Chương 3
"You were."
Claire said nothing.
Evan looked at her.
"You told me you stayed at your sister's after the fundraiser."
"I did."
"What time did you come home?"
"I don't know."
"Claire."
"Late."
"How late?"
"After one."
Imani remembered the file stamp.
"One fifty-eight."
Claire looked at her sharply.
Evan saw it.
His face seemed to settle into something colder than anger.
"What happened at one fifty-eight?"
Imani wished there were another adult in the room.
A lawyer.
A police officer.
Mrs. Alvarez from the kitchen.
Anyone who could take the next sentence and make it less hers.
Instead there was only the hum of the air vent and Sophie sucking thoughtfully on the edge of Evan's shirt collar.
"Claire came into the nursery."
Evan waited.
Imani went on.
"She stood beside the crib for a while."
"Doing what?"
"Nothing at first."
Claire turned toward the window.
Sunlight caught along the satin shoulder of her robe.
Imani had seen Claire wear that same robe on Sunday morning while drinking grapefruit juice and asking whether Sophie had slept well.
"Then she took something from her pocket."
Evan's hand tightened around the tablet.
"What?"
"I couldn't tell."
"Medicine?"
"I don't know."
"A syringe?"
"I said I don't know."
"What did she do with it?"
Imani swallowed.
"She leaned over the crib."
Claire turned around.
"Stop."
It was the first time she had sounded afraid.
Imani's skin prickled.
Evan's voice went quiet.
"Why should she stop?"
"Because she saw fifteen seconds of something she doesn't understand."
"Then help us understand it."
Claire looked at him for a long moment.
"Put Sophie down first."
"No."
"Evan."
"No."
The refusal struck Claire harder than Imani expected.
Her eyes moved to the child in his arms.
For a second, something raw crossed her face.
Not rage.
Pain.
Then it vanished behind control.
"She's my daughter too."
"Then explain the recording."
"You haven't even watched it."
"That's what I'm about to do."
Claire stepped toward the tablet.
Imani blocked her without thinking.
Claire stopped so close that Imani could smell her perfume beneath the faint sourness of sweat.
"Move."
"No."
"You have no legal right to keep me from my own property."
"Then call somebody."
Claire stared at her.
Imani's knees felt weak.
She was aware, suddenly and absurdly, that she had forgotten to eat breakfast.
There was half a piece of buttered toast on a plate downstairs beside the staff sink.
She pictured it with irritating clarity.
Claire said, "You think you're protecting her."
"I am protecting her."
"You don't know from what."
"Then tell me."
Claire's eyes hardened again.
"You're enjoying this."
The accusation was so unexpected that Imani almost answered too quickly.
"Enjoying what?"
"Standing here while my husband looks at me like I'm a criminal."
"Claire."
"No, she is."
Claire pointed at her.
"She's been judging me since the day she arrived."
Imani felt heat rise into her face.
"That isn't true."
"You think I don't see it?"
"I think you shouldn't touch your daughter when you're angry."
"I was getting her out of the crib."
"You were pulling her."
"She was fighting me."
"She's a baby."
"Exactly."
Evan placed the tablet on the cabinet with sudden care.
"Both of you stop."
Claire turned on him.
"You believe her."
"I believe what I'm looking at."
"You haven't looked at the video."
"I believe your reaction to the card."
Claire's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
That silence shifted something in the room.
Evan picked up the tablet again.
"Where's the video?"
Imani pointed.
"Second folder."
He opened it.
The screen showed a list of files organized by date.
Saturday's recording sat near the top.
A tiny lock symbol appeared beside it.
Evan touched the file.
A password field opened.
Claire gave a small, almost involuntary sound.
Evan looked at her.
"You know the password."
"No."
"Claire."
"I don't."
He studied her face.
Then he typed something.
The field rejected it.
He tried again.
Rejected.
Imani watched the clock in the corner of the screen change from 10:42 to 10:43.
Somewhere in the hall, the vacuum stopped.
The quiet afterward felt enormous.
Evan said, "What was your father's first security company called?"
Claire's face drained.
"Don't."
He typed CALLAHAN SENTINEL.
Rejected.
He frowned.
"His old dog?"
"Jesus Christ."
"Ranger?"
Claire looked toward the door.
Imani moved before she could.
She stepped into the open space and pulled the door nearly shut behind her.
Not locked.
Just narrowed.
Claire stared at her.
"You think you're going to imprison me?"
"No."
"What do you call that?"
"Making sure you don't disappear while he's holding the baby."
Evan typed RANGER.
The file opened.
Nobody spoke.
The recording began without sound.
The nursery appeared in grainy blue-gray night vision.
The crib stood where it stood now.
A small timestamp glowed in the corner.
1:58:04 A.M.
Claire entered the frame.
Her recorded self wore dark pants and a sweater, not the satin robe she had apparently changed into before breakfast.
She moved toward the crib.
Sophie was asleep.
Evan leaned closer.
Imani watched him instead of the screen.
His jaw had gone rigid.
Recorded Claire reached into one pocket.
Her hand emerged holding a small cylindrical object.
She twisted something at the top.
Evan whispered, "What is that?"
Claire folded her arms.
"Keep watching."
His eyes flashed toward her.
"So you do know."
She closed her eyes.
Only for a second.
On the screen, Claire bent over Sophie.
The angle obscured her hands.
Her body remained there for eleven seconds.
Then she straightened.
Sophie moved.
Claire immediately leaned down again, one hand appearing near the child's mouth.
Evan stopped the video.
"What the fuck?"
Sophie startled at the word.
He turned away from the screen and pressed his lips to her hair.
"Sorry."
His voice shook.
Claire said, "Play the rest."
He stared at her.
"You want me to?"
"Yes."
May you like
Imani looked between them.
For the first time since entering the nursery, Claire seemed almost desperate for the evidence to continue.
