Chapter 2 - The Red Envelope
Everyone turned toward Anna.
She wished she had kept her mouth shut for five more seconds.
Vanessa recovered first.
"Of course you do."
Richard ignored her. "Anna?"
Anna shifted Leo higher on her hip.
"Yesterday I found an envelope inside the lining of his diaper bag. It wasn't loose. Someone had opened a seam, put it inside, and stitched the fabric back together."
Richard stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because it had Julia's handwriting on it."
The room went silent.
Julia.
Richard's wife.
Leo's mother.
Dead for sixteen months.
Vanessa took one step backward.
Anna noticed.
"Where is it?" Richard asked.
"My room."
Vanessa moved toward the door.
Richard blocked her.
"You're not going anywhere."
"You cannot seriously think I tried to hurt Leo over an envelope."
Richard pointed at the monitor. "I don't have to think. I watched you do it."
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears almost instantly.
"I panicked. I grabbed him. He pulled away. I said something horrible because I was angry."
"You planned to blame Anna."
"No."
"It's on video."
Her tears stopped as quickly as they started.
That scared Anna more than the crying had.
Richard called the police while Anna carried Leo upstairs. She did not let him out of her sight.
The red envelope was exactly where she had left it, inside the locked drawer beside her bed.
When they returned downstairs, Vanessa was sitting on the sofa with her lawyer on speakerphone. Richard's security team stood near the doors.
Anna placed the envelope on the coffee table.
Richard recognized Julia's handwriting immediately.
ANNA - ONLY IF SOMETHING FEELS WRONG.
His hands shook as he opened it.
Inside was no letter.
Only a Polaroid photograph and a brass key taped to the back.
The photograph showed a row of storage units.
Unit 314 had been circled in blue ink.
On the bottom, Julia had written four words.
DON'T TRUST THE HOUSE.
Richard read them twice.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know," Anna said.
Vanessa laughed from the sofa.
It was a small sound, but everyone heard it.
Richard looked at her.
"Something funny?"
"Your wife was paranoid. You know that."
Richard's jaw tightened.
"Do not talk about her."
"You told me yourself she thought people were watching her before the accident."
Anna turned.
"How would you know that?"
Vanessa blinked.
"Richard told me."
"No, I didn't," Richard said.
Vanessa's face froze.
The front doors opened. Two officers entered with Tom.
Richard handed them the camera footage.
While one officer questioned Vanessa, Tom pulled Richard aside.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The upstairs camera was remotely disabled for seven minutes before Leo fell."
Richard looked toward Vanessa.
"Can you restore it?"
"Maybe. But that's not the problem."
Tom lowered his voice.
"The command didn't come from Vanessa's phone."
"Whose did it come from?"
Tom hesitated.
"Yours."
Richard stared at him.
"I was at the office."
"I know."
Anna looked down at the photograph again.
DON'T TRUST THE HOUSE.
For the first time, the words did not sound like paranoia.
They sounded like instructions.
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