Chapter 3 - THE EMPTY CAMERA
Grant shut down the gala without explanation.
Hundreds of guests were told there had been a private medical emergency. Politicians complained. Donors demanded answers. Reporters gathered outside the gates. Grant ignored all of them.
He led Caleb and me into the estate security room, a windowless chamber behind the library. Twelve monitors covered the walls.
Caleb opened the archive log.
"The account used was yours," he told Grant.
"I was upstairs."
"I know."
The login had opened a folder marked CALLAHAN, MARGARET — FATAL COLLISION. Most of the files were police scans, insurance reports, and photographs from the mountain road where Grant's wife had died. One item was different.
A thirty-second video from the estate garage.
It showed Margaret Callahan fastening Lily into the back seat two hours before the crash. A figure in a long coat crossed behind the car. The camera image flickered. Then the file ended.
"Where is the rest?" Grant asked.
Caleb checked the data. "Deleted the week after the accident."
"By whom?"
"The system says the deletion came from an administrator account that no longer exists."
I remembered Renata's expression when Lily spoke. Not shock. Recognition.
"Was Renata working here then?" I asked.
Grant's eyes remained on the screen. "She was Margaret's event consultant."
The door opened. Dr. Morris stepped inside.
"Lily is calm," she said. "She does not want to speak again, but she drew something."
She placed a sheet of paper on the desk.
The drawing showed a black car on a crooked road. Rain fell in blue lines. A woman in red stood beside the driver's door. Around her wrist was a bright gold circle.
Grant stared at it.
"Renata wore a gold serpent bracelet every day that year," he said.
Caleb enlarged the old garage video. The figure in the long coat raised one hand toward the camera.
A gold bracelet flashed beneath the sleeve.
Then every monitor in the room went black.
The emergency lights came on.
From somewhere above us, an alarm began to ring.
Caleb grabbed his radio. "What happened?"
May you like
A guard answered through heavy static.
"Someone is inside Lily's bedroom.
