Chapter 4 - The Second Entry
Daniel checked the smart-lock log three times.
“There has to be an explanation.”
Emily looked at him across the kitchen island.
“For why Rachel lied?”
“For why the system shows her code.”
“She could have forgotten something.”
“Exactly.”
“Then why didn’t she tell me?”
Daniel did not answer.
Sophie slept in a bassinet beside them.
The hospital had allowed them to bring her home, but under conditions that made Emily feel like a guest in her own motherhood.
A CPS investigator named Marcus Hill would visit the next morning.
Neither Emily nor Daniel was to leave Sophie alone with anyone outside the immediate household until an initial safety assessment was completed.
Emily had signed every page.
She would have signed away her house if that was what keeping Sophie beside her required.
At 8:14 p.m., Rachel arrived.
Uninvited.
Emily saw her through the front window, standing beneath the porch light in a camel-colored coat, holding a grocery bag as if this were an ordinary sisterly visit.
Daniel opened the door before Emily could stop him.
Rachel stepped inside.
“I brought food.”
Emily almost laughed.
“Leave.”
Rachel froze.
“Emily.”
“You called the hospital before anyone knew about Sophie’s bruise.”
“I told you. I was worried.”
“You used your door code yesterday at one seventeen.”
Something flickered across Rachel’s face.
Tiny.
Fast.
But Emily saw it.
Daniel saw it too.
Rachel recovered.
“I came back for my scarf.”
“What scarf?”
“The blue one.”
“You weren’t wearing a scarf.”
“I left it here the day before.”
Emily folded her arms.
“Where was it?”
“Upstairs.”
“In which room?”
Rachel’s jaw tightened.
“Why are you interrogating me?”
“Because someone covered my baby’s bruise with makeup.”
Rachel’s eyes filled with tears.
The transformation was immediate.
Emily hated how good she was at it.
“Do you hear yourself?” Rachel whispered.
“You think I hurt Sophie?”
“I think you know more than you’re saying.”
Rachel turned to Daniel.
“Are you going to let her accuse me?”
Daniel remained still.
“I want to know why you entered the house again.”
Rachel blinked.
For the first time, she seemed genuinely surprised he had not defended her.
“I forgot my scarf.”
“Show us.”
“What?”
“The scarf.”
“I don’t have it with me.”
“You came back for it, but you don’t have it?”
“I left it in my car.”
Daniel walked toward the window.
Rachel stepped in front of him.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
Her face hardened.
“Daniel, this is insane.”
Emily suddenly remembered something.
Rachel had worn a navy silk scarf to lunch with their estate lawyer the previous week.
But yesterday she had arrived in a white sweater with no scarf.
Maybe there was one upstairs.
Maybe not.
It almost did not matter.
Because Rachel’s reaction had already told Emily something.
She had not expected the lock record to exist.
“You knew about Sophie’s leg,” Emily said.
Rachel looked at her.
“You told the hospital.”
“I saw you grab her.”
“When?”
“Tuesday.”
“Which leg?”
Rachel hesitated.
Emily stepped closer.
“You said you were worried about her leg. Which one?”
“I don’t remember.”
“You remembered enough to call child protection.”
“I’m not doing this.”
Rachel moved toward the door.
Emily followed.
“Did you put makeup on Sophie?”
Rachel spun around.
“No.”
“Did you see the bruise yesterday?”
“No.”
“Did you hurt her?”
“No!”
Sophie stirred in the bassinet.
Everyone froze.
Emily lowered her voice immediately.
Rachel stared at the baby.
Something unreadable passed across her face.
Fear?
Guilt?
Or anger?
Then she looked at Emily again.
“You’ve always needed someone to blame.”
Emily felt the old wound open.
Rachel had used that sentence after their father’s bankruptcy.
After their mother’s illness.
After every conflict in which Emily questioned her.
“You know what your problem is?” Rachel continued. “You think suspicion makes you smart.”
“And you think crying makes you innocent.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“That’s enough.”
Rachel gave him a wounded look.
Then she picked up her purse.
“You should be careful, Emily.”
Emily stared at her.
“Is that a threat?”
“No.”
Rachel opened the door.
“It’s advice.”
She left.
Daniel locked the door behind her.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Emily noticed something through the window.
Rachel walked directly to her car.
She did not open the back door.
She did not retrieve a scarf.
She simply got in and drove away.
Daniel saw it too.
“She lied,” Emily said.
He nodded.
It was the first time he said it without qualification.
They went upstairs.
Emily entered the nursery and looked around.
Everything appeared normal.
Crib.
Changing table.
Rocking chair.
Baby monitor mounted beside the shelf.
She walked toward the changing table.
A faint powdery mark stained the corner of the white changing pad.
Beige.
Emily touched it.
Daniel leaned over her shoulder.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know.”
He reached for a tissue.
“Don’t.”
Emily stopped him.
After the hospital, everything felt like evidence.
She opened the drawer where she kept diaper cream and wipes.
Something was wrong.
She stared.
“What?”
Emily pointed.
“I keep everything in rows.”
Daniel gave her a look.
“You know I do.”
He nodded reluctantly.
A tube of diaper cream had been pushed sideways.
Behind it lay something that did not belong there.
A small black cosmetic sponge.
Emily picked it up by the edge.
There was beige foundation dried along one side.
Daniel went completely still.
Emily whispered, “I don’t own this.”
Neither of them moved.
Then Daniel looked toward the baby monitor.
“Does that thing record?”
Emily turned.
“Yes.”
May you like
And suddenly they were no longer wondering whether Rachel had returned to the nursery.
They were wondering what the camera might have seen.
