Chapter 7 - The Missing Thirty-Seven SecondsJenna Cole agreed to meet Grace and Elena Park on Monday afternoon.
She chose a quiet café thirty minutes from Hawthorne House.
When she arrived, she carried a black camera bag and looked as though she hadn't slept properly since the party.
"I almost deleted everything," she admitted.
Grace stared at her.
"Why?"
"Peter Sloane called me three times Saturday morning. He said the footage was private family property and that releasing it would violate my contract."
Elena leaned forward.
"Did your contract give the family ownership of the raw recordings?"
"No. I checked."
Jenna took out her laptop.
"He offered to pay me an additional five thousand dollars to surrender the files."
Grace felt her stomach turn.
"Did you accept?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Jenna looked directly at her.
"Because I saw your brother's face."
She opened a video file.
The ballroom appeared on the screen.
The chandelier glittered.
Christmas music played.
Guests laughed beneath golden decorations.
Then the camera shifted toward the tree.
Oliver stood beside the silver serving tray.
Vivian approached him.
The recording captured her voice.
"What did you just say?"
Oliver's answer was quiet, but audible.
"Daddy said we couldn't sell the meadow."
Vivian bent toward him.
"Who told you that?"
"I saw the papers."
Her smile vanished.
"Listen carefully, Oliver."
She moved closer.
"You will not repeat that sentence."
Oliver took a step backward.
"Why?"
Vivian seized a large piece of cake from a serving plate.
The movement was sudden.
Violent.
And unmistakable.
"You little brat!"
The cake struck Oliver's head.
Grace made a strangled sound.
She had witnessed the aftermath.
Seeing the impact again was different.
Oliver hadn't even lifted his hands to defend himself.
He had been looking up at Vivian, expecting an answer.
Jenna paused the video.
"Do you want me to stop?"
Grace shook her head.
"Keep going."
The recording showed Vivian screaming.
It showed Grace running into the ballroom.
The slap landed with an ugly, unmistakable sound.
Grace watched herself stagger.
Then the trolley rolled forward.
Vivian fell.
The Christmas tree shook.
Jenna let the recording continue.
Grace embraced Oliver.
But the camera didn't stop there.
Behind them, Peter hurried toward the fallen silver tray.
He bent beside it.
For an instant, the edge of a blue document sleeve appeared beneath the tray's raised rim.
Peter pulled it free.
He folded it against his chest and slipped it inside his jacket.
Elena immediately leaned forward.
"Pause."
Jenna stopped the recording.
Grace stared.
"That's it."
"What?" Jenna asked.
"The blue folder."
Elena examined the frame.
"Can you enlarge this without altering the original file?"
Jenna opened a separate viewing copy.
The picture became grainier but remained readable enough to show a silver star sticker near one corner.
Grace covered her mouth.
Oliver had described that exact sticker.
"Peter took it," she whispered.
Elena didn't look away from the screen.
"We can establish that he removed a blue sleeve or folder. We still need to establish its contents."
Jenna nodded.
"I can preserve the original files and provide a copy to investigators."
"Please do," Elena said.
Grace wiped her eyes.
"Why did you record so long?"
Jenna gave a sad smile.
"I was hired to photograph the Christmas celebration. I kept the camera running when people started shouting because I didn't know whether someone needed help."
Grace remembered the cruel online comments.
Everyone had been arguing about the trolley.
Almost nobody had seen why it moved.
"Can I post the whole thing?" she asked.
Elena shook her head.
"Not yet. Oliver is a child. His privacy matters, and this is evidence in several investigations. Let's discuss what investigators need and how to protect him."
Grace wanted the world to see.
She wanted everyone who had called her violent to watch Vivian attack a defenseless boy.
But she imagined strangers replaying Oliver's humiliation thousands of times.
He hadn't agreed to that.
She slowly nodded.
"Okay."
Jenna closed her laptop.
"There's one more thing."
She removed a small business card from her bag.
"Peter gave this to me before the party started. He said any footage of Vivian speaking with her brother should be excluded from the final video."
Elena took the card.
On the back, someone had written:
No Raymond footage. Client request.
Grace stared at the words.
Raymond Vale had attended the party.
He had stood beside the Christmas tree while everyone admired the decorations.
Grace remembered him smiling at Vivian.
She had never questioned why he seemed so interested in the family's estate.
Now she did.
Outside the café, Grace's phone vibrated.
A message from Helen appeared.
Vivian's attorney has filed an emergency request to restore her access to the children.
Grace looked up at Elena.
"She's trying to get Oliver back."
Elena's expression hardened.
"Then we make sure the court sees the evidence."
Grace glanced once more at the frozen image of Peter concealing the blue folder.
The video answered one crucial question.
Oliver hadn't imagined the papers.
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But another question had become impossible to ignore.
Why would the trustee of their father's estate remove evidence from the scene of a child's assault?
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