Chapter 2 - Twelve Minutes
Victoria descended the stairs in a cream silk robe, her blond hair loose around her shoulders. Her eyes traveled from the paramedics to the police officer at the door, then settled on Ellie.
“What happened?” she asked.
Graham stepped toward her. “You tell me.”
Victoria put a hand over her mouth. “Oh, darling. Ellie, were you playing in the laundry room again?”
Ellie buried her face against Lena's collar.
“Don't talk to her,” Graham said. “Not yet.”
Victoria's expression hardened. “I have been asleep all morning. Ask anyone.”
“Then why did you wake up scared?” Lena asked before she could stop herself.
“Excuse me?”
“I heard your glass break. You looked straight at the door, not at the clock.”
Victoria stared at the housemaid as if she'd suddenly noticed a stain on the carpet.
A paramedic lifted Ellie onto the stretcher. Graham reached for her hand, but the little girl kept holding Lena's sleeve.
“Can she come?” Ellie asked.
“Of course,” Lena said.
Outside, the ambulance doors closed. A uniformed officer stayed behind to examine the laundry room.
“Mr. Whitlock?” he called a minute later. “You need to see this.”
Graham followed him through the hall. The officer pointed at the washer's digital display. Tiny green numbers were still counting down.
“What is that?” Graham asked.
“A delayed cycle. The machine was programmed to start at nine-thirty.”
Graham looked at his watch. It was 9:18.
For a moment, he didn't understand. Then he looked through the glass, into the steel drum where his child had been sitting.
“Twelve minutes,” he said.
The officer's jaw tightened. “Yes, sir.”
Victoria appeared in the doorway behind them. “Graham, this is ridiculous. She must have pushed buttons.”
The officer turned to her. “Mrs. Whitlock, the controls are on the outside.”
May you like
Her mouth opened, but no words came.
Then Graham noticed something on her wrist: a thin blue fiber caught beneath the clasp of her gold watch.
