Chapter 6 - The Birdhouse Camera
The blue birdhouse hung from a post near the reeds, weathered by three winters. Inside, beneath a false wooden floor, the officers found a sealed plastic case. The camera itself was gone, but a memory card sat inside a small envelope, dry and intact.
The card was old, and the footage came in short motion-triggered clips. The first showed deer at the shoreline. The next showed Caleb and Dean arguing near the dock two days before Robert's death. No sound, but their body language was unmistakable: Caleb pointing at the house, Dean holding a folder, both men looking toward the road every few seconds.
The final clip was stamped 9:13 p.m. on the night Robert drowned. The image shook in the wind. Robert walked onto the dock carrying a small flashlight. Stacey followed him. They argued. Robert pointed toward the house, then toward her. Stacey grabbed his sleeve. He pulled away.
She shoved him.
Robert stumbled backward, struck the rail, and fell into the water. The camera showed Stacey staring down for several seconds. Then Caleb entered the frame. He did not jump in. He did not reach for a life ring. He looked at his mother, then at the water, and picked up the folder Robert had dropped.
The clip ended.
Then Grant opened the final file on the card. It had been recorded the next morning, after the police had supposedly secured the scene.
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A man in a county jacket approached the birdhouse, looked directly toward the camera, and removed something from his pocket.
It was the evidence envelope from Robert's case.
