Chapter 10 - EIGHTEEN MISSING MINUTESThe upstairs camera had recorded normally until 9:17 p.m.
Then nothing.
At 9:35 p.m., the system resumed briefly before heat damaged it.
Eighteen minutes were missing.
The fire was first visible on the exterior camera at approximately 9:29.
Which meant the camera had been disabled before the fire became obvious.
Megan sat across from Laura and Daniel while they explained.
“Could it be a malfunction?” she asked.
Daniel shook his head.
“The manufacturer reviewed the logs.”
“So somebody turned it off.”
“The upstairs channel was manually disabled from the control panel.”
Megan felt sick.
“Only that camera?”
“Yes.”
“Not the whole system?”
“No.”
Laura slid a still image across the table.
It came from a downstairs camera.
Evelyn entering the upstairs laundry room at 9:15.
Another still showed her leaving two minutes later.
“What did she say?”
“That she went to get cleaning cloths.”
“At nine fifteen at night?”
“That is her statement.”
Megan laughed without humor.
“Of course it is.”
Laura continued.
“There’s no camera directly outside Caitlyn’s room after 9:17.”
“So we can’t see her lock the door.”
“No.”
“But Caitlyn’s statement places her there.”
“Yes.”
“And then the fire starts.”
“Yes.”
Megan leaned back.
“What about Evelyn’s phone?”
“We’re working through legal process.”
“What are you expecting to find?”
“Anything that clarifies her timeline.”
Megan thought about Caitlyn saying Grandma had been on the phone before.
“Do you know who she called the night of the fire?”
Laura’s expression became guarded.
“There was at least one call.”
“To who?”
“We’re identifying the number.”
Megan knew that meant they either did not know yet or were not ready to tell her.
“Was it before 911?”
Laura nodded.
“Yes.”
Megan went still.
“She made a private call before calling emergency services?”
“We have no record of Evelyn personally calling 911.”
“Who did?”
“A neighbor.”
Megan stared.
“So she walked downstairs while Caitlyn was screaming, left the house and never called 911?”
Laura’s voice remained calm.
“That appears to be the current timeline.”
For the first time since the fire, Megan felt anger overpower fear.
“She wanted her in there.”
“We can’t make that conclusion yet.”
“I can.”
“Megan—”
“She turned off the camera.”
“We know the camera was disabled while Evelyn was near the controls.”
“She locked the door.”
“We know the door was locked.”
“She heard Caitlyn.”
“We have Caitlyn’s account.”
“And then she walked away.”
Laura did not argue.
Megan stood.
“She knew.”
Daniel said carefully, “Our job is to prove what can be proved.”
Megan looked at him.
“My job is different.”
“What is it?”
“To believe my daughter.”
That afternoon, Caitlyn asked to draw again.
This time she drew the hallway.
A door.
Two feet.
A staircase.
Then a small rectangle in Grandma’s hand.
“What’s that?” Megan asked.
“Phone.”
Megan’s pulse jumped.
“Grandma had a phone?”
Caitlyn nodded.
“When?”
“When she was outside.”
“Outside your bedroom?”
Caitlyn nodded again.
“Did you hear her talking?”
“No.”
“Did you see the phone?”
“Under the door.”
Megan tried to stay calm.
“You saw it?”
“A light.”
“What light?”
“Her phone made the floor blue.”
Megan immediately called Laura.
Detectives later compared Caitlyn’s account with device records.
At 9:22 p.m., five minutes after the camera went dark, Evelyn’s phone activated.
At 9:23, she placed a call.
At 9:24, the call ended.
At approximately 9:26, Caitlyn was likely already pounding on the door as smoke reached the ceiling.
Megan asked Laura the question again.
“Who did she call?”
This time Laura answered.
“A man named Victor Hale.”
Megan frowned.
“I don’t know him.”
“We’re looking into him.”
“What does he do?”
Laura hesitated.
“He’s a private financial consultant.”
“For Evelyn?”
“Apparently.”
Megan felt the pieces shifting again.
“Why would my mother-in-law need a financial consultant in the middle of a fire?”
“We don’t know.”
But two hours later, Samuel Rhodes called with an answer that made the question even darker.
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Victor Hale had previously advised Evelyn about one very specific subject.
How much control a successor trustee would have over Caitlyn’s assets if Megan were no longer managing them.
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