Chapter 2 - Another Face Appears on Camera
Emily replayed the footage.
Vanessa entered the office at 6:12 p.m.
She looked over her shoulder, opened the safe, removed two thick
envelopes of cash, and slid them into her handbag.
Then the image changed.
At 6:09—three minutes earlier—someone else had appeared outside the
office.
Emily zoomed in.
Her husband went still beside her.
It was his mother, Margaret.
Margaret had spent the entire evening insisting she knew nothing about
the missing money.
On the footage, she stood beside the office door and looked directly
toward the dining room.
Then she lifted one hand.
A signal.
Vanessa entered seconds later.
The restaurant became silent.
Margaret’s face collapsed.
“That proves nothing.”
Emily looked at her.
“You told me you hadn’t been near the office all night.”
“I was looking for the restroom.”
“The restroom is on the other side of the building.”
Margaret opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Emily’s husband, Daniel, stared at his mother.
“Mom?”
May you like
Margaret turned toward him.
And for the first time that evening, she looked afraid of her own son.
