ancillary security issues and problems. Karch liked his outside status all right. He knew he would never be the kind of man who could willingly wear a blue blazer with the profile of the Queen of Egypt emblazoned on the breast pocket.
The office was large and opulent, with a desk area, a sitting area and a private bar. The entrance was through the casino's huge security center, where dozens of video techs sat in rows of booths watching the screens of video tubes showing the ever-changing views of the hundreds of cameras focused on the casino floor. This room was dimly lit and never warmer than 65 degrees because of the delicate electronics. Most of the techs wore sweaters beneath their standard blue blazers. In Las Vegas, when you saw somebody wearing a sweater to work in the summer, you knew he worked inside, watching tubes all day.
One wall of Grimaldi's office had windows looking out into the security center. Another wall had windows viewing the casino. And located directly behind Grimaldi's desk was the door leading out to the crow's nest. It could be reached only through Grimaldi's office and he had never once invited Karch out for a view of the casino floor. This was something that bothered Karch and his frustration was compounded because he believed Grimaldi knew.
As they entered the office, Karch noticed a man sitting behind Grimaldi's desk and working the control board of the multiplex video station to the right of the desk.
"What have you got?" Grimaldi said as he turned to lower the blinds on the windows viewing the security center.
"I gotta surprise is what I got," the man behind the desk said without looking up from the four screens he had active on the video station.
"Tell us."
The word us made the tech look up from the screens. He nodded once to Karch and then cast his eyes back down.
"Well, looks to me like this guy mighta been ripped off by a woman," he said.
Grimaldi came around the desk and looked over the tech's shoulder at the screens.
"Show us."
Karch remained on the other side of the desk but could see the screens. He glanced past the two other men and out the glass door that led to the crow's nest. Grimaldi did not bother to introduce the technician to Karch.
For the next five minutes the tech used tapes taken from several overhead cameras to intermittently show Hidalgo's last night in the casino. It was called a video trail. There were enough cameras over the casino floor – any casino floor in Las Vegas – to never lose sight of an individual once he entered the so-called video net. The best techs had the quadrants of the net memorized and with fingers flying across a keyboard could jump from one camera to another to follow a target.
Grimaldi's tech did that now, only it wasn't live action. He had pieced together Hidalgo's video trail from the night before. He showed Hidalgo playing baccarat and blackjack, even a couple of spins on the roulette wheel. Whatever game he was playing, he seemed to do it with a minimum of conversation with fellow players and casino employees. Finally, when the counter showed the time on the tape to be 10:38 P.M. they watched as Hidalgo headed to the VIP desk and retrieved the brushed-aluminum briefcase from the vault. He was met at the desk by a security escort who then walked with him to the elevators.
"Who's the escort?" Karch asked.
"His name's Martin," Grimaldi said. "He's a shift supervisor. Been here a couple years, coming over from the Nugget. I had him escorting the fat man all week."
"We'll have to talk to him."
"I don't know what it will get you but it will be no problem."
The tech pointed to a new screen where Hidalgo's trail continued. It showed the fat man and the blue-blazered Martin stepping onto an elevator. Hidalgo took his card key from his pocket and Martin took it and plugged it into the control panel before hitting the penthouse button. Though the tape did not have audio it was clear that the two men were not engaged in conversation.
"And that's the last we see of him," the tech said.
"No hallway cameras, right?" Karch said.
"Nope. We lose him once he's off the elevator in the penthouse."
"What about when the fire alarm went off later?" Grimaldi asked. "Any sign of him then?"
"Nope," the tech said. "I checked all elevator and stairwell cams. He didn't evacu – "
"Wait