Chapter 6
The children’s school counselor had also heard from Melisande.
She called twice.
The first conversation concerned Bastian.
Was he becoming oppositional?
Did he have difficulty respecting adults?
Had the school noticed emotional volatility?
The counselor said Bastian had occasional frustration but nothing outside normal expectations for a ten-year-old who had lost a parent.
The second call concerned Ophelia.
Melisande asked whether Ophelia’s attachment to Leander seemed excessive.
The counselor replied that an eight-year-old loving her father was not a diagnosis.
Leander almost smiled when he read that.
Then the counselor mentioned something stranger.
“Melisande asked whether the school could document safety concerns.”
“What safety concerns?”
“She said both children had begun behaving recklessly around heights.”
Leander looked toward Grant.
Again.
Stairs.
Heights.
Physical safety.
Weeks before the shove.
Grant requested the household security archive.
The staircase had cameras covering the foyer and upper landing.
Reviewing two months of footage took time.
The pattern appeared slowly.
Melisande frequently spoke with Bastian or Ophelia near the staircase.
Most interactions looked ordinary.
But several ended with a child upset.
On one day, Bastian moved backward when Melisande stepped toward him.
He reached for the railing.
She later described that in her notebook as reckless horseplay.
Another day Ophelia cried and ran downstairs after Melisande took something from her hand.
Notebook:
Ophelia again ignored stair-safety instructions while emotionally escalated.
Cause removed.
Reaction preserved.
Then came gaps.
Three brief periods when the upper camera entered privacy mode.
All happened while Leander was away.
All occurred on days containing major safety entries in Melisande’s notebook.
One gap matched Bastian’s account of being bumped.
Another occurred the day a household employee heard Ophelia screaming upstairs.
The employee was told the child had thrown a tantrum.
The third was the current staircase incident.
The camera went dark eleven minutes before Melisande shoved Ophelia.
Leander looked at Grant.
“She knew where the cameras were.”
“She had access to the household privacy controls.”
“Why did she have that?”
“Because you gave it to her.”
Leander said nothing.
Yet another authority he had handed over because marriage was approaching and trust seemed easier than verification.
Grant continued.
“If she wanted to document unsafe children, cameras should have helped her.”
May you like
“Unless the cameras showed why they were upset.”
Exactly.
