Chapter 9 - Emma Finds The Missing Pantry Camera
A week later, Emma noticed a small empty bracket above the pantry door.
She remembered a camera being there.
Security said the camera had been removed for repair two months earlier.
No one could find the repair ticket.
Emma told Dominic.
The security contractor checked inventory.
The camera had never been returned.
Its cloud account, however, still existed.
Most footage had been deleted.
A backup archive preserved motion clips.
Investigators obtained them properly.
The clips showed Vanessa entering the pantry late at night.
Sometimes she carried tea packets.
Sometimes the silver box.
Then one clip showed another person.
Marco DeLuca.
Luca’s longtime house manager.
Emma’s stomach dropped.
Marco had hired her.
Defended her.
Taught her mansion procedures.
He entered the pantry after Vanessa and removed something from a
cabinet.
When questioned, Marco admitted he knew Vanessa was adding an herbal
supplement to Luca’s tea.
She told him Luca’s doctor recommended it.
Marco never verified that.
Worse, Vanessa paid him to disable the pantry camera because she said
Luca was planning a surprise acquisition and needed privacy.
Marco accepted twenty thousand dollars.
He denied knowing anyone could be harmed.
Investigators found no evidence he understood the medical risk.
But he had helped conceal Vanessa’s actions.
Emma felt betrayed.
Marco said:
“I thought rich people were doing rich-people nonsense.”
Emma answered:
“You knew she wanted the camera off.”
He looked down.
May you like
Sometimes wrongdoing survived not because everyone understood the plan.
It survived because enough people chose not to ask.
Related Stories
