Chapter 12 - INSIDE THE HOUSE
Marcus locked down the property before I returned.
Only a few people had ever known Richard’s device password.
One was still working inside the house.
Helen Ward.
The house manager had been with the family for eleven years. She knew Claire. She held Leo the day he came home from the hospital.
When Marcus confronted her, she cried before he finished the first question.
“I didn’t know Vanessa would hurt him.”
Richard stared at her.
“What did you know?”
Helen admitted giving Vanessa a photograph of Richard’s temporary setup card after Vanessa claimed she needed access to wedding-insurance files.
She also admitted accepting money.
Five hundred dollars.
Then a thousand.
Then more.
“For what?” Richard asked.
“Schedules.”
“What schedules?”
Helen looked at me.
Leo’s naps.
My trips to the park.
Marcus’s shift changes.
Richard’s travel.
I felt colder with every answer.
“You sold a two-year-old’s routine.”
“I thought she was worried about security.”
“No,” I said. “You chose not to ask.”
Police searched Helen’s room.
They found cash and a second phone full of Vanessa’s messages.
When does Anna leave?
When does Leo sleep?
Is Richard alone?
Did anyone notice the cameras?
That was how Vanessa accessed the system.
That was how she knew when to push Leo.
Richard fired Helen before police escorted her out.
At the door she turned back.
“I loved this family.”
Richard’s face went empty.
“Then you should have protected it.”
Afterward, the house felt contaminated.
Every room seemed to hold another lie.
Ortiz called that evening.
Vanessa’s admission about choosing the staircase had been recorded legally. Combined with the video and the forged paperwork, it strengthened the case.
But the defense had one move left.
They planned to claim I manipulated Vanessa into confessing because I was obsessed with Richard and wanted her gone.
To make that argument, they were going to put me on the stand.
I thought the worst part would be answering questions.
May you like
I was wrong.
The worst part came when Ortiz added, “They’ve subpoenaed Leo’s therapy records too.”
