While I was speaking with the officer, another detective entered.
He looked at me.
“Mrs. Miller, does your home have security cameras?”
I nodded.
“Front door. Garage. Kitchen.”
“Interior camera in the hallway?”
I hesitated.
“No.”
Then I remembered.
“Yes.”
Daniel had installed a small camera near the nursery after Lily was born.
It was supposed to monitor the baby’s room.
But the camera also captured part of the hallway.
The detective immediately asked,
“Who has access?”
“Daniel.”
“Your mother-in-law?”
“I don’t know.”
The detective looked toward the officer.
“Can your husband access the recordings remotely?”
“Yes.”
“Then we need the footage.”
I pulled out my phone.
“I can access it too.”
My hands were shaking as I opened the security application.
The video loaded.
12:03 a.m.
There we were.
Me holding Lily.
Patricia entering the hallway.
The argument.
The slap.
Lily falling.
I stopped the video.
The detective looked at me.
“Don’t delete anything.”
“I won’t.”
He took a photograph of the screen.
Then he said,
“This changes the investigation.”
I looked at him.
“How?”
“Because we have evidence showing what happened.”
I closed my eyes.
For the first time since Lily fell, I felt like someone believed me.
Part 5 — Daniel Sees the Video
Daniel eventually entered the room.
He looked broken.
“Emily…”
I didn’t answer.
He sat beside me.
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
He covered his face.
“Thank God.”
I looked at him.
“Did you believe me?”
He stared at the floor.
“I didn’t know what to believe.”
I nodded.
“You heard your mother.”
“I heard you too.”
“But you hesitated.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
“I didn’t think she’d…”
He stopped.
“What?”
“That she’d actually hurt the baby.”
I stared at him.
“She didn’t intend to hurt Lily?”
“No.”
“You don’t know that.”
He looked at me.
Then the detective entered.
“Mr. Miller.”
Daniel stood.
“Yes?”
“We have security footage.”
Daniel went pale.
“Of what?”
“The incident.”
He looked at me.
Then at the detective.
“Can I see it?”
The detective hesitated.
“Yes.”
They watched the recording together.
Daniel’s face changed.
When Patricia’s hand struck me, he flinched.
When Lily fell, he covered his mouth.
The video ended.
Daniel stood completely still.
Then he whispered,
“My God.”
The detective looked at him.
“Mr. Miller, your mother told us something different.”
Daniel looked toward me.
“She lied.”
Part 6 — The Second Recording
The detective wasn’t finished.
“There is another issue.”
“What?”
“The camera records audio.”
I stared at him.
He played the recording again.
This time, the words were clear.
Patricia’s voice:
“Shut her up, or get out of the house.”
Then my voice.
“Please don’t touch me.”
Then the slap.
Then Lily’s cry.
Then silence.
Daniel began crying.
He turned away.
The detective stopped the recording.
“Mr. Miller, we need to speak with you privately.”
Daniel nodded.
Before he left, he looked at me.
“I am sorry.”
I said nothing.
He walked out.
A few minutes later, I heard raised voices in the hallway.
Patricia.
Then Daniel.
Then a police officer.
“Ma’am, you need to come with us.”
Patricia shouted,
“I didn’t do anything!”
The detective answered calmly.
“We have video evidence.”
Silence.
Then Patricia said something that made my blood run cold.
“I only slapped her because she was going to tell you the truth.”
The hallway went quiet.
The detective asked,
“What truth?”
Patricia didn’t answer.
Part 7 — The Secret
See more on the next page
