Chapter 6 - Someone Outside
Mark moved before anyone else did.
He killed the kitchen lights, locked the rear doors, and ordered the private security team to sweep the property.
Elena stood behind the stone island with Clara pressed against her leg.
"Is Vicky coming back?" Clara asked.
"No," Elena said.
She hoped it was true.
Security found fresh tire tracks near the service road but no vehicle. The north camera had been turned six inches toward the trees, creating a blind spot beside the kitchen windows.
That adjustment required a ladder.
And knowledge of the property.
Detective Ruiz arrived twenty minutes later.
He took Elena's phone, copied the messages, and placed a patrol car outside Mateo's apartment.
"You have enemies in your company?" he asked Mark.
Mark gave a humorless laugh. "I run a medical device business. I have competitors, angry investors, former executives. Not people threatening nannies."
Daniel looked up from the trust papers.
"Maybe this isn't about the house."
"What does that mean?"
"The share clause. Someone had to draft it. Victoria didn't write legal language like this herself."
They traced the amendment to a boutique law firm in Chicago.
The lawyer of record was Stephen Pike.
Mark knew the name.
"He represented Peter Lang in the Baxter acquisition."
Elena had heard Peter's name for years. Mark's CFO. Best man at his first wedding. Clara called him Uncle Peter.
Mark called him.
No answer.
He called again.
Still nothing.
Ruiz asked for Peter's home address.
Then the front doorbell rang.
Everyone froze.
The security monitor showed a courier holding a florist box.
No flowers had been ordered.
The guard brought the box inside after checking it.
It contained no flowers.
Inside was Elena's missing silver tray from the morning of the fall.
Someone had taken it before police processed the foyer.
On top of the tray sat a printed photograph.
It showed Victoria holding Clara on the landing.
The angle came from inside the upstairs hall.
A second person had been there.
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On the back, written in black marker, were four words:
ASK PETER WHO FILMED IT.
