“Cameras,” Nettles said. “You can’t see them, but I have video surveillance in every room. Professional couriers bring expensive stuff to be photographed because they can only use an authorized Wizzin photographer to sell or auction goods off. That eliminates a lot of stuff being photoshopped. I’m the only licensed photographer in the area. Some people know what I do, and figure stuff is kept here, but it’s not. After a couple of break-in attempts, I decided to be sure I knew who entered my place when I’m not here.”
“What about these professional couriers? Are they aware they’re on camera?” Toni asked.
“I never have the cameras on while I’m here doing business. My security system is state of the art and automatically comes on whenever I lock my door—day or night. In other words, when I’m away, the cameras are rolling, and at night, while I’m asleep, they are keeping watch, as well. That’s how I picked up on Maria stealing my flash drive.”
“Why would she take a flash drive?” Andrew asked.
“She wouldn’t say. I can only guess she has a side-gig working for some rich investor who wanted a preview of what would be sold at the next auction. Auctions are held online every quarter, and the next big one is in a couple of months. With that flash drive, an investor would know what items will be up for bid before everyone else does.”
“Did you ask for it back?” Andrew asked.
“Of course, I did. Plenty of times. She wouldn’t return it, even when I threatened to go to the police with proof that she took it,” he said angrily.
He took another gulp from the bottle—not as large as the last one, but a gulp just the same. Andrew figured the man’s throat had to be on fire.
“When I first questioned her, she played dumb, acting as if she didn’t know what I was talking about. I told her I had proof because I had caught her on my security camera. That’s when she stopped taking my calls, and even blocked me. I showed up at her job a couple of times, but she still wouldn’t give the flash drive back to me,” the man said reaching again for the bottle of scotch. This time, though, Andrew noted he grabbed a whiskey glass and poured scotch in it.
“What was on this flash drive?” Toni asked.
“Over five-hundred, one-of-a-kind pieces of merchandise, each with a price tag of no less than three-hundred-thousand dollars—jewelry, exotic, vintage wines, rare stones, custom-made designer purses, and rare book collections.”
“How did you and Maria meet?” Toni asked.
“At a party. We danced and talked a while, and by the end of the night, I invited her back here. I told her what I did for a living and she was curious about Wizzin, claiming she’d never heard of it. I know now that was a lie.”
He took a swallow of his drink. “I showed her a video of some of the items, even left her in here to view the video while I showered.”
“What happened, then?” Toni asked.
“When I got out the shower, we had sex. I don’t remember much else, other than waking up the next morning to find her gone. I had errands to do that day, and when I finally settled down to get some work done, I discovered the flash drive of the video she’d watched missing. That’s when I checked the security camera in my office. It clearly showed her taking it.”
Andrew nodded. “Could you show us the footage?”
“Sure. Let me find it for you.”
Moments later, Andrew and Toni were watching a video that showed a half-naked Maria sneaking into Nettles’s office. She was captured going through the items on his desk before finally taking the flash drive out of his computer and slipping it into her purse before returning to the bedroom. A short while later, she was fully dressed and leaving the house.
“Can we have a copy of that video?” Toni asked.
“You can have that copy. I made several. I even sent her one to show her I had proof of what she did.”
“Why didn’t you report it to the police?” Andrew asked.
“I had a back-up copy, but she didn’t know that. I figured since she knew I had proof that she’d taken it, she’d treat me real nice whenever she returned it.” He smiled slightly. “You know what I mean?”
Yes, unfortunately Andrew knew exactly what he meant. “We’re going to need a copy of that