Chef Lucas Tried to Throw Henry Out of the Kitchen — Then the Manager Showed Him the Signature on the Wall
Chapter 6 — The Hallway Camera
Elaine opened the security archive.
The system stored ninety days of footage.
Daniel gave them the approximate date.
They searched.
At 11:48 PM, Lucas entered the hallway alone.
He unlocked the storage cabinet.
Then removed the leather recipe book.
He carried it into his office.
Forty minutes later, he came back out.
The book was no longer in his hands.
Henry stared at the screen.
“Keep going.”
The next morning, Lucas entered carrying a black messenger bag.
He left the restaurant with the same bag.
Elaine paused the video.
“Where is it?”
Lucas finally sighed.
“At my apartment.”
Henry closed his eyes.
Elaine looked furious.
“You took restaurant property home?”
“I was going to return it.”
“Six weeks ago?”
Lucas didn’t answer.
Henry looked at the framed document on the wall.
“That book isn’t restaurant property.”
Lucas frowned.
“What?”
“It belongs to my family trust.”
Henry stepped closer.
“Margaret left instructions that the original notebook was never to leave this building unless a trustee approved it.”
Lucas looked toward Elaine.
“I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t ask.”
Then Elaine noticed another section of security footage.
Rosa appeared on-screen twenty minutes before Lucas removed the book.
She entered his office.
The camera had no sound.
But the argument was obvious.
Rosa pointed toward the notebook.
Lucas grabbed it away from her.
Then he pointed toward the door.
Rosa left crying.
The footage confirmed her story.
But Henry was still staring at the timeline.
“Go back five minutes.”
Elaine did.
Something else appeared.
Before Rosa entered, Lucas had been photographing one particular page.
Henry recognized it immediately.
And suddenly this was no longer just about stolen recipes.
