Chapter 2 - The Woman at the Outlet
"Get out of this room," Daniel told Vanessa.
"You can't be serious."
"I called the police."
The smile disappeared. Vanessa stepped toward Noah. Daniel stepped back.
"Don't make this worse," he said.
Maria opened the nursery door wide. A minute later, two officers arrived, followed by paramedics. Noah was examined for burns and breathing trouble. His skin was unmarked, and the medic said he appeared frightened but physically stable. They recommended a pediatric evaluation anyway.
Daniel agreed before the medic finished speaking.
Detective Lena Ortiz arrived while the second officer photographed the iron and its cord. She asked everyone to speak separately. Vanessa said she'd been pressing a wrinkled crib curtain and Maria had panicked.
"A curtain?" Ortiz asked. "With the baby still underneath it?"
"I never touched him."
"That isn't what I asked."
In the hallway, Maria sat with both hands pressed between her knees.
"She told me yesterday I'd lose my job if I reported another camera outage," she said to Daniel.
"Another?"
Maria nodded. "Three times this month. Every time you were busy. I thought it was faulty wiring. Today I watched her pull the plug."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Last time I tried, she said you had bigger things to worry about than a nervous employee. And you believed her."
The words landed because they were true. Daniel remembered Vanessa complaining that Maria was growing forgetful. He had promised to speak to her. He never had.
Ortiz returned with a small evidence bag. "The nursery camera only recorded after it was reconnected. The earlier minutes are missing. We have Maria's statement, the live image you saw, and the iron. That's enough to take seriously, but we still need to establish what happened."
Vanessa, escorted past the doorway, gave Daniel a look of wounded disbelief.
"I tried to protect this family," she said.
May you like
Ortiz's phone vibrated. She read the screen, then looked directly at Maria.
"Interesting," the detective said. "Mrs. Price filed a written complaint against you at eleven this morning. Three hours before anyone called the police."
