Chapter 6 - The Security Footage That Disappeared|
By Sunday afternoon, Vanessa's missing diamond brooch had become the subject of a formal police complaint.
I discovered this when Daniel asked me to accompany him to Luca's study.
Luca sat behind his desk, examining a printed security report.
He looked as though he hadn't slept.
"Claire, sit down."
I remained standing.
"Mr. Moretti, I didn't steal anything."
"I know."
His immediate answer surprised me.
He looked up.
"Vanessa claims the brooch disappeared sometime during the reception."
I nodded.
"But Sophia was with you most of that evening."
"Yes."
"And after I found Sophia, you barely left her side."
"That's right."
Luca placed the report on his desk.
"Then I find it rather interesting that Vanessa insists she saw you entering her dressing room."
I stared at him.
"I never went into her dressing room."
"That's what I expected you to say."
Daniel opened his laptop.
"We checked the hallway cameras."
He turned the screen toward me.
A grainy recording showed the upstairs corridor at approximately nine-thirty the previous evening.
I recognized the location immediately.
It was the hallway leading toward the bridal suite.
The recording played normally for several seconds.
Then the screen turned black.
When the picture returned, nearly fourteen minutes had passed.
"What's that?" I asked.
Daniel looked grim.
"Someone interrupted the recording."
Luca leaned forward.
"Not a normal equipment failure."
Daniel nodded.
"The system logs show that an authorized security account disabled the cameras."
"Whose account?"
"One assigned to Eli Turner."
I recognized the name.
Eli was a relatively new security guard who had joined the household shortly before the wedding.
I hadn't spoken to him more than a few times.
"Was he working last night?" I asked.
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
Luca's expression remained unreadable.
"Where is he now?"
"Off duty, according to the schedule."
"Find him."
Daniel stepped outside to make the call.
Luca turned toward me.
"Claire, has Vanessa threatened you?"
I hesitated.
He noticed immediately.
"What did she say?"
I told him about the diamond brooch.
The velvet box.
Her warning about staff forgetting their place.
And the implication that valuable things could disappear.
Luca listened without interrupting.
When I finished, he pressed his fingertips against his forehead.
"I should have noticed."
"Noticed what?"
"What she's been doing to this house."
He looked toward the window.
"I thought Sophia was struggling because she missed Isabella."
"She does miss her mother."
"I know."
"But that wasn't the only reason she was unhappy."
Luca closed his eyes.
"For months, Vanessa told me Sophia was becoming difficult."
My heart sank.
"She said Sophia refused to eat dinner, ignored instructions, and deliberately embarrassed her in front of guests."
I remembered those evenings.
Vanessa had repeatedly sent Sophia upstairs before dinner.
She had also instructed the kitchen staff not to serve the child separately.
I had quietly brought Sophia sandwiches afterward.
"Mr. Moretti," I said, "Sophia wasn't refusing dinner."
He looked at me.
"Vanessa was telling her she wasn't invited."
The words seemed to strike him physically.
He slowly lowered his hands.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
I struggled to find an answer.
"Vanessa told the staff that discussing household decisions with you would be considered disloyal."
Luca stared at me.
"And you believed that?"
"Some of us were afraid of losing our jobs."
I swallowed.
"But I should have told you anyway."
He shook his head.
"No."
His voice was rough.
"Your employer's responsibility is to make it safe for you to report something wrong."
He looked away.
"I failed at that."
Before I could respond, Daniel returned.
"Eli isn't answering his phone."
Luca frowned.
"Where does he live?"
"An apartment in Oak Park."
"Have the investigators contact him."
Daniel hesitated.
"There's something else."
He placed a second report on the desk.
"Someone accessed the upstairs security system again this morning."
"When?"
"At eleven-forty."
Luca glanced at the clock.
It was nearly three.
"Why are you telling me now?"
"Because the access wasn't flagged until the backup audit finished."
I leaned closer.
"Which cameras?"
Daniel looked directly at me.
"The east corridor."
My stomach tightened.
That corridor led to Sophia's bedroom.
Luca was already standing.
"Where is my daughter?"
"She was upstairs with her tutor," Daniel answered.
"Check."
Daniel immediately called the upstairs staff.
For several seconds, he listened.
Then his face changed.
"What do you mean she's not there?"
Luca moved around his desk.
"Daniel."
The security chief covered the phone.
"The tutor says Sophia asked to use the bathroom twenty minutes ago."
"And?"
"She never came back."
My heart began pounding.
I ran for the stairs before Luca could say another word.
We searched Sophia's bedroom.
The bathroom.
The playroom.
The library.
Every room where she usually spent Sunday afternoons.
Nothing.
Her rabbit lay on her bed.
Beside it was a drawing she'd been making that morning.
Three stick figures stood together beneath a bright yellow sun.
One was labeled DADDY.
Another was labeled CLAIRE.
The smallest was labeled ME.
At the bottom, in careful pink handwriting, were the words:
PLEASE DON'T FORGET ME.
Luca picked up the drawing.
His hands were trembling.
"She wouldn't leave this behind if she were going somewhere willingly."
I looked toward the open bedroom window.
The grounds were surrounded by security fences.
But the mansion itself contained dozens of rooms, hidden corridors, and doors that were rarely used.
Then I noticed something beside Sophia's pillow.
A small white envelope.
Her name was written across the front.
I opened it.
Inside was a note.
If you want to hear the special message your mommy left for you, come to the old music room.
Come alone.
Don't tell Daddy or Claire, or the surprise will be ruined.
Luca read the note over my shoulder.
His expression turned to stone.
"The old music room?"
I nodded.
It was in the mansion's abandoned conservatory wing.
Isabella had loved that room.
She used to play the piano there while Sophia danced around her.
But since Isabella's death, the conservatory had rarely been opened.
Luca handed the note to Daniel.
"Call the police and tell them we're searching the property for my daughter."
Then he turned toward me.
"Claire, take me to that room."
We hurried down the eastern staircase.
As we approached the conservatory, I heard something that made my blood run cold.
A child's voice.
Thin.
Frightened.
Calling from somewhere behind a locked door.
"Claire?"
I stopped running.
Then I heard it again.
"Claire, please!"
May you like
It was Sophia.
And she was crying.
