Chapter 3 - THE LITTLE BLACK CAMERA
Police found the camera inside an air vent facing Sophie’s bedroom.
Vanessa said she installed it for safety.
Ethan almost laughed.
Detective Quinn did not.
“Why hide a safety camera?”
Vanessa rubbed her wrist.
“I was worried about the nanny.”
“There is no nanny.”
“Rosa.”
“Rosa is your housekeeper.”
Vanessa shrugged.
“Same difference.”
Rosa heard that from the hallway.
Her face hardened.
The memory card contained thirty-seven clips.
Most were ordinary.
Sophie sleeping.
Playing.
Talking to stuffed animals.
Then came the clips Vanessa had tried to erase.
Recovered fragments.
In one, Vanessa stood over Sophie.
“You fell.”
Sophie cried.
“You pushed me.”
Vanessa crouched.
“No.”
Her voice was calm.
“You fell.”
Another clip.
Sophie held her arm.
Vanessa said.
“If Daddy asks, playground.”
Another.
Vanessa locked Sophie’s bedroom door from outside.
The timestamp showed three hours.
Ethan stopped watching.
He walked to the sink.
Put both hands on the counter.
Nothing came out of his mouth.
Detective Quinn paused the video.
“You don’t have to stay.”
“Yes.”
His voice sounded far away.
“I do.”
Vanessa had been taken to another room for questioning.
Her attorney was already on the way.
Of course she had one.
Sophie was at the hospital with Rosa.
The doctor found healing bruises of different ages.
A small rib fracture.
Older.
Already mending.
Ethan sat down when he heard.
“When?”
“Likely several weeks ago.”
He remembered that week.
Denver.
Three nights.
Vanessa sent him a photo of Sophie asleep.
Caption.
Our angel finally settled down.
He had replied with a heart.
He went to the bathroom and threw up.
When he returned, Quinn had opened the file on Daniel Cross.
Vanessa’s first husband.
Dead seven years earlier.
Official ruling.
Accidental fall.
He had been alone with Vanessa.
No charges.
But a neighbor reported shouting.
A responding officer noted bruising on Daniel’s wrist that did not match the fall.
The note vanished from the final report.
“Why?”
Ethan asked.
Quinn tapped another page.
“The responding officer retired two months later.”
“So?”
“He bought a boat.”
Ethan stared.
“How much?”
“Cash.”
Vanessa had received a $3.2 million life-insurance payment after Daniel died.
Then Quinn showed Ethan something else.
Daniel had a daughter.
Six years old at the time.
Her name was Ava.
“What happened to her?”
“Vanessa said the girl went to live with relatives.”
“Did she?”
Quinn’s face changed.
“We can’t find her.”
Ethan looked toward the hallway.
Sophie’s bedroom door stood open.
A terrible thought arrived.
“Detective.”
“Yes?”
“What if Daniel’s daughter saw what happened?”
Quinn did not answer.
Her phone rang.
She listened.
Then stood.
“They found Caleb’s SUV.”
“Where?”
“Near Point Dume.”
“Was he inside?”
“No.”
“What did they find?”
Quinn looked at Ethan.
“A child’s pink backpack.”
May you like
Sophie’s backpack.
