Chapter 6 - the cameras in the walls
The officers searched the house but found no evidence that a man had entered.
The exterior access logs showed only Vanessa’s vehicle leaving and returning.
Vanessa claimed she had gone to a pharmacy and provided a receipt.
The timestamp matched her story.
She said Sophie must have locked herself inside the cupboard while playing.
One officer appeared skeptical, but the door used an old mechanism that could be pushed shut from the inside.
Mrs. Bell insisted the key had been removed.
Vanessa suggested she had misplaced it while cleaning.
Without visible injuries, a direct witness or clear footage, the police could not arrest her.
Ethan did not argue.
He told them he would take Sophie somewhere safe.
Vanessa heard him.
“You are taking my daughter away?”
“She is not your daughter.”
The sentence escaped before Ethan could soften it.
Vanessa stared at him as though he had struck her.
Then she turned toward the officers.
“Do you hear how he speaks to me?”
Ethan picked up Sophie.
“We’re leaving.”
Vanessa followed him toward the stairs.
“You cannot decide this without discussing it.”
“I just did.”
“What about the foundation dinner?”
“I don’t care about the dinner.”
“You should.”
Her tone made him stop.
Vanessa stood several steps below him.
For a moment, the crying wife disappeared.
“If you miss that dinner,” she said, “the foundation’s largest transfer will be delayed.”
Ethan looked down at her.
“How do you know about the transfer?”
“I manage the event.”
“You don’t manage the accounts.”
“We are married. I know more than you think.”
Ethan continued upstairs.
He packed clothes for Sophie and drove her to his sister Rachel’s home across the city.
Mrs. Bell went with them.
Vanessa remained at the house.
Ethan expected her to call repeatedly.
She did not call once.
That frightened him more.
At Rachel’s house, Sophie refused to sleep unless the lights remained on.
Ethan sat beside her bed.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the cupboard?”
Sophie stared at the ceiling.
“She said you would send me away.”
“I would never do that.”
“She said you sent Mommy away.”
Ethan’s chest tightened.
“Your mother died in an accident.”
“Vanessa said Mommy tried to leave you.”
“That isn’t true.”
“She said Mommy had secrets too.”
Ethan took Claire’s note from his pocket.
“What kind of secrets?”
Sophie shrugged.
“The blue ones.”
He looked toward the bedroom door.
“What did Vanessa do when you found the file?”
“She took me to the little room.”
“Did she lock the door?”
Sophie nodded.
“Was anyone else there?”
“No.”
“Why did you say there was a man?”
“I heard him on her phone.”
“What did he say?”
Sophie closed her eyes.
“He said she had to find the other key.”
Ethan remained still.
“What other key?”
“The one Mommy hid.”
The next morning, Miles installed an independent security system throughout the Mercer house.
The new cameras did not connect to the home network. They transmitted encrypted footage directly to a private server at Mercer Systems.
Vanessa watched from the kitchen.
“You are spying on me.”
“I’m protecting my daughter.”
“From me?”
“From whoever entered this house.”
“No one entered.”
“Then the cameras won’t trouble you.”
She folded her arms.
“You already decided I’m guilty.”
“I decided I was careless.”
“You were grieving.”
“And you used it.”
Vanessa’s eyes hardened.
“You think Claire was perfect because she died before you learned the truth.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“What truth?”
Vanessa smiled faintly.
“She knew Adrian.”
“I saw the photograph.”
“She did more than know him.”
“Tell me.”
“Ask your daughter.”
Ethan looked toward the hallway.
Sophie was not in the house.
Vanessa continued.
“Claire hid things here. Sophie has been finding them.”
“How would Sophie know where to look?”
“Children remember strange details.”
“She was a baby.”
“Are you sure Claire never brought her into that room?”
Ethan studied Vanessa.
“What happened between you and Claire?”
Vanessa picked up her handbag.
“You will have to decide whether you want answers or a divorce.”
“I can have both.”
She walked toward the door.
“Be careful what you search for, Ethan.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s advice.”
After she left, Miles came down from the second floor.
“She knows about the cameras,” Ethan said.
“She knows about the obvious ones.”
Miles pointed toward a smoke detector above the kitchen entrance.
“That device has a separate lens.”
“How long until she notices?”
“If she’s as experienced as I think, not long.”
They searched the service cupboard.
Behind one removable panel, they found a narrow compartment built into the wall.
The blue file had come from there.
The compartment also contained an empty velvet box and a metal ring attached to a small label.
The label read B-19.
“A key tag,” Miles said.
“But no key.”
Ethan ran his fingers across the dusty shelf.
One area was clean.
“Someone removed it recently.”
Miles illuminated the wall with his phone.
Scratched into the wood were two words.
ASK ADRIAN.
That night, the hidden kitchen camera recorded Vanessa entering the house at 2:13 a.m.
She walked directly toward the service cupboard.
May you like
At 2:14, the recording stopped.
When it resumed sixty seconds later, Vanessa was gone.
