Chapter 6 - Someone at the Window
—
Arthur stared at the photograph on his phone until the blood seemed to drain from his hands.
The image had been taken only seconds earlier.
He could see the back of his own head, Caroline beside the closet, Marcus near the bedroom door, and both children leaning toward the red wooden train.
The photographer had been outside Ethan's second-floor window.
That should have been impossible.
There was no balcony there.
Marcus crossed the room in three strides and pulled the curtain shut.
"Everybody away from the windows."
Caroline grabbed Maya and moved her behind the bed.
Ethan clutched the train against his chest.
Arthur read the message again.
PUT THE SILVER KEY BACK NOW.
"How could someone get that angle?" Caroline whispered.
Marcus pointed toward the large maple tree beside the house.
One heavy branch reached within eight feet of Ethan's window.
"Long lens from the tree line or a pole camera from the side yard."
Arthur felt violated in a way he had never experienced before.
His children were inside their own bedroom, and someone had still found a way to watch them.
Marcus called his security team and told two men to approach from opposite streets without sirens.
Then he opened a home-security app on Arthur's tablet.
The exterior cameras showed nothing unusual.
That was worse.
"Your side-yard camera should cover the tree," Marcus said.
"It does."
"Then why don't we have the photographer?"
Arthur looked at the screen.
The side camera was online.
Its image showed an empty lawn waving gently in the breeze.
Marcus frowned.
He tapped the timeline and dragged backward one minute.
The same branch bent in exactly the same position.
He dragged backward five minutes.
The leaves were identical.
"This isn't live."
Arthur stared at him.
"What?"
"It's looping old footage."
Marcus checked the other exterior feeds.
Three were live.
Two were showing repeated clips.
The two looped cameras covered the side yard and rear gate.
"Someone inside the system knows your setup," Marcus said.
Arthur's first thought was Victoria.
His second was worse.
Daniel's firm had recommended the company that installed the system.
A crash sounded downstairs.
Caroline jumped.
Marcus immediately moved to the hallway.
Arthur motioned for the children to stay in the room.
He followed Marcus down the stairs.
Victoria stood in the kitchen beside a broken glass.
Daniel was gone.
Officer Lane and Melissa Grant were speaking near the front door.
Victoria looked up at Arthur.
"What's wrong?"
Her innocence was too polished.
Arthur held up his phone.
"Someone just photographed my children through an upstairs window."
Officer Lane turned.
"What?"
Arthur showed him the image and message.
Lane's posture changed immediately.
"When did this arrive?"
"Less than two minutes ago."
The officer radioed for another unit.
Victoria stared at the photograph.
Arthur watched her eyes.
They went directly to the silver key visible near Ethan's hand.
She looked away too quickly.
"Do you recognize that key?" Arthur asked.
Victoria gave him an incredulous look.
"How would I?"
"Because you recognized the brass one."
"I did not."
"You tried to stop me from opening Elena's desk."
Melissa stepped between them verbally before the argument escalated.
"Mr. Hale, let the officer handle the outside threat."
Arthur forced himself to step back.
He understood what Daniel wanted now.
Any raised voice could be added to the story that Arthur was unstable.
Any angry gesture could become another photograph stripped of context.
He would not give them that.
Officer Lane called Arthur over.
"Do you have enemies?"
"Apparently more than I knew this morning."
"Business disputes?"
"Yes."
"Anyone who might know about this key?"
Arthur looked at Victoria.
"At least three people."
Victoria crossed her arms.
"Are you accusing me in front of the police now?"
Arthur kept his voice level.
"I'm answering his question."
A security vehicle arrived outside.
Marcus's men searched the side yard and found fresh compression marks in the grass near the maple tree.
They also found a narrow black plastic cap from a camera lens.
Marcus bagged it without touching it directly.
"Professional equipment," he said.
Officer Lane photographed it.
"Could be nothing."
"Could be Ronan Caine," Arthur replied.
Lane looked at him.
"Who's that?"
Arthur almost answered, but Rebecca's earlier warning returned.
