Chapter 2 - The Wrong Story
Daniel did not move for two full seconds.
"Again?" Sarah whispered.
Eleanor came down the staircase with one hand pressed to her chest, as if she were the one who had nearly fallen.
"She came at me," Eleanor said. "She was hysterical. I tried to stop her."
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"Mrs. Vance, that's not what happened."
Eleanor snapped her eyes toward him. "No one asked you."
"I called the police. They'll ask me."
The ambulance arrived first.
Two paramedics rushed Sarah onto a stretcher while Daniel walked beside her, holding her hand. The baby finally kicked once, weakly, and Sarah burst into tears.
At the hospital, Dr. Melissa Grant studied the monitor for a long time.
"Your baby's heart rate recovered," she said, "but you had bleeding after a fall. That can mean a partial placental abruption. We're admitting you tonight."
Daniel went white.
"Is the baby in danger?"
"Right now, she's stable. But Sarah needs rest and monitoring."
Sarah looked at Daniel.
"She pushed me."
He rubbed both hands over his face.
"I heard you."
"That's not the same as believing me."
"I didn't say I don't believe you."
"You didn't have to."
He looked wounded, but she was too scared to comfort him.
An hour later, Detective Maya Brooks arrived.
Arthur gave his statement. One maid claimed she had been looking down. The other said everything happened too fast.
Then the detective asked the obvious question.
"Security cameras?"
Daniel nodded. "Every hall in that house is covered."
Detective Brooks checked her tablet.
"Not the west landing. According to your security company, that camera went offline at 4:12 this afternoon."
Sarah looked at the clock.
Eleanor had confronted her at 4:37.
Twenty-five minutes later.
Daniel's expression changed.
"Who can disable those cameras?"
"Household security administrator," Brooks said. "Maybe someone with access credentials."
"My mother has those credentials."
Sarah watched Daniel absorb that.
Eleanor arrived at the hospital ten minutes later with family attorney Graham Pike.
She did not come into Sarah's room.
She stood in the hallway and told Detective Brooks the fall had been an accident.
Graham handed over a typed statement.
Already typed.
Sarah saw the pages through the glass.
"You see that?" she whispered.
Daniel nodded.
Someone had prepared Eleanor's story before the police finished asking questions.
Then Daniel's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHY THE WEST LANDING CAMERA WAS TURNED OFF BEFORE SARAH ARRIVED.
Daniel read it twice.
Then a second message appeared.
AND ASK HER ABOUT SECTION NINE OF THE VANCE TRUST.
Daniel looked up.
"Sarah," he said.
"What?"
"I don't know what Section Nine is."
May you like
Arthur, standing at the door, went completely still.
"I do," he said.
