Chapter 2 - THE CAMERA
Dr. Patel examined Leo while Marcus, the head of security, loaded the footage.
“Children fall,” Vanessa kept saying.
Dr. Patel looked at her. “And children get hurt. He seems lucky. Watch him closely tonight.”
“See? He’s fine.”
Richard turned. “Stop saying that.”
Marcus entered with a tablet.
“There’s a problem. The local recording skips from 2:14 to 2:19.”
Leo fell at 2:17.
Vanessa gave a sharp laugh. “Then there’s no proof.”
Marcus barely looked at her.
“The local file is missing. The encrypted cloud backup isn’t.”
Her smile disappeared.
The video opened.
Leo stood at the top of the stairs holding a wooden train. Vanessa was behind him. She took the train, placed it one step below, and watched him reach for it.
Then she put her hand between his shoulder blades.
And pushed.
Richard stopped breathing.
On-screen, Leo vanished down the stairs. Three seconds later, I ran into frame.
Richard paused the video.
Vanessa was white.
“It looks bad.”
“It looks exactly like what it is,” Richard said.
“I was trying to catch him.”
“You didn’t move.”
“I lost my balance.”
“You stood there.”
For the first time, fear crossed her face.
Then Marcus cleared his throat.
“There’s more.”
Richard looked at him.
“Someone tried to delete the cloud copy seven minutes after the fall.”
Vanessa stepped back.
Marcus opened the security log.
“And the deletion request came from an administrator account.”
“Whose?” Detective Ortiz asked when she arrived minutes later.
Marcus hesitated.
Richard’s voice went flat.
“Say it.”
May you like
Marcus turned the screen.
“Yours, Mr. Hale.”
