Chapter 7 - The Wrong Voice
Alexander listened to the recording five times.
Each time the voice sounded like Vanessa.
Each time Maria became less certain.
"Something's wrong," she said.
Alexander stared at her. "You heard it."
"I heard a woman."
"You think I don't know Vanessa's voice?"
"I think Julia was connected through her car speakers. Audio can distort."
Owen nodded reluctantly. "She's right. We need forensic analysis."
Alexander wanted certainty more than revenge.
That distinction saved him.
They sent copies to an independent lab in Milwaukee and returned home just before noon.
Police were waiting.
Vanessa had called them.
So had her attorney.
She stood in the foyer in a white sweater, looking fragile and offended.
"He locked me in a room," she told Detective Lena Brooks. "His nanny attacked me. He's having some kind of breakdown."
Alexander handed Brooks the video from Maria's phone.
Vanessa's face changed as the detective watched her raise the riding crop over Ethan.
"That was discipline," Vanessa said.
Brooks looked at her. "With a riding crop?"
"It never touched him."
Ethan's small voice came from the staircase.
"It did before."
Everyone turned.
He stood beside Mrs. Bell.
Alexander crossed the foyer.
"Buddy, you don't have to talk right now."
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
"She hit me in the blue room."
Vanessa shook her head. "He's repeating Maria's lies."
"No," Ethan said.
His voice trembled.
"Maria didn't know about the blue room. I showed her."
Detective Brooks wrote something down.
Then Ethan added, "Vanessa made me watch the video of Mommy."
Alexander's face went blank.
"What video?"
Ethan pointed toward Vanessa.
"The one where Mommy was scared in the car."
Vanessa whispered, "That's not possible."
Brooks heard her.
"Why not?"
May you like
Vanessa looked at the detective.
And realized too late what she had just admitted.
