Chapter 3 - The Missing Hour
Daniel and Rachel returned to Ashbourne House at three in the morning with Detective Torres and two uniformed officers.
The mansion no longer looked elegant. It looked guilty.
Rachel went straight to the nursery and pulled up the security app on her tablet.
"Tuesday," she said. "Lily woke up around midnight. I remember because I was exhausted."
The camera history loaded.
11:52 p.m.
Lily slept in her crib.
11:53 p.m.
The screen went black.
12:47 a.m.
The picture returned.
"Fifty-four minutes missing," Torres said.
Daniel's jaw tightened. "The cameras are supposed to record continuously."
"Who has admin access?"
"Me. Rachel. My mother. And Martin, the estate manager."
They found Martin Vale in the servants' wing, fully dressed despite the hour. He was a narrow man in his sixties who had worked for the Ashbournes since Daniel was a child.
"Mrs. Ashbourne left before the police came," Martin said.
"Where did she go?" Daniel asked.
"She did not tell me."
"And the nursery camera?"
For the first time, Martin's eyes shifted.
Torres noticed. "Mr. Vale?"
"There was a system update."
"At midnight?"
"Automatic maintenance."
Rachel stepped toward him. "You're lying."
Martin looked almost offended. "Mrs. Ashbourne, I have served this family for thirty-eight years."
"Then serve it now. Tell us who went into my baby's room."
He said nothing.
Torres asked for the security server. Martin led them downstairs to a locked room behind the wine cellar.
The hard drive cabinet was open.
One drive was missing.
Daniel slammed his palm against the wall. "Who took it?"
Martin turned pale. "I don't know."
"You have the only key."
"Not the only one."
"Who else?"
Martin looked directly at Rachel.
"Your wife requested a copy six months ago."
Rachel blinked. "What?"
Daniel turned slowly.
"Rachel?"
"I never asked for a key."
Martin reached into a drawer and removed a signed request form.
Rachel's name was at the bottom.
Her signature looked perfect.
Torres held it under the light.
"If you didn't sign this," she said, "someone has been practicing your signature."
Then a soft chime sounded from the nursery monitor in Rachel's hand.
Motion detected.
They all looked upstairs.
May you like
Lily was still at the hospital.
Someone was inside the empty nursery.
