Chapter 5 - The Neighbor's Camera
Detective Ortiz interviewed our neighbors.
Most had seen nothing.
Then Mr. Alvarez across the street mentioned his doorbell camera.
It faced our driveway.
The angle also caught part of our front hallway whenever the door opened.
He hated deleting footage.
His subscription stored six months.
Lena obtained a warrant.
We watched hours.
Rachel smiling.
Rachel carrying groceries.
Sophie leaving for school.
Ordinary life.
Then the ordinary life cracked.
On May 14, Sophie stood outside in socks at 9:17 p.m.
Rachel closed the door.
Sophie knocked.
No answer.
She sat on the porch.
Forty-three minutes later, Rachel let her back inside.
I had been in Dallas.
On June 2, Sophie tried to enter the house after school.
Rachel blocked the doorway.
They argued.
There was no audio.
Then Rachel grabbed Sophie by the upper arm and pulled her inside hard enough that Sophie struck the frame.
I had been in Seattle.
On July 11, Rachel carried a trash bag to the curb.
Inside the open doorway, Sophie stood with both hands raised over her head.
Facing the wall.
I had been in Chicago.
I stopped the video.
“I left her alone with this.”
Claire looked at me.
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
“Guilt is not evidence.”
Lena continued reviewing footage.
Then she found a car that appeared repeatedly.
Black Lexus.
Always while I was traveling.
The registered owner was Daniel Cross.
Rachel’s divorce attorney.
The custody case had not started four months earlier.
May you like
It had started almost a year earlier.
