The Camera That Went Dark
Chapter 02 - The Camera That Went Dark
Paramedics rushed Rachel to the hospital while William followed in a police car. Doctors found signs of premature labor, but both Rachel and the baby were alive.
Detective Elena Brooks arrived before Rachel was taken into surgery. Rachel repeated what she had told William.
“Julia pushed me.”
But Julia Kane was already telling reporters that Rachel had panicked before testifying and slipped while trying to run from the courthouse.
The story spread quickly.
Worse, courthouse security announced that the camera overlooking the steps had malfunctioned at the exact moment Rachel fell. The recorded file existed, but the crucial twelve seconds were missing.
William did not believe in coincidences.
As a former judge, he knew how evidence disappeared. He also knew that Julia had access to the courthouse because she had once served as an assistant prosecutor.
William searched his memory of the scene. Reporters had been filming. Tourists had phones. The front doors reflected the steps like dark mirrors.
Somewhere, another angle had to exist.
Rachel woke after emergency treatment. The contractions had stopped, but doctors ordered her to remain in the hospital.
William sat beside her.
“The main camera was erased,” he said.
Rachel closed her eyes. “Then Vale wins.”
“No,” William replied. “He wins only if we stop looking.”
Detective Brooks discovered that Julia had entered a restricted security office minutes after the fall. She claimed she was looking for help. The guard on duty supported her story.
Then a hospital nurse delivered an envelope with no return address.
Inside was a printed photograph taken from the courthouse lobby. In the reflection of the glass doors, Julia’s arm was clearly extended toward Rachel’s back.
On the photograph, someone had written:
THE ORIGINAL VIDEO STILL EXISTS.
Rachel stared at the words.
“Who sent this?”
William recognized the handwriting.
It belonged to Daniel Kane, Julia’s younger brother—a courthouse technician who had disappeared six months earlier after reporting suspicious activity in the security system.
Everyone believed Daniel had left the country.
William now suspected he had been hiding.
Before they could contact police, Rachel’s hospital monitor alarmed. A nurse rushed in and found that someone had altered the medication line.
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Julia was not only trying to destroy evidence.
She was trying to make sure Rachel never reached the witness stand.
