Chapter 3: What the Camera Saw
The Father walked toward the gate.
The Woman in Green moved with him, half a step behind, her hand still resting on his arm.
"Daniel." Her voice was low, almost gentle.
"The camera system went down after the storm last month.
You know that.
You said yourself you hadn't called the technician yet."
He slowed.
The Maid watched his shoulders.
They had been rigid a moment ago.
Now something in them softened — not fully, but enough.
"Sir." She took one step forward.
"I checked the camera this morning when I opened the back gate.
The light was red.
It was recording."
The Woman in Green turned to face her for the first time since Daniel had arrived on the patio.
Her expression was perfectly calm.
That was what frightened the Maid most — not anger, not panic.
Just stillness.
"You checked the camera," the woman repeated.
"Why would a maid be checking the security camera?"
"Because it's part of my morning routine.
Mr.
Daniel asked me to confirm all the exterior systems when I open up.
I have done it every day for two years."
Daniel looked at her.
Something shifted behind his eyes — not belief, not yet, but the first crack of doubt.
The baby had stopped crying.
He was pressed against his father's chest, one small fist gripping Daniel's collar, his face still red and wet.
The Maid looked at the child.
Her chest ached.
"Please," she said quietly.
"Just look at the footage."
Daniel turned back toward the house.
The Woman in Green stepped in front of him.
"Daniel, your son almost drowned.
You should be with him right now, not chasing a story this woman is making up to save her job."
"She's not making it up." The voice came from the far end of the patio.
Everyone turned.
Standing near the side door to the kitchen was Rosa, the cook — a small woman in her sixties who had worked in the house even longer than the Maid.
She had a dish towel in her hands.
She was not wringing it.
She was holding it still, the way a person holds something when they have made a decision.
"I was at the kitchen window," Rosa said.
"I saw the whole thing."
The Woman in Green's chin lifted.
"You were inside.
You couldn't have seen clearly."
"The window faces the pool.
I see that pool every day while I work." Rosa looked at Daniel.
"The stroller rolled on its own.
The wheel caught the edge.
Maya jumped in before it even hit the water."
Maya.
That was the Maid's name.
She had not heard anyone say it since this began.
Daniel looked between Rosa and the Woman in Green.
His jaw tightened.
"Diane." He said the name carefully, like he was testing its weight.
"How do you know the camera isn't working?"
The Woman in Green — Diane — opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"You told me," she said.
"After the storm.
You mentioned it."
"I mentioned I hadn't called the technician.
I didn't say it wasn't recording."
Silence settled over the patio like something physical.
Diane's hand dropped from his arm.
Daniel turned toward the house.
"I'm going to pull the footage."
"I'll come with you," Maya said.
He didn't tell her no.
Diane stood at the pool's edge and watched them go.
Her green dress caught the afternoon light.
May you like
Her face gave nothing away.
But her right hand, hanging at her side, had closed into a fist.
