Chapter 2 - Twenty-Four MinutesMarcus removed the memory card from the hallway camera himself.
Brooks insisted.
Nobody left the security room.
Not Serena.
Not Edwin.
Not Vivian.
Not Eleanor.
Thomas remained outside the door.
The memory card went into a separate computer.
Marcus opened the file.
6:31 p.m.
Empty hallway.
6:36.
A maid passed carrying towels.
6:38.
Serena appeared.
She wasn't crying.
Her dress wasn't torn.
Her hair was perfect.
She walked directly toward the security room.
Brooks stopped breathing.
Serena whispered,
“I can explain.”
“No.”
He didn't look at her.
“Let it play.”
Video-Serena checked the hallway.
Then removed something from her clutch.
A folded paper.
She studied it.
Entered Edwin's code.
The security room door opened.
Vivian whispered,
“Oh my God.”
Serena covered her mouth.
“Brooks—”
“Don't.”
On screen, Serena entered.
Two minutes later, the hallway camera feed went black.
Local buffer resumed when she walked back out.
6:43.
She placed the paper inside her clutch.
Then walked toward the upstairs sitting room.
Brooks stared.
“You disabled the camera.”
Serena began crying again.
“I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“Edwin.”
Edwin's expression barely changed.
Brooks turned.
“Why would turning off a camera protect you from him?”
“I didn't want him recording me.”
The explanation was so weak even Serena heard it.
Vivian laughed once.
“You accused him of attacking you and your defense is that you disabled the only camera that could prove it?”
Serena snapped,
“Stay out of this.”
Vivian stepped forward.
“No.”
Brooks raised a hand.
“Enough.”
Marcus checked the upstairs room camera.
None.
The sitting room had no interior camera.
Only the hallway outside.
Which meant the footage could show who entered and left, but not what happened inside.
Brooks asked,
“When did Edwin enter the room?”
Marcus searched.
6:48.
Edwin walked past the camera.
Carrying a folder.
He entered the sitting room.
Seven minutes later, Serena entered.
Then the camera went dark?
No.
Timeline conflict.
Marcus frowned.
“Wait.”
The network log claimed disconnection at 6:42.
But local footage continued until 6:51.
“How?”
Edwin leaned closer.
“Someone changed the system clock.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Yes.”
Brooks stared.
“Why?”
“To make it appear the camera was shut off earlier.”
Marcus compared router records.
The true disconnect occurred at 6:58.
Three minutes after Serena entered the sitting room.
Eight minutes before her scream.
Vivian whispered,
“She went in knowing Edwin was there.”
Serena shook her head.
“I didn't.”
Edwin finally spoke.
“You asked Thomas where I was.”
Serena turned.
“What?”
“Sixteen minutes before you came upstairs.”
Thomas confirmed it from the doorway.
“She did.”
Serena's voice rose.
“I was looking for Brooks!”
Thomas frowned.
“You asked, ‘Where's Edwin?’”
Silence.
Brooks's face changed.
Serena suddenly looked very alone.
But she didn't collapse.
Instead, she straightened.
“You all want to believe him because he's been here forever.”
“No,” Brooks said.
“I want to believe my wife.”
Her eyes filled.
“Then believe me.”
“I did.”
He looked at the screen.
“For six minutes.”
That hit.
Serena whispered,
“He said something disgusting to me.”
“What?”
“He told me you were going to leave me.”
Edwin looked genuinely surprised.
Brooks asked,
“Did you?”
“No.”
Serena continued.
“He said I would end up with nothing.”
Edwin stared.
Then he understood.
Not the accusation.
The motive behind it.
He had said something close.
But not to Serena.
To Brooks.
Three days earlier.
In the library.
Brooks had asked Edwin whether his father, Arthur Caldwell, had ever altered the family trust before dying.
Edwin answered:
“Your father was worried someone might marry into this family for access to the company. He made sure a spouse could never control the voting shares directly.”
Serena must have heard.
Maybe from outside the door.
Edwin looked at Brooks.
“She knows about the trust.”
Serena went still.
Brooks frowned.
“What trust?”
Edwin's face changed.
He realized Brooks hadn't understood.
“The amended Caldwell family trust.”
Eleanor looked sharply at him.
“Edwin.”
He turned.
Something passed between them.
Old knowledge.
Brooks saw it.
“What amended trust?”
His mother sat down.
Serena stared at her.
Edwin answered carefully.
“Your father changed several provisions shortly before his death.”
Brooks felt his irritation shift into suspicion.
“Why wasn't I told?”
Eleanor said,
“You were grieving.”
“My father died six years ago.”
No answer.
Serena looked toward Eleanor.
Then Edwin.
Then Brooks.
Whatever she had tried to bury with a false accusation was connected to something much older.
Marcus interrupted.
“There is more footage.”
Everyone turned.
The hallway buffer had captured the minutes after Serena entered the sitting room.
At 6:57, before the network cut, a man approached the security room from the service stairs.
Baseball cap.
Dark jacket.
Face mostly hidden.
He used a key.
Not Edwin's code.
A physical key.
Entered.
Feed disconnected.
Brooks looked at Marcus.
“Who has keys?”
“Three people.”
“Who?”
“Me.”
Marcus swallowed.
“Edwin.”
“And?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Your mother.”
Every face turned toward Eleanor Caldwell.
She did not look surprised.
That was worse.
Brooks whispered,
“Mom?”
Eleanor stared at the frozen image.
Then said,
“That isn't me.”
“Then who has your key?”
Her eyes moved toward Serena.
Serena took another step backward.
May you like
Eleanor spoke very slowly.
“I gave it to her last month.”
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