Chapter 2 - THREE MINUTES MISSING
Paramedics rushed Claire to St. Matthew’s Hospital.
Daniel followed in his car.
Vanessa disappeared before police could question her.
That alone told Daniel something was terribly wrong.
Claire had suffered a concussion, two cracked ribs, and a fractured wrist.
The doctor told Daniel she was lucky.
Another few inches and her head would have struck the edge of the marble staircase.
She could have died.
At 11:40 p.m., Detective Marcus Reed arrived at the hospital.
“Mr. Whitmore?”
Daniel stood.
“Yes.”
“I understand there may be security footage.”
“There is.”
“Have you watched it?”
“Not yet.”
Marcus studied him.
“Why?”
Daniel explained that the mansion’s security system required an administrator login.
Only three people had access.
Daniel.
His head of security, Owen Brooks.
And Claire.
Marcus nodded.
“Where’s Mr. Brooks?”
Daniel frowned.
“He should’ve been at the party.”
“But he wasn’t?”
“No.”
Daniel called Owen.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
At midnight, Daniel and Marcus returned to the mansion.
The guests were gone.
Champagne glasses remained on tables.
Half-eaten dinners sat untouched.
The house felt abandoned.
They entered the security room.
Daniel logged into the system.
Camera twelve covered the grand staircase.
He selected 8:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The footage loaded.
Daniel leaned closer.
At 8:13, Claire entered the foyer.
At 8:14, Vanessa followed.
At 8:15, the screen froze.
Then the timestamp jumped.
8:18.
Claire was already on the floor.
Daniel stared at the monitor.
“No.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“What?”
“Three minutes are missing.”
“Could the system have malfunctioned?”
“No.”
Daniel checked another camera.
It had recorded continuously.
Then another.
No interruption.
Only camera twelve had missing footage.
Marcus crossed his arms.
“So somebody deleted exactly the three minutes surrounding your wife’s fall.”
Daniel felt cold.
“Can deleted footage be recovered?”
“Usually.”
A voice came from behind them.
“Not if someone knew what they were doing.”
Daniel spun around.
Owen Brooks stood in the doorway.
His shirt was untucked.
There was dried blood on his lower lip.
“Where the hell have you been?”
Owen shut the door.
“Someone attacked me.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What?”
“About twenty minutes before Claire fell.”
Owen lifted his shirt.
A dark bruise covered his ribs.
“I was checking the west gate when somebody hit me from behind.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Did you see who?”
“No.”
“Then how did you get back inside?”
“I woke up in the maintenance room.”
Daniel pointed at the monitor.
“Three minutes are missing.”
Owen’s expression hardened.
“I know.”
“You know?”
“I received an alert that someone accessed the camera archive at 8:19.”
“Who?”
Owen sat at the computer.
His fingers moved quickly.
Then he stopped.
“That’s impossible.”
“What?”
Owen turned the screen toward Daniel.
The login belonged to Claire.
Daniel shook his head.
“She was unconscious at 8:19.”
“Exactly.”
Marcus leaned closer.
“So somebody used her credentials.”
Owen nodded.
Daniel remembered Claire’s unfinished warning.
Don’t trust…
He looked toward the dark hallway.
“Can you recover the footage?”
Owen hesitated.
“Maybe.”
“How long?”
“Give me an hour.”
It took forty-three minutes.
The restored file appeared at 1:12 a.m.
Owen clicked play.
Claire entered the foyer.
Vanessa followed.
The two women argued.
There was no audio.
But their body language said enough.
Claire pointed toward the front door.
Vanessa shook her head.
Claire stepped closer.
Vanessa grabbed Claire’s wrist.
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
Then Claire pulled away.
Vanessa shoved her.
Hard.
Claire stumbled backward.
She hit the railing.
Then she fell.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Marcus whispered.
“Jesus.”
But the video wasn’t over.
Vanessa walked down the stairs.
She stood over Claire.
And instead of calling for help, she reached into Claire’s purse.
She removed something.
A small black flash drive.
Daniel leaned toward the monitor.
“What is that?”
Vanessa slipped it into her dress.
Then she knelt beside Claire.
Seconds later, Daniel appeared.
Marcus paused the recording.
“This wasn’t an accident.”
Daniel stared at Vanessa’s frozen face.
“No.”
Owen suddenly pointed toward the corner of the screen.
“Wait.”
A shadow moved on the second floor.
Someone else had been watching.
Marcus enlarged the image.
A man stood behind the railing.
Daniel recognized him immediately.
May you like
His younger brother.
Ethan.
