Chapter 3 – The Security Footage No One Was Supposed to See
By sunset, the investigation had completely changed.
Rachel's arrest was suspended, and Detective Ross Carter obtained an emergency warrant for the Morgan estate.
Daniel's private study remained exactly as officers had sealed it the night before his funeral.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
Until Ross noticed something strange.
The security system had recorded every hallway in the mansion.
Except one.
Daniel's study camera had gone offline for precisely fourteen minutes the evening before his death.
The outage looked deliberate.
"Who has access?" Ross asked.
"The family," answered the security technician. "And one trusted employee."
Within an hour, technicians recovered corrupted data from the hard drive.
Most of the missing footage was destroyed.
But eight seconds survived.
The grainy video showed Daniel entering his study carrying the bottle of Cabernet Rachel had opened during dinner.
A second figure appeared moments later.
The face couldn't be seen.
Only a silver signet ring reflecting the desk lamp.
The figure calmly lifted Daniel's wine glass.
Using what looked like a cosmetic brush, the person carefully spread a gray powder along the rim.
Then the glass was returned to its exact position.
The stranger walked away before Daniel came back.
Ross replayed the clip five times.
The brush.
The ring.
The height.
Everything had been intentional.
Then Evelyn froze the final frame.
"Zoom in."
The image sharpened just enough.
Inside the signet ring was the Morgan family crest—a ring owned by only three living members of the family.
Rachel wasn't one of them.
Neither was any servant.
Only Daniel...
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His son Ethan...
And Daniel's younger brother, Victor Morgan.
