Chapter 6 - the number on the screen
The deputies returned to the lobby with the recovered phone sealed inside an evidence bag.
Margaret denied owning it.
Vanessa denied hiding it.
Caleb denied entering the elevator.
Yet security access records showed that Caleb’s master key had opened the eleventh-floor service door forty seconds before the phone was found.
Caleb claimed another employee must have used his card.
Deputy Pike asked for the security footage.
That was when Caleb announced the system failure.
Eighteen minutes were missing from three cameras: the pool corridor, the service elevators, and the lobby’s Lost and Found counter.
No other footage had been affected.
Deputy Pike looked at the resort manager.
“Secure Mr. Ross’s office.”
Caleb stepped forward.
“This is unnecessary.”
“So was directing a lost child away from the public lobby.”
“You have the word of one employee.”
“You also have the word of the child.”
Noah rested against Claire’s shoulder. He had stopped crying, but every sudden sound made him look toward the doors.
Claire wanted to take him home.
Deputy Pike advised her to remain until initial statements were complete.
Margaret’s attorney spoke quietly to his client, but Margaret watched Claire instead.
There was no apology in her expression.
Only calculation.
The resort manager returned with a laptop.
“We accessed the cloud backup. The deleted files are not available through the standard system.”
“Who can restore them?” Deputy Pike asked.
“Our external technology vendor.”
“How long?”
“Several hours, possibly tomorrow.”
Serena lifted the memory card.
“It won’t take that long.”
Caleb went pale.
“You had no authority to copy company footage.”
“I copied an incident involving a child after you told me to delete it.”
The lobby became silent again.
Serena handed the card to Deputy Pike.
“I was at the desk when Noah arrived. Mr. Ross came over and asked whether we had contacted his mother. I told him the number on the wristband wasn’t answering. He ordered me to clear the incident log and move Noah downstairs.”
“Why did you refuse?” Claire asked.
“Because he looked terrified.”
Serena glanced at Noah.
“He kept asking whether his mom knew where he was.”
Claire felt Noah’s fingers close around her necklace.
Serena continued.
“I checked the guest registration and found Claire’s real number. Before I could call, Mr. Ross disabled my terminal. That’s when I copied the footage.”
Deputy Pike placed the memory card in another evidence bag.
“Is there anything else?”
Serena hesitated.
“Yes.”
She opened her employee locker and returned with the handwritten incident form.
At the bottom was a note.
Child stated grandmother said mother would sign after emergency.
Claire read it twice.
“What exactly did he tell you?”
Serena looked at Noah for permission.
He nodded.
“He said his grandmother told him not to worry because his mother would sign a paper and then everyone could go home.”
Henry covered his face.
Vanessa began crying again.
Margaret’s attorney leaned toward her.
“You should stop speaking.”
Margaret ignored him.
“This employee has clearly been influenced.”
“By whom?” Claire asked. “She had never met me.”
“By the promise of attention. Perhaps money.”
Serena’s expression sharpened.
“I don’t want your money.”
Margaret gave a small smile.
“Everyone wants something.”
Deputy Pike began playing the footage on the resort manager’s laptop.
The video showed Vanessa walking beside Noah through the pool corridor.
At 1:52 p.m., she pointed toward the towel station.
Noah sat on a bench.
Vanessa walked away.
Two minutes later, she returned to the edge of the corridor but did not approach him. Instead, she spoke to Caleb.
Caleb handed her something small and white.
A label.
Vanessa then entered the pool deck and took her selfie.
At 2:03, Noah stood and began looking around.
Caleb appeared again.
He spoke to Noah, pointed toward the service elevator, and walked away.
Serena arrived less than a minute later and guided Noah toward the lobby.
At 2:09, Vanessa crossed behind them.
She looked directly at Noah.
She did not stop.
Claire turned toward her sister.
“You saw him.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“The footage is unclear.”
“You looked at his face.”
“I was far away.”
“You knew where he was when you posted the photograph.”
“I was following instructions.”
Margaret’s head snapped toward her.
Deputy Pike paused the footage.
“Whose instructions?”
Vanessa stared at the floor.
Margaret spoke before she could answer.
“My daughter is distressed. This interview is over.”
Deputy Pike faced Vanessa.
“You are an adult. You decide whether you speak.”
Vanessa looked at Claire, then at Noah.
“I was told no one would let him leave the hotel.”
“By whom?” Deputy Pike asked again.
Vanessa opened her mouth.
A phone rang inside Margaret’s handbag.
Every phone belonging to the family had already been placed on the counter.
Margaret slowly reached into the bag.
She removed a second device.
May you like
The screen displayed a message from an unknown number.
You were supposed to make Claire sign before the police arrived.
