Chapter 11 - What the Patio Camera Saw.
Detective Morales watched the memory card footage before Emily did.
That was Rachel Kim's advice.
"If it's evidence," Rachel said, "let law enforcement preserve it before anybody edits, copies, or argues about what it means."
Ryan surrendered the card at the station.
He also gave a written statement.
Emily waited in a conference room with Mark while Morales reviewed the file.
The clock on the wall seemed louder than normal.
Mark sat with both hands clasped between his knees.
"Whatever's on that card, you don't have to watch it."
Emily shook her head.
"I do."
"You don't owe anybody that."
"I owe myself the truth."
Morales returned nearly forty minutes later.
She placed a laptop on the table.
"There are two relevant clips."
Emily's mouth went dry.
"Does it show who touched the stroller?"
"Yes."
Mark leaned forward.
Morales raised one hand.
"But it doesn't show what Ryan thinks it shows."
She started the first clip.
The patio camera timestamp read 3:44 p.m.
Ryan dragged the white chair beneath the camera.
He climbed onto it and reached up.
He did not immediately unplug the cable.
Instead, he turned the camera slightly toward the lawn.
For several seconds, the frame widened enough to include the stroller.
Then Ryan climbed down.
Patricia approached him.
The microphone captured their voices faintly.
"You said this would be quick," Patricia said.
"It will be."
"Emily's already nervous about everything."
"That's why the reaction will look real."
Emily flinched.
Mark's hands clenched.
Onscreen, Patricia glanced toward the stroller.
"I don't like this."
Ryan answered.
"Mom, it's three feet."
"And then you grab it?"
"Immediately."
Patricia lowered her voice.
"Fine. One take."
Emily looked at Morales.
"So Patricia knew."
"Keep watching."
At 3:46, Ryan crouched beside the stroller.
The red screwdriver was visible in his hand.
He adjusted something near the brake housing.
Then Patricia walked away.
Ryan checked his phone.
His expression changed.
He stood and called after her.
"Forget it. Mark lit the pit."
Patricia turned.
"What?"
"We're not doing it."
"Good."
Ryan stepped onto the chair again.
This time he unplugged the camera.
The image went black.
Emily stared at the frozen frame.
"That proves he canceled it."
Morales nodded.
"At least verbally."
"Then who released the brake?"
"That's the second clip."
Emily frowned.
"How is there a second clip if the camera was unplugged?"
"The camera switched to battery backup for twenty-eight seconds before shutting down."
Morales opened another file.
The picture returned without audio.
Ryan walked toward the house.
Patricia followed him.
The stroller remained alone near the umbrella.
Then a third person entered frame.
Emily leaned closer.
The person wore a white T-shirt and blue jeans.
For one second, Emily thought she was looking at herself.
Then the woman turned.
Jenna.
Emily's breath stopped.
Jenna looked toward the house.
Then she crouched beside the stroller.
Her right hand moved beneath the brake.
She stood.
She glanced toward the patio.
Then she pushed the stroller lightly.
The stroller began rolling.
Jenna immediately stepped backward.
Her face changed.
She appeared surprised by how quickly it moved.
Then the camera died.
Emily did not speak.
Mark whispered.
"Jenna."
Morales closed the laptop.
"We brought her in this morning."
Emily felt betrayed in a new direction.
"She sat across from me in that diner."
"Yes."
"She gave me the videos."
"Yes."
"She told me Ryan asked her to distract me."
"That part appears true."
Emily stood and paced to the wall.
"Why would she expose Ryan if she was the one who pushed it?"
Morales looked at her carefully.
"Because she says Ryan told her to."
Mark shook his head.
"Ryan says it was canceled."
"And Jenna says nobody told her."
Emily turned.
"So Ryan cancels the stunt with Patricia but forgets to tell Jenna?"
"That's her statement."
"Do you believe her?"
Morales did not answer directly.
"I believe she pushed the stroller."
That was enough.
Emily sat down again.
Her mind replayed Jenna's tears at the diner.
Her trembling hands.
Her confession that she distracted Emily.
All of it had looked honest because much of it had been honest.
That was the frightening part.
A person could tell nine truths while hiding the tenth.
Morales slid a printed screenshot across the table.
"We also found something else on Ryan's card."
It was a still image from earlier that afternoon.
Jenna stood near the stroller.
Patricia was beside her.
Patricia appeared to be handing Jenna something small.
"What's that?"
Morales zoomed the image.
A folded piece of paper.
"We don't know."
Emily stared at it.
"Patricia said she canceled the stunt."
"Yes."
"Then why was she giving Jenna something afterward?"
May you like
Morales folded her arms.
"That's exactly what we're trying to determine."
