But the most troubling discovery came from the security system.
Someone had accessed the house cameras and deleted several recordings.
The deletion occurred at 3:17 a.m.
The access credentials belonged to Mara.
***
When Samuel returned, he confronted her.
“Did you access the security system last night?”
Mara went pale.
“No.”
“Your credentials were used.”
“Someone must have copied them.”
Samuel looked at her.
“Who had access?”
Mara hesitated.
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Then she whispered:
“David.”
Samuel’s expression hardened.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because he threatened my daughter.”
The room went silent.
Mara explained that David had discovered her involvement weeks earlier.
He had shown her photographs of her teenage daughter leaving school.
He threatened to make the girl disappear if Mara contacted the police.
“I was terrified,” Mara said.
Samuel studied her.
“Did you delete the recordings?”
Mara shook her head.
“No. I copied them first.”
She reached into her uniform pocket and produced a small memory card.
