Chapter 4 - THE MISSING CARD
Only three people knew about the wildlife camera.
Ramon.
Maria.
And Luis Ortega, the groundskeeper who had installed it.
Police called Luis.
He answered from a twenty-four-hour gas station on the highway.
"I didn't touch it," he said. "I haven't been back since nine."
Ramon checked gate logs.
Luis had left at 9:07 p.m.
No return.
Vanessa stood in the foyer with her attorney on speakerphone.
"This is getting absurd."
Maria stared at her.
"Where is the card?"
"I don't even know what you're talking about."
Then Maria noticed mud on Vanessa's silver heels.
Dark wet soil.
The path to the oak tree crossed a freshly watered flower bed.
Maria pointed.
"Her shoes."
Everyone looked down.
Vanessa stepped backward.
"I walked through the garden earlier."
"In those heels?" Ramon asked.
"Yes."
An officer photographed the soles.
Vanessa's father snapped, "You people are treating her like a criminal."
Adrian called from the hospital.
Oliver was stable.
No water in his lungs.
No head injury.
Maria nearly collapsed with relief.
Then Adrian asked one question.
"Did you find the second video?"
Ramon explained about the missing card.
Adrian went silent.
Finally he said, "Search the house."
Vanessa shouted from across the foyer.
"You cannot search my things without permission."
Adrian heard her.
"Then police can get a warrant."
Maria looked toward the staircase.
Something else bothered her.
At dinner, Vanessa had worn flat sandals.
She had changed into silver heels after midnight.
Why change shoes in the middle of the night?
Maria went to the mudroom.
One pair of garden clogs was missing.
Under the bench she found a blue thread caught on a nail.
The exact blue of Vanessa's dress.
Then she heard footsteps behind her.
Maria turned.
May you like
Vanessa stood in the doorway.
And in her hand was a pair of scissors.
