Chapter 10 - The Camera in Elise’s RoomMartin Greer arrived at the estate at 8:42 p.m. with a document preservation specialist, a former police investigator, and the expression of a man who had been expecting trouble for years.
Noah noticed that last part immediately.
“You don’t look surprised,” he said.
Martin removed his gloves slowly. He was in his sixties, narrow-faced, silver-haired, and severe in the way old lawyers became when they had buried too many family secrets inside careful language.
“I am surprised by the camera,” Martin said. “Less surprised by the room.”
Noah stared at him. “Explain.”
Martin glanced toward Avery and Ivy.
Ivy was asleep now on the music room sofa, wrapped in Elise’s yellow sweater. Avery sat beside her, not touching, just near enough that the child’s hand rested against her sleeve.
Noah had refused to remove Ivy from the room once she settled. Avery had agreed, but insisted all adults keep their voices low and no one disturb the child for dramatic discoveries. Martin had nodded as if Avery were the only sensible person in the estate.
Now he looked back at Noah.
“Elise called me four days before the accident,” Martin said.
Noah went very still.
Avery looked down at Ivy, whose eyelashes fluttered but did not open.
“She called you?” Noah asked.
“Yes.”
“And you never told me?”
Martin’s face tightened. “She asked me not to unless she failed to follow up.”
Noah’s voice became dangerous. “She died.”
“And at the time, I had no evidence her concerns were connected to her death.”
“What concerns?”
Martin looked toward the locked cabinets. “Foundation control. Restricted funds. Pressure to redirect money from the child grief initiative into a donor visibility campaign.”
“Celeste.”
“She did not name Celeste as the only person involved.”
Noah turned to the door.
“Vale.”
Martin said nothing.
The investigator, a woman named Renee Cross, examined the hidden camera without touching it. “This is battery-powered. Local storage or remote transmitter. We’ll need a sweep of the room and adjoining corridor.”
Noah’s face hardened. “Do it.”
Renee looked at him. “Once we touch this, whoever placed it may know.”
“Then they know.”
Avery spoke quietly. “Would it be better if they didn’t?”
Everyone turned.
She kept her voice low for Ivy. “If Celeste or Mrs. Vale placed it, they may think no one has found it yet. That gives you time to see what else they do.”
Renee studied her with approval. “She’s right.”
Noah looked like he hated that too.
Martin nodded. “We photograph it, document it, leave it in place for the moment, and control what is said in this room.”
Noah looked at Avery.
“Is Ivy safe here?”
Avery answered honestly. “With us in the room, yes. Alone, no.”
The truth wounded him. She saw it. But he did not argue.
Martin opened his case and began photographing Elise’s letter. Renee scanned the walls. The preservation specialist took images of the locked cabinets, hinges, dust patterns, and keyholes.
It felt less like a home now and more like a crime scene.
Avery hated that Ivy had fallen asleep inside one.
But perhaps she had been living inside one long before anyone admitted it.
At 9:17 p.m., Celeste knocked and entered without waiting.
She had changed into a silk blouse and tailored trousers, her hair brushed smooth, her face composed into concern.
The performance was flawless until she saw Martin.
Then her eyes shifted.
Only once.
But Avery saw it.
Martin did too.
“Martin,” Celeste said warmly. “Noah didn’t mention you were coming.”
“Noah rarely summons me for social calls,” Martin replied.
Celeste smiled. “This seems rather dramatic for an old room.”
Renee turned away from the curtain just enough to hide what she had been examining.
Celeste’s gaze swept the room. Cabinets still locked. Ivy asleep. Avery seated near her. Noah standing like a wall.
“What is she still doing here?” Celeste asked, looking at Avery.
Noah answered, “Her job.”
“Her trial employment ended this afternoon.”
“No,” Noah said. “It didn’t.”
“I told Mrs. Vale to process her termination.”
Noah’s head turned slowly.
There it was.
Avery’s stomach dipped.
Celeste seemed to realize too late what she had admitted.
Noah’s voice went quiet. “You fired my employee without speaking to me?”
“I made a household decision.”
“You no longer make household decisions involving Ivy.”
Celeste laughed softly. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
The words landed like a door locking.
For the first time, Celeste’s eyes moved to Ivy.
The child stirred.
Avery leaned closer, blocking Celeste from Ivy’s direct line of sight.
Celeste saw the movement and smiled.
“So that’s how it is. The nanny guards the child from her own stepmother.”
Avery said nothing.
Celeste looked at Martin. “Are you witnessing this?”
“I am witnessing a father make decisions about his minor child,” Martin said.
Celeste’s smile faltered.
Renee’s phone vibrated. She checked the screen, then looked at Noah.
“We found two more devices,” she said.
The room froze.
“Where?” Noah asked.
Renee’s eyes flicked to Celeste.
“One in the nursery. One in the upstairs sitting room.”
Avery felt anger rise so fast she had to breathe through it.
The nursery.
Ivy’s nursery.
Noah’s face changed into something Avery had not seen before. Not grief. Not confusion.
Fury with direction.
Celeste whispered, “Security devices are common in large homes.”
Renee said, “Not these.”
Martin closed his folder.
Celeste lifted her chin. “This is ridiculous.”
Noah stepped toward her.
“Who put a hidden camera in my daughter’s bedroom?”
Celeste looked wounded. “I don’t know.”
From the sofa, Ivy opened her eyes.
No one moved.
The child stared at Celeste.
May you like
Then she whispered one word.
“Vale.”
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