CHAPTER 6 — THE PERSON NO ONE SUSPECTED
I checked the house staff records.
There was one person who had been in the house that afternoon besides Claire and Emily.
Our longtime caretaker, Robert.
Robert had worked for my family for eleven years.
He had keys to every door.
He knew the security system.
He knew my schedule.
And he had access to my clothing because he handled the laundry.
I confronted him.
At first, he denied everything.
Then I showed him the security records.
His face changed.
“You were in the garden,” I said.
“No.”
“Your phone was there.”
Silence.
“Why?”
Robert finally sat down.
“I didn't hurt the girl.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
He looked at me.
“Michael paid me.”
“For what?”
“To disable the cameras.”
My chest tightened.
“You deleted the footage?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He told me nobody would get hurt.”
I stepped closer.
“What was supposed to happen?”
Robert's eyes filled with tears.
“You were supposed to be blamed for negligence.”
“And Emily?”
“She was supposed to be frightened.”
“But she almost died.”
“I didn't know.”
“Who pushed her?”
Robert shook his head.
“I never saw.”
Then he remembered something.
“There was another person.”
“Who?”
“A woman.”
“What woman?”
Robert described her.
My heart stopped.
It was Claire's sister.
Rebecca.
She had been staying with us for several days.
She had access to the house.
She knew about the trust.
And she had disappeared immediately after the accident.
I called her.
Her phone was turned off.
Then I found something in the security room.
A second storage drive.
One the attacker hadn't discovered.
I connected it to the computer.
The missing five minutes appeared.
The footage showed Emily walking toward the pool.
Claire was inside the house.
Robert was near the side gate.
Then Rebecca entered the garden.
She approached Emily.
She said something.
Emily stepped backward.
Rebecca grabbed her arm.
Then Emily fell.
Rebecca froze.
Instead of helping, she looked directly at the camera.
She knew she had been recorded.
Then she walked away.
I watched the footage again.
And again.
But the worst moment came at the end.
Rebecca wasn't alone.
Someone was standing behind her.
May you like
Someone whose face wasn't visible.
Someone wearing my blue jacket.
