Chapter 4 - The Missing Forty-Seven Minutes
Detective Shaw tried to control the room.
I did not let him.
“My wife was held in my basement.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I found her clothes, handwriting, and a locked room.”
Shaw looked at Vanessa.
“That room could belong to anyone.”
Sofia appeared at the top of the staircase before Maria could stop her.
“It belongs to Mommy.”
Shaw’s eyes hardened.
“Children misunderstand things.”
I stepped between him and my daughter.
“Don’t talk about her like she isn’t standing here.”
Shaw asked everyone to remain on the property while officers searched the basement.
Then he made another mistake.
He told one officer to check the security footage.
My system had cameras covering every exterior door, the halls, and most public rooms.
I opened the control panel myself.
Footage from the basement stairwell was missing.
Not all of it.
Exactly forty-seven minutes from earlier that afternoon.
Shaw said, “System error.”
My security manager, Theo, shook his head.
“No error.”
He pulled the access log.
The deletion had been authorized by an administrator account.
Mine.
I stared at the screen.
“I was at the airport at that time.”
Theo nodded.
“I know.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Maybe someone stole your password.”
Theo looked at her.
“Someone didn’t need to.”
He turned the laptop.
The request came from a device already approved on my home network.
Vanessa’s tablet.
The detective’s expression changed.
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“That proves nothing.”
Theo clicked another file.
A backup camera had not synchronized with the main system yet.
The clip showed two men carrying a woman through the basement service entrance less than three hours before the party.
The woman’s face was covered.
But one hand slipped free.
A gold wedding band flashed beneath the security light.
My wedding band.
The one Elena had worn for twelve years.
May you like
Then the second man turned toward the camera.
It was Detective Shaw.
