Chapter 2: The Hidden Recordings
Silence settled over the foyer.
Daniel kept his eyes on Elise.
"Show me the cameras."
"There is nothing to show," Elise replied.
"Then you won't mind if I look."
Without waiting for an answer, Daniel walked toward the blue sitting room.
Margaret inhaled sharply.
Nora followed close behind.
The elegant room looked untouched. Sunlight spilled across blue velvet furniture and polished hardwood floors. Everything appeared perfect.
Too perfect.
Daniel searched the bookshelves, paintings, and decorative lamps until he noticed a tiny black lens hidden inside an antique clock above the fireplace.
His jaw tightened.
"There it is."
Elise folded her arms.
"I installed it for security."
"Security doesn't explain why it's pointed directly at my mother's favorite chair."
Daniel found a matching recording unit inside a locked cabinet beneath the television.
When he inserted the memory card into his laptop, weeks of footage appeared.
The first video showed Margaret quietly reading.
The second showed Nora helping her knit.
The third changed everything.
Elise stood over Margaret, criticizing the way she folded blankets.
Another clip showed Elise hiding Margaret's reading glasses before accusing her of becoming forgetful.
Then came the footage Daniel would never forget.
Margaret accidentally bumped the blue planter.
Before she could apologize, Elise shoved the carpet brush toward her hands.
"Clean it yourself," Elise ordered.
Daniel closed the laptop.
May you like
No one spoke.
The truth had already spoken for itself.
