Chapter 2 - The Missing Minute
Adrian stared at the dead camera.
"Why did it turn off?"
No one answered.
Vanessa pulled her wrist free. "Probably a power glitch. Your system is old."
"It was replaced six months ago," Adrian said.
The softness disappeared from his voice.
Maria had heard that tone only once before, when a contractor had lied about a gas leak near Oliver's nursery. Adrian did not raise his voice when he was truly angry. He got quieter.
He called the family physician and ordered the security chief, Grant Mercer, to the house.
Twenty minutes later, Oliver was examined in the downstairs study. The doctor found no obvious injury but insisted Adrian take him to the hospital for imaging and observation.
Vanessa tried to follow.
Adrian blocked the doorway.
"You're not coming."
"Adrian, that's ridiculous. He's practically my son."
"Practically isn't the word I'm thinking about right now."
At the security office, Grant pulled up the balcony feed.
The video played normally: 7:41 p.m., Vanessa carrying Oliver upstairs. 7:42, Maria entering the grand hall. Then the image jumped.
7:44.
Maria was already on the floor holding the baby.
Two minutes were gone.
Grant frowned. "That's not a recording failure."
Adrian turned. "What is it?"
"Manual deletion."
Vanessa crossed her arms. "So Maria deleted it."
Grant shook his head. "She couldn't. Staff accounts can't remove footage."
"Then who can?"
Grant hesitated.
Adrian stepped closer. "Say it."
"You. Me. And Ms. Sterling."
Silence filled the room.
Vanessa laughed once, sharply. "This is insane. You're accusing me because of a software permission?"
Grant typed again.
"Every deletion creates a local access stamp."
A login record appeared on the screen.
USER: VSTERLING.
TIME: 7:43:12 P.M.
Vanessa's face hardened.
Adrian looked at her.
"You said you were on the balcony at 7:43."
"I was."
Grant slowly turned from the monitor.
"Then someone used your account from inside this room while you were upstairs."
Adrian's anger shifted into something colder.
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If Vanessa had been on the balcony, she had not acted alone.
And somewhere inside his mansion, a second person had been waiting for her.
