Chapter 10 - THE FOOTAGE
Police reopened Robert's interview.
Not the death case as a homicide.
The interview.
Important distinction.
Robert voluntarily corrected his statement through counsel.
That did not erase the original lie.
Detective Aaron Mills told Claire:
“Lying about seeing someone shortly before an accidental death is something we investigate.”
“Do you think Robert killed him?”
“I don't form that conclusion because a widow asks me to.”
Claire almost laughed.
Good answer.
Northfield had four exterior cameras.
Three worked.
One faced the west loading stair where Ethan fell.
The video had been partially obscured by a demolition tarp.
Police originally saw:
Ethan entering.
Later, emergency vehicles.
No clear fall.
Now, because Robert's presence mattered, they reviewed earlier footage more carefully.
At 1:58 p.m.:
Robert's truck arrived.
2:03:
Robert entered.
2:42:
Robert emerged.
Alone.
2:44:
Truck left.
2:47:
Ethan came outside.
Went back inside.
2:55:
A demolition subcontractor's van passed the north gate without stopping.
3:01:
Ethan appeared on the west platform carrying a blue folder and his phone.
3:02:
The stair structure shifted.
Ethan disappeared below frame.
Claire watched only once.
Detective Mills did not show the impact.
Good.
Then:
3:06:
A landscaping worker from the adjacent parcel saw the collapsed stair and called 911.
Robert was gone.
That reduced one suspicion.
Did not answer why the stair failed.
An engineer inspected.
Two upper bracket bolts had been removed.
Claire felt cold.
“Sabotage?”
The engineer shook his head.
“Not enough information.”
The stair was scheduled for partial disassembly the following week as part of developer testing.
A subcontractor had begun loosening components.
No lockout tag was placed.
No barricade.
No warning.
Another safety failure at Northfield.
Different generation.
Different mechanism.
The demolition subcontractor initially denied touching the stairs.
Then an employee admitted he had loosened two bolts the previous afternoon while measuring replacement brackets.
He thought the stair remained supported by welded clips.
It did not.
No one intended Ethan to use it.
Ethan used it anyway.
The state workplace safety division opened a contractor investigation.
The developer suspended the subcontractor.
No conspiracy.
No father pushing his son.
Just another sequence of shortcuts around steel and paperwork.
Claire hated how ordinary that was.
Then Detective Mills showed her something else.
At 2:18, during Robert and Ethan's meeting, the interior office camera had captured no audio.
Only movement through glass.
Robert standing.
Ethan pointing toward the blue locker.
Robert leaving the office.
Returning.
Then something important:
Margaret entered Northfield at 2:27.
Claire stared.
“What?”
The exterior camera showed Margaret's car arriving through the south entrance.
She entered through a side office.
She left at 2:36.
Nine minutes.
Robert had never mentioned she was there.
Neither had Margaret.
Claire called no one.
She drove to Margaret's house.
Margaret opened the door.
Claire held up a still image.
Margaret went pale.
“What were you doing at Northfield?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“I went to get the blue file.”
Claire stared.
“Why?”
“Because Ethan told Robert he was giving it to Sofia.”
“And?”
Margaret's voice shook.
“I panicked.”
“Did you take it?”
“No.”
“Did you delete the recording?”
Margaret looked at Claire.
May you like
And said nothing.
That was enough.
