Chapter 7 - What the Cameras Saw
Rosa met Detective Ortiz in a municipal office far from the Vance estate.
Maya chose to attend with her attorney, and I waited down the hall.
The interview lasted nearly three hours.
Rosa had saved copies of work schedules and building-maintenance requests after she realized that Maya's name appeared as absent on days she knew Maya was inside.
She described a keypad lock installed on the guest-house exterior door, supposedly for security.
On two evenings she heard Maya crying and was told not to interfere.
"Why didn't you call the police?" the interviewer asked.
Rosa answered with painful honesty.
"I was afraid of losing everything."
Maya reached across the table and touched her hand.
"You helped me when nobody else did."
The records did not prove every allegation by themselves.
But they gave Ortiz dates to compare with security data and medical history.
A judge later authorized a targeted search of relevant property and electronic records after investigators presented additional evidence.
I remained outside the process.
I was Maya's mother, not the person directing the search.
During the search, investigators found a cabinet of retired mobile devices and a ledger of access-card assignments.
The brass key matched a small mechanical drawer within that cabinet.
The drawer contained an older phone registered in Maya's name.
The screen was cracked, but the device could be examined.
I thought Maya would celebrate.
Instead she asked whether the phone still contained the messages Julian had made her send.
"Which messages?" Rachel asked gently.
Maya stared at the floor.
"The ones saying I was afraid of myself."
Rosa said she had seen Julian dictate some of those messages.
Then she added something nobody expected.
May you like
"And I saw Evelyn reading them afterward."
