Chapter 4 - the first recording
Vanessa reacted perfectly.
She did not shout.
She did not panic.
She looked wounded.
That was far more effective.
"Adrian, I can't believe this."
Adrian removed his coat.
"What happened?"
Vanessa folded her arms.
"Margaret has been searching through our private belongings."
Margaret answered, "I found a photograph while cleaning Noah's closet."
Vanessa looked at Adrian.
"See?"
"What photograph?" Adrian asked.
Neither woman answered immediately.
Adrian's expression changed.
"What photograph?"
Margaret said, "Claire Bennett."
The color disappeared from Adrian's face.
Vanessa looked away.
Margaret noticed.
Adrian walked slowly toward his wife.
"Why was there a photograph of Claire in Noah's closet?"
"There wasn't."
"I saw it," Margaret said.
Vanessa turned.
"You saw an old photograph and invented a story."
"You tore it up."
"Because it was painful."
Adrian stared at her.
"Where did it come from?"
Vanessa's composure slipped.
"I don't know."
"Vanessa."
"I said I don't know."
Noah began crying inside his bedroom.
Adrian started toward the nursery.
Vanessa grabbed his arm.
"We need to finish this."
"My son is crying."
"He always cries when you come home."
Adrian looked at her hand on his sleeve.
Then at her.
Vanessa released him.
Adrian entered the nursery.
Noah reached immediately toward him.
"Daddy home."
Adrian lifted him.
Margaret remained near the doorway.
Vanessa stayed in the hall.
Adrian kissed Noah's forehead.
Then he noticed the boy's wrist.
A faint red line remained.
"What happened here?"
Vanessa answered before Margaret could.
"He caught himself on the toy chest."
Noah shook his head.
"Mommy."
Vanessa froze.
Adrian looked at Noah.
"What did Mommy do?"
The boy became frightened.
He buried his face against Adrian's neck.
Vanessa sighed.
"He says Mommy about everything."
Margaret could not remain silent.
"Mr. Cole, I recorded dates."
Vanessa snapped.
"You what?"
"I wrote down things I observed."
Adrian looked at her.
"Show me."
Margaret retrieved the notebook.
She handed it to him.
Adrian read.
His face became more serious with each page.
Vanessa paced.
"This is insane."
Adrian continued reading.
"You tried to remove the hallway camera?"
Vanessa stopped.
"That camera is intrusive."
"You never complained about it before."
"I changed my mind."
"When?"
"Why does it matter?"
"It matters because my son appears afraid of you."
The words changed the room.
Vanessa stared at him.
"Your son?"
Adrian frowned.
"Our son."
"No. You said my son."
"I didn't mean anything."
"You meant exactly what you said."
Margaret looked between them.
Something deeper was happening.
Vanessa walked closer.
"You travel four days a week and suddenly you're judging how I parent?"
"I'm asking questions."
"Because the maid wrote in a notebook?"
"Because Noah is scared."
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
"Children get scared."
"Of their mothers?"
"Sometimes."
Adrian set Noah into Margaret's arms.
"Take him to the playroom."
Vanessa blocked the door.
"No."
Adrian stared.
"Move."
"This is my home too."
"Move, Vanessa."
For several seconds, she did not.
Then she stepped aside.
Margaret carried Noah away.
But she remained close enough to hear the argument.
Adrian lowered his voice.
"Tell me about Claire."
"No."
"Why was her photograph here?"
"I don't know."
"How did she die?"
Margaret stopped walking.
Silence.
Then Vanessa said, "You know how she died."
"I know what the police told me."
Margaret's pulse quickened.
Vanessa answered, "Then believe them."
"Did Claire contact you before the accident?"
More silence.
"Vanessa?"
"Once."
"You told me she hadn't."
"I forgot."
"You forgot that Claire called you the night she died?"
Margaret nearly dropped Noah's stuffed rabbit.
This was no longer about a frightened child.
The family had another secret.
A much older one.
Adrian's voice became quiet.
"What did she say?"
Vanessa answered, "She wanted money."
"That's not true."
"You don't know that."
"Claire had money."
"Not enough."
"She was meeting me the next morning."
Vanessa said nothing.
Adrian continued.
"She told me she had discovered something."
Margaret held her breath.
"She said she had documents."
Vanessa laughed nervously.
"Claire said many things."
"What documents?"
"I don't know."
"You do."
"No."
Adrian walked past the doorway toward the security office.
Vanessa followed.
"Where are you going?"
"To check the cameras."
"For what?"
"For anything."
Margaret watched from the playroom.
Adrian entered the control room.
Vanessa stood behind him.
He accessed the previous week's recordings.
At first, nothing unusual appeared.
Noah playing.
Margaret cleaning.
Vanessa walking through hallways.
Then Adrian opened footage from the previous Tuesday.
The image showed Vanessa standing alone beside the camera panel.
She looked directly toward the lens.
Then she reached up and covered it with a cloth.
The screen went black.
Adrian turned toward her.
Vanessa said, "I was changing a light."
Adrian replayed the clip.
"Why cover the camera to change a light?"
No answer.
He skipped forward.
The camera remained covered for forty seven minutes.
Then the cloth disappeared.
Two minutes later, Noah appeared in the hallway.
Crying.
Margaret entered after him.
Vanessa was nowhere visible.
Adrian leaned closer to the monitor.
"Where were you?"
"Upstairs."
"With Noah?"
"I don't remember."
Adrian looked at his son.
May you like
Then at the screen.
And for the first time since Margaret had known him, he looked afraid inside his own home.
