Chapter 2 - Ethan Points Toward the Staircase
Richard did not move for several seconds.
Broken porcelain covered the marble floor.
Denise stood between Rebecca and five-year-old Ethan, one arm stretched
protectively behind her.
Ethan was sobbing.
Richard’s voice dropped.
“What happened?”
Rebecca recovered first.
“He had a tantrum.”
Denise stared at her.
“A tantrum?”
Rebecca pointed toward Ethan.
“He broke the vase.”
Ethan shook his head violently.
“I didn’t!”
Richard looked at his son.
Ethan’s face was wet with tears.
A red mark crossed his wrist.
Richard saw it.
His expression changed.
“Come here, buddy.”
Ethan did not move.
Instead, he pressed closer to Denise.
That hurt Richard more than he expected.
He crouched.
“You’re safe.”
Ethan looked at Rebecca.
She stared back.
Not angry now.
Warning him.
Richard noticed.
So did Denise.
“Ethan,” Richard said gently, “did you break the vase?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
The boy pointed at Rebecca.
Rebecca snapped, “He’s lying.”
Denise stepped forward.
“Stop.”
Richard stood.
“Rebecca, go upstairs.”
Her eyes widened.
“This is my house too.”
“Go upstairs.”
“No.”
Ethan suddenly whispered, “Daddy.”
Richard turned.
The boy pointed toward the grand staircase.
“She was looking for my blue camera.”
Rebecca went pale.
Richard looked at her.
“What camera?”
Ethan wiped his face.
“The one Grandpa gave me.”
Richard remembered it.
A child’s instant camera with a video function.
Ethan carried it everywhere.
Rebecca interrupted.
“He records people without permission.”
Richard ignored her.
“What did you record?”
Ethan looked at Denise.
Denise nodded.
The little boy whispered:
“Rebecca talking to the man in Mommy’s room.”
Richard stopped breathing.
Rebecca’s face lost every trace of color.
May you like
Richard’s wife, Laura, had been dead for three years.
And nobody was supposed to be entering her locked bedroom.
