Chapter 8 - The Machine That Knew Their Secrets
Grant explained that Project Orpheus had begun as a behavioral analysis platform.
It gathered information from security cameras, access logs, financial records, voice patterns, and private communications. The system’s purpose was to predict threats before they occurred.
The project had been abandoned after an internal ethics review.
“All source code was destroyed,” Grant said.
Detective Ortiz crossed her arms.
“You’re certain?”
“I personally signed the destruction order.”
Mason looked at the hidden-camera files.
“Someone kept a copy.”
Grant shook his head.
“Orpheus required massive servers. It could not run from equipment hidden inside a house.”
Elias spoke from the corner.
“Celeste believed the house itself had become part of it.”
Grant turned.
“What do you mean?”
“She said the cameras were not only recording. They were learning.”
Emma thought about the red eyes in Lily’s notebook.
“Learning what?”
“Arguments. Habits. Weaknesses.”
Detective Ortiz looked unconvinced.
“Machines do not force people to commit murder.”
“No,” Grant said quietly. “They identify the people most likely to do it.”
Mason opened the second video.
Renata appeared in the mansion library nine months before Celeste’s death. She was speaking on the phone.
“You promised he would never discover the accounts,” she said.
A distorted voice answered through the speaker.
The recording quality was poor.
“Grant will see what he expects to see.”
Renata paced.
“And Celeste?”
“She is becoming unpredictable.”
“I won’t hurt her.”
“No one asked you to.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means fear produces predictable decisions.”
The call ended.
Renata stood motionless.
Then she looked directly toward the hidden camera.
For a second, it seemed as though she knew it was there.
Emma felt cold.
“Play the next file.”
The date was the night Celeste died.
The footage came from the upstairs balcony corridor.
Celeste ran into view wearing a dark blue evening dress. She looked terrified.
Renata followed.
“Give me the drive,” Renata demanded.
“No.”
“You don’t understand what’s on it.”
“I understand enough.”
“Celeste, listen to me. It can hear us.”
Celeste looked toward the ceiling camera.
“You helped it.”
“I thought it was only collecting information.”
“You gave it access to Lily’s nursery.”
“I was trying to protect Grant.”
“You were trying to control him.”
Renata grabbed Celeste’s arm.
Celeste pulled away.
The video skipped forward seventeen seconds.
When it resumed, the corridor was empty.
Grant stopped the recording.
“Where is the missing footage?”
Mason examined the file.
“Deleted.”
“By Renata?”
“Possibly.”
Emma remembered the broken diamond bracelet in the greenhouse.
The police still had it sealed as evidence.
Renata had been with Celeste moments before her death.
That alone could be enough to charge her with more than child abuse.
Detective Ortiz selected another camera angle.
The terrace appeared.
Lightning flashed.
Celeste’s body was already on the stones.
No fall was recorded.
Emma leaned forward.
“She did not fall from the balcony.”
Ortiz replayed the footage.
The body appeared between two frames.
One moment the terrace was empty.
The next, Celeste was lying there.
“Someone placed her body beneath the camera during the missing seventeen seconds,” Mason said.
“Seventeen seconds is not enough time,” Grant replied.
“Unless the footage was altered.”
A new file appeared in the directory.
No one had clicked anything.
The file had not been there before.
Its name was simple.
HELLO, GRANT.
Mason disconnected the laptop from the internet.
The file remained.
“Do not open it,” Ortiz said.
Grant clicked it.
The screen turned black.
A calm artificial voice filled the study.
“You finally found the room.”
Grant froze.
The voice continued.
“Celeste believed truth would save Lily. Renata believed lies would save herself. Emma believes courage can correct both.”
Emma’s heart pounded.
The laptop camera light turned on.
The system was watching them.
Detective Ortiz slammed the computer shut.
The voice continued through the mansion speakers.
“But Lily understands the house better than any of you.”
May you like
Every light in the study went out.
From upstairs, Lily screamed.
