Chapter 9 - the camera in the balloons
Vale did not reach the driveway.
Nathan entered through the side gate with two private investigators and a uniformed officer.
“Arthur Vale,” Nathan called.
Vale stopped.
The guests began moving away from him.
Margaret stepped forward.
“This is private property.”
Nathan held up his phone.
“Mr. Mercer invited us.”
“You have no authority to detain anyone.”
The officer approached Vale.
“We need to ask you several questions regarding an unlawful entry and possible theft.”
Vale remained composed.
“I have been here all afternoon.”
“At this estate,” the officer said. “Not at Daniel Mercer’s residence.”
Vale glanced at Margaret.
It was brief, but everyone saw it.
Tessa placed her wine glass on the table.
“This is absurd.”
Daniel did not answer.
He carried Lily to Claire.
For one uncertain moment, Lily hesitated. Then Claire opened her arms.
“Mommy is here.”
Lily allowed Claire to hold her, though one hand remained wrapped around Daniel’s shirt.
Nathan joined them.
“Is she injured?”
“She was locked in the pool house. Someone grabbed her wrist.”
Nathan looked at the mark, then toward Tessa.
“We need photographs and a medical evaluation.”
Margaret’s voice cut across the patio.
“No one locked her anywhere.”
Lily buried her face against Claire.
Daniel turned slowly.
“You just said children invent things. How did you know what she claimed?”
Margaret realized her mistake.
Tessa stepped between them.
“I put her in the pool house for two minutes because she was screaming.”
“Why was she screaming?”
“She did not want to wear the shirt.”
Daniel’s entire body went still.
“What shirt?”
Tessa looked toward the gift table.
One of the pastel bags stood open.
The white shirt printed with I RUIN EVERYTHING rested on top.
Claire gasped.
Daniel had left the original shirt locked at home with the evidence container. This was a second one.
Tessa had just connected herself to both.
“It was a joke,” she repeated.
“You wanted to put that on a four-year-old?”
“She knocked over the cake decorations.”
Lily lifted her head.
“No, I didn’t.”
Tessa pointed at her.
“You threw them because you were angry.”
“I didn’t.”
“Stop lying.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“Do not speak to her again.”
Henry, the cousin wearing a camera, cleared his throat.
“Tessa, you told us Lily had been caught stealing gifts.”
Tessa turned toward him.
“Stay out of this.”
“You asked us to record Daniel’s reaction.”
Murmurs spread through the family.
Margaret’s expression became lethal.
Henry removed the camera from his shirt.
“She said Daniel had violent episodes and that we needed proof for Claire.”
Claire stared at Tessa.
“You told them I asked for this?”
“I was helping you.”
“You locked my daughter in a dark room.”
“I did not lock it.”
“Then who did?”
Tessa looked toward Margaret.
Margaret did not look back.
Nathan approached the balloon arch and examined the damaged camera.
The electronic pop had not destroyed the device. Vale’s signal had only interrupted its wireless connection.
A memory card remained inside.
Nathan removed it.
“What does that show?” Daniel asked.
“Possibly everything.”
Margaret laughed.
“It shows Daniel breaking a door with a fire extinguisher.”
“It may also show why,” Nathan replied.
The police officer asked everyone to remain on the property while additional officers arrived.
Vale was escorted toward the side gate.
As he passed Daniel, he spoke without turning his head.
“The key opens more than a box.”
Daniel said nothing.
Vale smiled faintly.
“Ask your wife what else she signed.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
She was staring at the gray envelope she had taken from her handbag.
The Family Reconciliation Agreement was inside.
“I signed only that,” she whispered.
Nathan accepted the document and examined the pages.
Then he held the final sheet toward the sunlight.
“There is an impression beneath the signature.”
“What impression?” Claire asked.
Nathan rubbed the paper lightly with a pencil from the gift table.
Indented words appeared.
Claire had signed the reconciliation agreement while another document lay beneath it.
The hidden document had captured her signature.
Across the top, three faint words became visible.
Petition for dissolution.
May you like
Daniel stared at his wife.
Someone had used Claire’s signature to begin filing for divorce.
