Chapter 11 - Someone Inside the Apartment
Police surrounded Amelia’s building within minutes.
Richard’s security specialist searched every room.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
The locks had not been forced.
The cameras showed no unauthorized entry through the front door.
Yet the photograph was real.
Lily wore the same pajamas.
The same moon-shaped night-light glowed beside her bed.
A detective examined the image metadata.
“It was taken at two fourteen this morning.”
Amelia had been asleep in the room across the hall.
“Brenda was in custody at two fourteen,” Richard said.
“Then someone sent it for her.”
The photograph had been delivered through a scheduled messaging service linked to Brenda’s account.
The sender location was concealed.
Police searched the exterior.
A narrow maintenance balcony ran behind the bedrooms.
One camera had failed between 1:50 and 2:30 a.m.
The failure was not accidental.
Someone had sprayed the lens with clear adhesive and climbed from a neighboring fire escape.
Marks on Lily’s window indicated an attempt to open it.
The lock held.
The photograph had been taken through the glass.
Amelia packed immediately.
She and Lily moved temporarily into Richard’s guesthouse, where security officers guarded the property around the clock.
Lily believed they were having a sleepover.
Amelia let her believe it.
Dr. Walsh advised against explaining dangers Lily could not understand.
Kendra arrived at Richard’s gate that evening.
Security refused to admit her until Amelia approved.
“I think I know who took the picture,” Kendra said when they met in the guesthouse kitchen.
“Who?”
“Derek.”
Amelia recognized the name.
Derek Shaw had been Brenda’s driver and occasional boyfriend for nearly three years.
He was quiet, broad-shouldered, and always seemed to appear when Brenda needed something carried, delivered, or hidden.
“Where is he?” Richard asked.
“No one has seen him since Mom was arrested.”
“Why do you think he took the picture?”
Kendra placed a key ring on the table.
“These were in Mom’s study.”
One key was labeled APT MAINT.
Amelia stared at it.
Her apartment building’s maintenance keys were controlled by the property manager.
“How did she get that?”
“I don’t know.”
Richard’s security specialist examined the key.
“It may be copied.”
Kendra opened Brenda’s appointment calendar.
Several entries were marked D.S.
The dates matched incidents Amelia had previously dismissed.
A package disappeared from her lobby.
Her car tire was punctured.
Lily’s preschool records were accessed after hours.
Derek had been watching them.
Kendra turned to a page near the back.
“Look at tomorrow.”
The entry read:
D.S. Final pickup.
11:30 p.m.
Old Hart property.
“What is the old Hart property?” Amelia asked.
Richard’s face changed.
“A farmhouse near Lake Mercer.”
“Did Elena know it?”
“We all did. It belonged to my father.”
Police prepared an operation.
They wanted Kendra to message Derek from Brenda’s tablet and confirm the pickup.
Kendra agreed.
At 11:12 p.m., Derek replied.
Bring the girl’s documents. B said we leave before dawn.
The girl.
He meant Lily.
Amelia was not permitted to accompany the officers.
She waited at Richard’s estate with Grace and Lily while police surrounded the abandoned farmhouse.
At 11:43, officers entered.
Derek attempted to escape through a cellar door.
He was arrested carrying cash, false identification papers, and a passport containing Lily’s photograph under another name.
Inside the farmhouse, investigators discovered a child’s suitcase packed with clothing in Lily’s size.
They also found airline tickets for Derek, Brenda, and Lily.
The destination was Buenos Aires.
But the most important discovery was beneath the cellar floor.
Human remains.
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Preliminary examination suggested they had been there for decades.
Beside them lay a silver necklace engraved with the initials E.H.
