Chapter 9 - The Man Who Brought Bread
Walter met Ruiz the next morning with his phone and a folded employment agreement.
Elena waited outside the interview room with a cup of untouched coffee.
When he emerged, the old cook looked smaller than he had when he went in.
“I told myself her father would handle it,” he said.
“Did you tell him?”
“I emailed the household account.”
They both knew who read it.
Walter rubbed his forehead.
“I should have done more.”
Elena wasn't going to absolve him.
She wasn't going to chase him away either.
“Do more now.”
His messages showed Vanessa ordering him to stop giving Lucy food outside approved meals.
Then the approved meals began disappearing.
After he refused to take away a sandwich, she terminated him for insubordination.
He had also photographed a written kitchen schedule because he wanted proof he hadn't misunderstood it.
Beside Lucy's name, Vanessa had written: Dinner withheld. Defiance.
The detective obtained the original records and continued interviewing staff.
The story was no longer balanced on Elena's eleven seconds.
At the hospital, Daniel met Walter in the hallway.
For a moment, neither man spoke.
“I hired you to feed my family,” Daniel said.
“I tried.”
“I know.”
Walter's jaw tightened.
“You don't know all of it yet.”
He explained that the pantry lock had been installed after Lucy took crackers to her room.
Vanessa had called it stealing.
Daniel remembered hearing about stolen food and telling Vanessa to set reasonable boundaries.
He had turned a warning into permission because he hadn't asked one more question.
That afternoon, investigators documented the pantry and collected the relevant household records through the proper process.
The bracelet remained a separate allegation, unresolved.
Elena's agency still wouldn't reinstate her.
Then Ruiz called Daniel about the home's cameras.
“The kitchen isn't covered,” he said.
“But the upstairs landing is.”
“Who manages the recordings?”
“Vanessa used the tablet. The account is mine.”
“We need the service records, not just what's visible on the tablet.”
Daniel gave her the provider's information.
When he checked the app, the morning of the incident was blank.
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For the first time that day, he felt afraid again.
Someone had deleted the recordings.
