Chapter 4: Digital Evidence
Inside the dim study, the soft glow of the smartphone screen remained David’s only companion. Lily had curled up beneath the wool blanket, her breathing finally growing deep and even as sleep overtook her exhausted mind. David sat beside her on the floor, his back pressed against the mahogany bookshelf, scrolling through the exported security logs. The camera mounted in the upper corner of the upstairs hallway captured angles of the house that Sarah assumed were blind spots. David pressed play on a file dated three days prior.
The grainy video showed the upstairs corridor in the late afternoon light. Sarah walked past, carrying a stack of laundry. Lily stepped out of her bedroom to show her a drawing. In a flash of motion so fast it made David’s breath catch, Sarah dropped the basket, grabbed the little girl by the arm with brutal force, and shoved her backward against the hallway wall. The impact was sickening. Lily crumpled to the floor, stifling a cry as Sarah towered over her, hissing something inaudible before walking away.
David pressed pause, his thumb trembling against the glass screen. He had watched it three times already, yet the shock refused to dull into numbness. Every viewing felt like a physical blow to his own chest. How could he have lived in this house, shared a bed with this woman, eaten meals across from her, and remained utterly blind to the monster living beneath her polished exterior? The blond hair, the burgundy dress, the charming smile she wore for dinner guests—it was all a carefully constructed facade masking a corrosive, violent instability.
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He backed out of the folder and opened his notes app, creating a new document titled *Timeline*. He began typing with one hand, documenting dates, times, and descriptions of every incident he had managed to recover. *October 14: Shoved against the wall. October 19: Struck with a hairbrush. November 2: Severe bruising observed on lower back.*
As he typed, the screen flickered, and an incoming call notification popped up. It was from a local pediatrician’s office—an after-hours emergency line he had messaged earlier in the evening with an anonymous medical inquiry. Without hesitation, David swiped to answer, rising quietly to his feet so as not to wake Lily. He slipped out into the hallway, closing the study door gently behind him, and pressed the phone to his ear, ready to hear professional confirmation of what his eyes already knew.
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