He called her first and put her on speaker.
Rebecca advised him to provide the officer with the business card, the recorded storage-unit conversation, and the threatening text.
Marcus made copies.
Officer Lane listened to the recording of Daniel and Ronan outside A-17.
When Daniel's voice said, "The children cannot stay in that house tonight," Lane looked toward Victoria.
Victoria's face tightened.
"Daniel represents me," she said. "He was discussing a safety plan."
Then the recording reached the line about Elena being supposed to stop after the warning.
Lane paused it.
"What warning?"
Victoria shook her head.
"I don't know."
Arthur watched her fingers.
She was twisting her wedding ring around and around.
She always did that when she was afraid.
Officer Lane made a second call.
This one was not routine.
He requested a detective.
Victoria heard him.
"Is that really necessary?"
Lane looked at her.
"Somebody is photographing minors through a bedroom window and sending threats about evidence connected to an old estate dispute. Yes, it is."
Victoria's face hardened.
Arthur felt the balance in the house shift slightly.
The paper Daniel had brought still mattered, but the story was no longer only about Arthur's supposed temper.
There was now an outside threat that Victoria could not easily explain away.
Marcus pulled Arthur aside.
"Where is the silver key?"
Arthur touched his pocket.
"Here."
"No."
Arthur frowned.
"What?"
Marcus lowered his voice.
"You had it in your hand upstairs."
Arthur checked his pocket again.
The key was not there.
His heart lurched.
He ran back upstairs.
Ethan and Maya were still with Caroline.
The red train sat on the bed.
The silver key was gone.
"Ethan, did you move it?"
Ethan shook his head.
"You took it."
Arthur replayed the last minutes in his mind.
He had picked up the phone after receiving the photograph.
Marcus had closed the curtain.
Caroline moved Maya.
Then they had rushed downstairs after the crash.
Arthur had assumed he pocketed the key.
Maybe he had not.
Caroline checked the floor.
"Nobody came in here."
Ethan's eyes widened.
"Maya did."
Maya blinked.
"Did what?"
"You put something in your sock."
Maya looked down guiltily.
Arthur nearly laughed from relief.
"Sweetheart, did you hide the key?"
Maya nodded.
"The bad message said put it back."
"So you hid it?"
"So the bad person can't have it."
Arthur knelt and hugged her.
"That was very clever, but from now on you give anything like this to me or Aunt Caroline, okay?"
Maya pulled the silver key from her sock and handed it over.
Arthur placed it in a small evidence pouch Marcus had brought upstairs.
Then Ethan said, "Dad, I know who was at the window."
Everyone turned toward him.
"You saw someone?"
Ethan shook his head.
"Not today."
He walked to his desk and opened the bottom drawer.
Inside was a cheap pair of toy binoculars.
"Last week, I saw a man by the tree."
Arthur's pulse quickened.
"What man?"
"Gray coat."
Marcus looked at Arthur.
Ronan Caine had been wearing a gray coat at the storage unit.
"Did you see his face?" Marcus asked.
"A little."
Marcus pulled up Ronan's business card and searched a licensed database on his phone.
A photograph appeared.
Ethan stared at it.
His face went pale.
"That's him."
Arthur felt fury rise again.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Ethan's eyes filled.
"Victoria said he fixes the cameras."
Silence.
Arthur looked toward the stairs.
"She knew he was here."
Caroline whispered, "Arthur."
He held up a hand.
He would not explode.
Not now.
Marcus asked Ethan one more question.
"Did you ever see the man come inside?"
Ethan nodded slowly.
"Twice."
"When?"
"When Dad was at work."
Arthur's stomach turned.
"Where did he go?"
Ethan pointed down through the floor.
"The basement."
Arthur stared at him.
Their basement contained only utilities, wine storage, and an old locked archive room that had belonged to Elena.
Arthur had not opened the archive in years because the key had been missing since her death.
Then Maya said something that made every adult in the room go still.
May you like
"The gray man has another shiny key."
