Chapter 7 - The Video
Detective Reed arrived with two officers and a forensic technician.
The backyard footprints ended near a service road behind the property. Whoever had entered the house knew where the cameras did not reach.
That bothered Reed almost as much as the break-in itself.
Daniel handed him the memory card.
“Please tell me it still works.”
The technician inserted it into a laptop.
Dozens of short videos appeared: Ethan narrating toy car chases, a close-up of the family dog, a ten-minute movie about a plastic dinosaur escaping a volcano.
Then they found a file recorded three days earlier.
The camera had been propped on the upstairs railing.
The image showed only part of the foyer below, but the audio was clear.
Margaret’s voice came first.
“You have until Friday to tell Daniel yourself.”
Olivia answered, “You have no idea what will happen if I do.”
“I know exactly what will happen. He will be devastated. Then he will decide whether this marriage can survive the truth.”
“You always wanted him to leave me.”
“I wanted you to stop stealing from him.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
On the recording, Olivia’s voice dropped.
“I was paying Caleb back.”
“With Daniel’s money.”
“He would have come after us.”
“Then you should have gone to the police.”
“You don’t know my brother.”
“I know enough. I also know about Simon.”
The room went still.
Detective Reed paused the video.
“Who’s Simon?”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“Simon Vale. My chief financial officer.”
Reed stared at him. “Your CFO?”
Daniel nodded slowly.
Simon had worked beside him for nine years. He had access to corporate accounts, trust disbursement schedules, banking relationships, signatures, passwords.
Everything.
Reed resumed the video.
Margaret said, “Simon did not help you. He used you. And when I show Daniel what I found, both of you are finished.”
The file ended.
Not because Ethan stopped recording.
Because someone picked up the tablet.
A man’s voice, close to the microphone, said four quiet words before the screen went black.
“You should’ve stayed out.”
Daniel knew that voice.
May you like
He had heard it in boardrooms, airports, late-night calls and family dinners.
Simon Vale.
