Chapter 8 - The Camera Above the Garage
Clara had installed a security camera above the garage after packages began disappearing from the neighborhood.
Ethan disliked it.
He often complained that cameras made the house feel paranoid.
Two weeks earlier, the camera stopped appearing in the phone application.
Ethan told her the battery had failed.
After the Las Vegas message, Clara climbed onto a step stool and checked.
The camera was still powered.
Ethan had simply removed her access.
Using the serial number, Clara restored the account.
The footage showed Rebecca entering the house three times while Clara was at work.
On the first visit, she carried empty storage boxes.
On the second, Ethan carried out Clara’s paintings.
On the third, Rebecca left holding a fireproof document case.
Officer Daniels watched the short clips on Clara’s phone.
Reed’s face hardened.
“Do you know what was inside that case?”
“Original deeds, tax records, my grandmother’s jewelry appraisal, and my mother’s will.”
“Any cash?”
“No.”
“Why would they want the documents?”
“To make it harder for me to prove what belonged to me.”
The final video showed Ethan standing in the driveway after Rebecca left.
He looked directly up at the camera.
Then he smiled.
The expression chilled Clara more than the wedding photograph.
He knew she might eventually see it.
He simply believed it would not matter.
Daniels asked Clara to forward the footage to a secure police email.
She did.
Then he looked at Reed.
“This may involve theft and document tampering.”
Clara’s phone buzzed.
A new message appeared from an unknown number.
Stop making this ugly. Let Ethan into his house.
Daniels saw it.
“Do you know who sent that?”
Clara read the phrasing again.
Not our house.
His house.
May you like
“I think Rebecca did.”
👉 The next message contained a photograph taken from across Clara’s street that very morning.
