Chapter 3 - THE PHONE UNDER THE FLOOR
Emily’s injuries were serious.
But she was going to recover.
The emergency physician delivered those words shortly after midnight.
Daniel nearly collapsed from relief.
There was no major head injury.
Her ankle was badly sprained but not broken.
She was dehydrated.
Cold.
Exhausted.
And several of the bruises were older than the injuries from that night.
That last sentence changed everything.
A child protection investigator arrived before one in the morning.
So did Detective Laura Bennett.
She was forty-six, calm, direct, and completely unimpressed by the Blackwood name.
Daniel liked her immediately.
“Your wife is downstairs,” Bennett said.
Daniel looked toward Emily’s room.
“She can stay there.”
“Your daughter has asked that her mother not be allowed in.”
Daniel nodded.
“Then respect that.”
“I intend to.”
Bennett studied him.
“Mr. Mercer, I need you to understand something.”
“What?”
“From this moment forward, don’t investigate this yourself.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“My daughter was found unconscious behind that house.”
“I know.”
“Her aunt ran.”
“I know.”
“Her grandfather helped her.”
“We believe he did.”
“And you want me to sit here?”
“I want you to avoid giving their attorneys a reason to claim evidence was contaminated.”
That stopped him.
Bennett continued.
“If there’s evidence in that mansion, let us find it.”
Daniel remembered Emily’s words.
My backpack.
The phone.
He told Bennett.
Within minutes, officers were dispatched back to Blackwood Manor.
At 2:17 a.m., they found Emily’s backpack beneath her bed.
The phone wasn’t inside.
At 2:46, Bennett returned.
“No phone.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Emily said it was there.”
“Someone may have removed it.”
“Rebecca?”
“Maybe.”
“Richard?”
“Maybe.”
Daniel looked through the glass toward his sleeping daughter.
Then Emily opened her eyes.
“Daddy?”
He entered.
“They couldn’t find the phone.”
Emily frowned.
“It wasn’t in my backpack.”
Daniel sat beside her.
“You said—”
“I said you need my backpack.”
She looked toward the door.
Then lowered her voice.
“The phone is under the floor.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What floor?”
“My closet.”
Emily explained.
There was a loose board beneath the rug in her closet.
She had discovered it months earlier while hiding birthday cards.
Three weeks ago, she had placed an old smartphone there.
“Where did you get it?”
“Grandma Margaret.”
Daniel frowned.
“She gave you a phone?”
Emily shook her head.
“She gave me her old one because I wanted to play games.”
Margaret had apparently forgotten the device still worked on Wi-Fi.
Emily hadn’t.
And one night, when Rebecca had entered her bedroom and started yelling, Emily had pressed record.
Daniel felt physically sick.
“How many times did you record her?”
Emily looked down.
“A lot.”
Bennett immediately called the officers.
Twenty minutes later, the phone was recovered.
It was sealed as evidence.
By sunrise, Detective Bennett had listened to the first recording.
She returned to Daniel with a different expression.
“What did you hear?”
Bennett pulled out a chair.
“Rebecca threatening Emily.”
Daniel’s hands curled into fists.
“What else?”
“Your wife.”
Daniel froze.
“Vanessa?”
Bennett nodded.
“Not hurting Emily.”
Daniel exhaled.
“But arguing with Rebecca.”
“What were they saying?”
Bennett opened her notebook.
“Vanessa told Rebecca she had to stop.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Stop what?”
“That’s the problem.”
Bennett looked toward Emily’s room.
“Rebecca answered, ‘You already helped me hide it once.’”
Daniel felt the room tilt.
“What did Vanessa hide?”
“We don’t know.”
Bennett closed the notebook.
“But there’s another voice on the recording.”
Daniel already knew.
“Richard.”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Bennett hesitated.
May you like
Then she answered.
“He told both women that if Emily ever talked, the entire family would lose everything.”
