. Oliver went on, "she wants to abort but I want her to keep it."

Steve became mummified. "Why do you want to keep it?"

"A reminder."

Steve shook his head sadly. "What's her reaction to this?"

"Anger, hatred maybe. She hates me and I think she might abort anyways."

"If she aborts will you use that as an excuse for a divorce?"

"I don't know," Oliver said. "I think she wants to kill me. The way she looks at me."

Steve patted his shoulder. "Shit happened, man. It's normal for her to be upset and think of ways to kill you. She was raped and right now she thinks it's you. Give her time and understand her."

Oliver looked ahead in silence with glazed eyes. If only….