Chapter 6 - The Cameras in the Kitchen
Evan arrived twenty-seven minutes later.
Claire knew because the driveway camera caught his car.
Rachel told everyone not to open the door.
Evan rang once.
Then twice.
Then held the bell down.
“Claire!”
Marian remained seated.
“Mom!”
The pounding began.
Paige flinched.
Claire didn’t.
Not this time.
Evan shouted through the door.
“She’s poisoning you against me!”
Rachel quietly called security.
Then Evan said something that made Claire’s blood run cold.
“Claire, I know about the cameras.”
Silence inside.
“I know what you recorded.”
Claire looked toward Rachel.
“How?”
Rachel shook her head.
Evan laughed outside.
“You think you’re clever?”
Claire walked toward the intercom.
Rachel caught her wrist.
“Don’t.”
But Claire pressed the button.
“What do you want?”
“My wife.”
“You don’t have one anymore.”
Silence.
Then Evan said, “You’ll regret that.”
Claire released the button.
Security arrived moments later.
Evan left before they reached the front steps.
That night, Claire checked the kitchen cameras.
One was offline.
Then another.
She opened the cloud account.
Unauthorized login attempt.
Someone had tried to access the recordings.
Claire changed every password.
At 2:13 a.m., another alert appeared.
Someone had entered the old shared email account she and Evan had once used.
Claire stared at the screen.
Then smiled.
Evan had made a mistake.
Login history.
Device.
Location.
Time.
She saved everything.
The next morning, Rachel brought a digital-forensics specialist.
By afternoon, they had preserved the original recordings and account-access records.
Evan had wanted to destroy Claire’s evidence.
Instead, he had created more.
But one recording bothered Claire.
It came from the night before her fall.
Evan stood alone in the kitchen speaking on the phone.
Claire had never listened to the entire clip.
Now she did.
“I need the paperwork completed before her next evaluation.”
Pause.
“No. If Mom changes her mind, we lose everything.”
Another pause.
Then:
“And Claire?”
Evan laughed.
“She’ll sign whatever I put in front of her.”
Claire’s face went still.
Rachel paused the recording.
“Do you recognize who he was speaking with?”
“No.”
Marian did.
Her eyes had widened.
“Play it again.”
Rachel did.
Marian listened.
Then whispered a name.
“Thomas Bell.”
Claire frowned.
“Who?”
“My former financial adviser.”
Rachel turned.
“Former?”
“I fired him after my stroke.”
“Why?”
Marian stared at the frozen image of Evan.
“Because I discovered money missing.”
Claire felt the pieces moving into place.
“When?”
“Almost four years ago.”
Four years.
Exactly when Claire had left her career to care for Marian.
Exactly when Evan had begun telling Claire they were financially dependent on his mother.
Marian stood.
“There’s another box.”
“Where?”
“The bank.”
“What’s in it?”
May you like
Marian looked at Claire.
“The reason I created the blue folder.”
