Chapter 9 - The Red Room
The police told me not to go to Margaret’s house.
For once, I listened.
They obtained a warrant the next afternoon.
I waited at my mother’s kitchen table while Daniel paced the floor.
At 4:37 p.m., the detective called.
“We found a hidden room in the basement.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“What was inside?”
“Computers. Storage drives. Printed files. Surveillance footage.”
“Of Ellie?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
The detective continued carefully. “Nothing sexual. I want to be very clear about that. But there are videos of discipline incidents, private family arguments, school pickups, doctor visits, and interactions inside the home.”
“Why would she record that?”
“We think she was documenting material for the guardianship case.”
“Documenting or creating?”
“We’re investigating.”
Daniel stopped pacing.
I put the call on speaker.
The detective added, “We also found labeled folders. One is titled ‘Birthday Event.’ Another is titled ‘Kitchen Fall.’ Do those mean anything to you?”
I remembered Ellie slipping in Margaret’s kitchen last winter.
She had cut her chin.
Margaret insisted I had been careless because I was looking at my phone.
I had blamed myself for months.
“I want to see the footage.”
“We’ll arrange that.”
That evening, Daniel sat across from me in silence.
Finally he said, “I should have protected you.”
“You should have protected her.”
His eyes watered.
“I know.”
Before I could answer, my phone rang again.
This time it was the detective.
His voice had changed.
“Claire, we found another folder.”
“What is it called?”
“Contingency.”
I stood up.
“What’s in it?”
“Photos of your car, your office parking garage, and your mother’s house.”
My mouth went dry.
“And one typed page,” he said.
“What does it say?”
The detective hesitated.
May you like
Then he read the first line.
IF CLAIRE REFUSES TO COOPERATE, REMOVE HER FROM THE EQUATION.
