Chapter 7 - The Nursery Camera.
Emergency lights glowed along the staircase as Adrian ran toward Noah’s room.
Daniel was only a few steps behind him.
Emma reached the landing first from the opposite hall because she knew the servants’ stairs better than either man.
Noah stood in the center of his room clutching his stethoscope.
He was frightened but unharmed.
Adrian crossed the floor and pulled him close.
“What happened?”
“The window moved.”
Adrian looked toward it.
The window was still locked.
Emma checked the closet and bathroom while Daniel examined the hallway.
Then Noah pointed at the small camera mounted above his bookshelf.
“The red light went away.”
Daniel stood on a chair and checked it.
“The camera lost power before the rest of the room.”
Adrian stared at the device.
“Can someone disable only this camera?”
“If they have access to the local system.”
The power returned thirty seconds later.
Almost immediately, Daniel’s phone rang.
He listened, said very little, and then ended the call.
“The security company says the outage did not come from the street.”
“Inside the house?” Adrian asked.
“Inside the house.”
Eleanor appeared at the doorway carrying a flashlight.
Her breathing was faster than usual.
“The old electrical room is open.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You said it required two keys.”
“It does.”
“Who has them?”
“Adrian has one.”
All eyes went to him.
He removed his key ring.
His electrical-room key was still there.
Eleanor reached for the chain at her waist.
Her key was missing.
Again.
Adrian’s patience snapped.
“You have lost two restricted keys in one night.”
“I did not lose them.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone took them.”
Daniel’s expression remained unreadable.
“From you?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“From my office.”
“Your office is locked.”
“So I believed.”
Emma stepped toward the hallway.
“There is another way into it.”
Eleanor turned.
“No, there is not.”
“Yes, there is.”
Emma explained that old service passages connected the pantry, laundry corridor, and several private rooms.
She had discovered one while cleaning but had assumed it ended behind a sealed panel.
Eleanor looked genuinely shocked.
“That passage was closed before you were born.”
“Apparently not completely.”
Daniel asked Emma to show them.
They left Noah with Adrian for a moment while two guards secured the floor.
Ten minutes later, Daniel returned carrying a small black memory card.
“We found this behind the panel outside Eleanor’s office.”
Eleanor stared at it.
“What is it?”
“The nursery camera stores a local backup before sending video to the central system.”
Adrian felt a chill.
“You think someone copied footage?”
“I think someone removed footage.”
Daniel inserted the card into his laptop.
Most of the files were ordinary clips of Noah reading, playing, and sleeping.
Then they reached a recording from two nights earlier.
At 1:17 a.m., Noah’s door opened.
A man in a gray coat stepped inside.
His face remained outside the camera angle.
Brown shoes crossed the carpet.
The man placed something beside the toy chest.
The brass tag marked 317.
Then he paused as if listening to someone in the hallway.
A woman’s voice came faintly through the recording.
“Make sure Adrian finds it.”
Eleanor’s face went rigid.
Emma stared at the laptop.
Adrian replayed the voice twice.
It sounded familiar.
But it was not Eleanor’s.
May you like
It belonged to someone Adrian had trusted even longer.
His older sister, Caroline Mercer.
