Chapter 10 - THE CAMERA THAT NEVER SLEPT
Detective Vega obtained permission to search the equipment enclosure, backed by the preservation requests her team had filed after the pool incident. Silas pointed out a false panel behind the old pump controls. Inside was an independent recorder connected to cameras installed before Beatrice moved in.
“It's been running?” Clara asked.
“On a battery backup,” Silas said. “Your father insisted.”
Mae assisted investigators with a forensic copy. The first recovered clip showed the gate at 2:14 p.m. on the day Rosie fell. Beatrice appeared wearing white linen and dark glasses. She stopped beside the latch, glanced toward the house, and pulled it open.
Clara gripped the table. “There.”
Beatrice held out a yellow duck. Rosie stepped toward her. The older woman placed the toy near the pool edge, then turned her back. Rosie reached, lost her balance, and went into the water.
The camera did not show Beatrice pushing the child. It showed something almost as chilling: Beatrice stood still for several seconds after the splash, looked at the water, and walked away without calling for help.
Clara covered her mouth. Elena had saved Rosie because she'd heard the splash through the open laundry window.
“Don't make me guess what I saw,” Clara whispered.
“We won't,” Vega answered. “We'll keep the whole clip, timing and all.”
Mae checked the metadata and watched a longer segment, then frowned.
“There's a second person,” she said. “Just outside the camera's frame. See that reflection in the glass?”
On the dark pool-house door, the outline of a man appeared. He wore a light shirt and held something rectangular against his chest.
The man lifted his head.
May you like
Clara recognized Miles Hargrove.
