Chapter 4 - The Camera Archive
Security supervisor Marcus Bell—no relation to the household staff—had worked for the Ashfords for seven years.
He was careful.
Former state police.
The kind of man who would document the time before telling you the clock was on fire.
He pulled footage from the foyer.
The camera showed everything.
I was cleaning.
Rose approached.
She slapped me.
I stood.
Rose advanced.
My kick.
Rose fell.
Then Rose approached again.
Hand rising.
Michael entered.
The sequence mattered.
Police were later given the original recording.
My kick was not automatically transformed into innocence because Rose struck first.
Force after an assault depends on context.
Was I reasonably defending myself from another immediate attack?
That became the question.
The footage helped.
So did witnesses.
But that evening, there was another issue.
Marcus said:
“Sir, there are gaps in other interior feeds.”
Michael looked at him.
“What kind of gaps?”
“Manual privacy suppression.”
“By whom?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Administrative household profile.”
Rose answered quickly.
“That’s mine. I disable cameras when guests request privacy.”
Marcus said:
“Some gaps occurred without guests.”
Michael turned to him.
“How far back?”
“Months.”
Rose’s face barely moved.
Mine did.
Because I suddenly remembered Grace.
And Maria before her.
May you like
And Jordan.
All three had been accused of something that supposedly happened during a camera gap.
