Chapter 4 - The Three Missing Seconds
Ellie was going to be okay.
Those six words were the only ones Claire cared about for the next hour.
The clinician examined her carefully.
The coffee had cooled enough before the incident that the injuries were not severe, though Ellie’s skin was irritated and she was frightened.
Claire sat with her daughter pressed against her chest until the crying faded into exhausted hiccups.
Ben sat three feet away.
He said almost nothing.
At one point, Ellie reached toward him.
Ben immediately moved closer.
“Daddy.”
His face broke.
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
Claire watched him kiss Ellie’s hair.
Part of her wanted to forgive him instantly.
Another part remembered his hand gripping her arm.
Both feelings existed at once.
After Ellie fell asleep, Ben whispered, “Can we watch the phone?”
Claire looked at him.
“You believe me now?”
“I believe something happened.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“I know.”
He looked ashamed.
“I need to see it.”
Claire took out the phone.
They had discovered it belonged to Daniel.
He had forgotten it on the counter before taking Ethan outside.
Apparently Ethan had been recording videos of his toy dinosaurs that morning.
Daniel had propped the phone beside the fruit bowl so the child could record himself later.
No conspiracy.
No planned surveillance.
Just chance.
Claire opened the camera gallery.
Several short videos appeared.
Ethan making dinosaur sounds.
Ethan putting crackers inside a toy dump truck.
Ethan whispering that broccoli was disgusting.
Then the Sunday lunch video.
Twenty-seven minutes long.
Ben leaned closer.
Claire pressed play.
The kitchen appeared.
Everyone moving normally.
Claire carrying plates.
Gary preparing drinks.
Linda near the stove.
Ellie walking in and out of frame.
Claire skipped forward.
Then stopped.
There.
Ellie sat on the floor.
The plastic cup beside her.
Claire’s pulse increased.
On the video, Ellie reached.
Linda turned.
She moved toward the child.
The mug lifted.
Then the screen froze.
Claire frowned.
“What happened?”
The video jumped forward.
Ellie was already screaming in Claire’s arms.
Linda stood several feet away.
Claire stared.
“No.”
Ben leaned forward.
“What?”
“Something’s missing.”
He checked the timeline.
Three seconds.
Exactly three seconds were gone.
The moment between Linda approaching Ellie and Claire holding her afterward.
Ben replayed it.
Same jump.
Claire felt cold.
“That explains why she was scared.”
Ben shook his head.
“If it doesn’t show anything—”
“It probably did.”
He looked at her.
“What are you saying?”
Claire turned the phone toward him.
“Someone deleted three seconds.”
Ben stared at the timeline.
“That isn’t possible.”
“It’s right there.”
“Maybe the camera glitched.”
Claire said nothing.
Ben heard how weak his own explanation sounded.
The clinician opened the door.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
Claire put the phone away.
“Your daughter is all set.”
They thanked her.
As Claire lifted sleeping Ellie, Ben’s phone rang.
Gary.
Ben answered.
“Dad?”
Silence.
His face changed.
“What happened?”
Claire watched him.
“Dad?”
Then Ben said, “Call the police.”
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“What?”
Ben ended the call.
“My mother left.”
“So?”
“She took Daniel’s laptop.”
Claire stared.
“Why?”
May you like
Ben looked toward the phone in Claire’s hand.
“Because apparently that three-second clip may have automatically backed up somewhere else.”
