Chapter 12 - Linda’s Story Begins to Collapse
Linda claimed she never knew Eli was inside the shed.
The neighbor’s footage showed her walking toward it.
She claimed she went to retrieve gardening tools.
Police found no tools in her hands when she returned.
She claimed Rachel removed the camera.
Rachel said Linda did.
Then forensic analysts recovered fingerprints from the camera housing.
Linda’s.
The prosecution believed Linda removed the neighbor’s camera after hearing Harold outside.
But there was still another camera.
One Linda did not know about.
Rachel had installed a small battery-powered device beneath the shed roof weeks earlier.
She suspected Linda was hiding stolen documents there.
Rachel wanted evidence she could use if Linda threatened to cut off clinic funding.
The device recorded motion automatically.
When Rachel locked Eli inside, she forgot it was still operating.
Later, she returned to remove it.
The camera was gone.
She assumed Linda found it.
Linda assumed Rachel still had it.
Neither woman knew where the footage went.
Detective Harris did.
The camera had fallen behind a stack of garden boards during the struggle.
Firefighters discovered it while searching for hazards.
The black evidence device contained its memory card.
Harris had not lied.
There truly were two cameras.
The neighbor’s camera showed the yard.
May you like
Rachel’s hidden camera showed part of the shed interior.
It captured the truth both women feared.
