Chapter 6 - Inside the Doorbell
Detective Morales obtained permission to remove the doorbell camera.
The device looked old and harmless. The plastic casing was faded from years of sun and rain.
A digital technician opened it inside the police station.
“There is a memory card,” he said.
Emily leaned forward.
“Can you read it?”
“Maybe. The file system is damaged.”
The technician explained that the camera had stopped sending footage to the security application months ago, but it had continued saving short recordings whenever motion activated the sensor.
The card contained hundreds of corrupted files.
Some showed delivery drivers.
Others showed neighborhood children riding bicycles.
Several showed nothing except leaves moving across the porch.
Then the technician found footage from the afternoon of the collapse.
The first clip showed Rebecca arriving at 1:42 p.m.
The second showed her leaving at 2:09 p.m.
Emily watched Rebecca pause beneath the camera and press something near the side of the device.
“She tried to erase it,” Emily said.
The technician nodded.
“She reset the network connection. That may be why the file index is damaged.”
“Is there more?”
“Possibly. I’ll need time to rebuild the remaining fragments.”
Detective Morales asked Emily not to tell anyone about the footage.
But when Daniel arrived from Chicago that evening, he immediately asked what the police had found.
Emily hesitated.
“They are still checking the camera.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“You really think Rebecca did this?”
“I think Dad warned me not to sign anything.”
Daniel sat beside their sleeping mother.
“Rebecca helped me once,” he admitted.
“With what?”
“I had business debt two years ago. She arranged a private loan.”
Emily stared at him.
“How much?”
“Eighty thousand dollars.”
“Who was the lender?”
May you like
Daniel looked toward the floor.
“The Hale Family Asset Trust.”
