Chapter 7 - THE RECORDING THAT LIED
The police arrived with a warrant.
Detective Graham, a broad-shouldered man with tired eyes, informed Emily that Daniel had suffered a head injury. Arthur Hale was missing, and blood had been discovered inside the cottage.
“We need you to come with us,” he said.
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not at this time.”
“Then I’m staying here.”
Graham glanced at Margaret.
“This becomes more difficult if you refuse.”
Margaret stepped forward.
“My attorney is already on the way. You may ask questions in this house.”
The detective reluctantly agreed.
They gathered in the library while another officer activated a tablet.
“We recovered this video from Mr. Mercer’s phone,” Graham said.
The recording began.
It showed Emily in the basement at Bellweather House. She stood behind Daniel while he sat at the security monitors.
Her face was visible.
Daniel turned.
The recording jumped.
Emily appeared to pick up a heavy metal object.
Another jump.
Daniel fell backward.
The video ended.
“That never happened,” Emily said.
“The timestamp is from last night.”
“I never touched him with anything.”
“You were present in the basement.”
“Yes, but he caught me at the stairs.”
Graham played a second recording.
It showed Emily shouting near the front door.
“I am thinking clearly for the first time since I met you,” she said on the video.
Then came a distorted section in which Daniel’s voice could barely be heard.
Emily appeared to push him.
The recording ended before the alarm sounded.
“It’s edited,” Emily said.
“Can you prove that?”
She reached into her pocket for Vanessa’s flash drive.
Vanessa spoke quickly.
“Emily, don’t.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Why not?” Graham asked.
Vanessa’s face remained controlled.
“The drive contains confidential trust records unrelated to the investigation.”
“It also contains deleted recordings,” Emily said.
Margaret watched her daughter with suspicion.
Vanessa stepped closer.
“You don’t know what is on it.”
“You gave it to me.”
“And I am telling you not to hand it to the police.”
Detective Graham extended his hand.
Emily hesitated.
She did not trust the police. Arthur had warned her that Daniel had friends in the department. The video they had brought was already edited.
“I want an independent digital examiner present,” she said.
“That is not your decision.”
“It is if you expect my cooperation.”
Graham’s expression cooled.
“You may reconsider when Daniel wakes up.”
“What happened at the cottage after we left?”
“He claims someone struck him from behind.”
“Who?”
“He did not see.”
“What about Arthur?”
“His blood was found near the fireplace.”
Emily looked at Vanessa.
“Did Daniel attack him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You knew Daniel would follow you.”
“I did not know he would enter the house.”
“You told us he was coming.”
Vanessa remained silent.
Detective Graham studied both women.
“Mrs. Mercer, where did you go after leaving the cottage?”
“Here,” Vanessa said.
“Did you stop anywhere?”
“No.”
Emily remembered almost nothing about the route. She had been too frightened to pay attention.
Graham turned the tablet toward them again.
“Traffic cameras show Ms. Vanessa Mercer’s vehicle entering an industrial area at 2:36 in the morning. The car remained there for seventeen minutes.”
Emily looked sharply at Vanessa.
“That isn’t true.”
Graham displayed a photograph.
Vanessa’s car appeared beneath a warehouse light.
The passenger door was open.
A woman who resembled Emily stood beside it.
“What is this?” Emily asked.
Vanessa’s face had lost its color.
“Another edited image.”
Graham enlarged the picture.
A man was visible on the ground near the car.
Arthur.
Emily stared at Vanessa.
“You said we drove directly here.”
“We did.”
“Then explain that.”
“I can’t.”
Margaret took the photograph from the detective.
“The warehouse belonged to Thomas Warren,” she said.
Emily looked at her.
“My father?”
“It was where he stored evidence against the Mercer family.”
Detective Graham leaned forward.
“According to municipal records, the building was destroyed in a fire twenty-four years ago.”
Margaret shook her head.
“The front section burned. The underground archive survived.”
Vanessa turned toward her mother.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
Graham closed the tablet.
“A search team entered the warehouse one hour ago. They found blood, signs of a struggle, and a room filled with photographs of Emily taken over the past year.”
Emily felt the walls closing around her.
“Who took them?”
“We don’t know.”
The detective’s phone vibrated.
He read the message and looked at Emily.
“Daniel is awake.”
“What is he saying?”
“That you and Arthur conspired to kill him.”
Emily gave a disbelieving laugh.
Graham did not smile.
“He also says Vanessa helped you.”
Everyone turned toward Vanessa.
Before anyone could speak, the lights in the mansion went out.
May you like
Darkness swallowed the library.
A gunshot exploded from the hallway.
