Chapter 1 - THE WOMAN WHO CAUGHT MY DAUGHTER
Richard Ashford heard his daughter cry before he saw her.
He had entered through the double doors of the mansion with two police officers behind him, expecting to confront Vanessa about the message his housekeeper sent forty minutes earlier. The message had been brief enough to frighten him more than a lengthy explanation would have.
Come home with someone who can make her leave. Please do not warn her. I am afraid for Lily.
Richard had called Anna immediately. She did not answer. He called the house twice, then contacted the police officer who had taken a preliminary report from Anna the previous evening. By the time he reached the mansion, his anger had sharpened into the conviction that something dangerous was happening inside a house he believed he controlled.
He was not prepared for what he saw.
Anna stood in the center of the living room, holding fifteen-month-old Lily so tightly that the child’s pink dress had twisted around one leg. Lily was sobbing, her little hands pressed against Anna’s neck. Vanessa stood beside the cream-colored sofa in a wine-red evening gown, watching them with an irritated expression.
“What the hell is going on here?” Richard demanded.
Anna turned toward him so quickly that Lily cried harder. “Sir, she dropped your daughter. She held her up and let go. I caught her before she hit the marble.”
Richard crossed the room and took Lily into his arms. The baby recognized him, buried her face against his collar and continued crying. He checked her head and limbs without setting her down. Vanessa approached with both hands raised, her expression changing from annoyance to wounded disbelief.
“Richard, don’t listen to her. I was playing with Lily.”
Anna stared at her. “You released both hands.”
“I knew you were standing there.”
“You didn’t even look at me.”
Vanessa turned back toward Richard. “She’s exaggerating because I told her we no longer need a live-in maid.”
Richard stepped away when Vanessa reached toward Lily.
“You.”
The word came out almost soundless.
Vanessa dropped to her knees. Tears appeared immediately. “It was a joke. I swear.”
One of the officers, Sergeant Daniel Brooks, asked Anna to describe exactly what happened. She explained that Vanessa lifted Lily above shoulder height, laughed about making her fly and abruptly opened both hands. Anna had been standing close enough to catch the child, but only because she moved before Vanessa released her.
The second officer photographed the floor and checked Lily’s condition while Brooks asked whether there were cameras in the room.
Richard answered automatically. “The security system covers the entrances.”
Anna shook her head.
“There’s another camera.”
Everyone looked at her.
Vanessa stopped crying.
Anna pointed toward a decorative bookshelf near the sofa.
“Mrs. Ashford installed it before she died.”
Richard felt something inside him tighten.
His wife, Claire, had died eleven months earlier after a severe medical complication. Lily had been four months old. Since then Richard had avoided touching Claire’s belongings unless absolutely necessary, including the small wireless camera she used when Lily first came home from the hospital.
“I thought it was disconnected,” he said.
“I connected it again.”
Vanessa rose from her knees. “You recorded me without permission?”
Anna did not answer.
Brooks asked why she reconnected it.
Anna looked at Lily.
“Because this wasn’t the first time.”
Richard turned toward her.
“What do you mean?”
Anna’s face changed. She had clearly been preparing for this question, but now that it had arrived, she looked frightened of the answer.
“Three days ago, Lily fell from the changing table. Vanessa said she rolled.”
“She did,” Vanessa snapped.
“Two weeks ago, her medication was missing from the nursery.”
Richard stared at Anna.
“Medication?”
“Her reflux medicine.”
Vanessa folded her arms. “This is ridiculous.”
Anna continued.
“And yesterday I found papers saying Lily needed residential care because you were incapable of looking after her.”
Richard felt the room narrow.
He had never discussed residential care for his fifteen-month-old daughter.
Sergeant Brooks looked toward Vanessa.
“Ma’am, please remain here while we clarify what happened.”
Vanessa reached for her purse.
The second officer moved between her and the doors.
Richard held Lily closer.
“Where are those papers?”
Anna looked toward the staircase.
“In Claire’s old study.”
May you like
Then she said the sentence that changed the entire investigation.
“Vanessa signed them using your dead wife’s name.”
