Chapter 10: The Camera Test
Mom read the file name twice.
Then she looked at Detective Alvarez.
"What does 'camera test' mean?""
"We're finding out.""
"Finding out where?""
"Digital forensics has the drive.""
"Then call them.""
"They're working on it.""
"No.""
Mom stepped closer.
"Someone hid a file with my ten-year-old daughter's name on it. I want to know what's inside.""
Detective Alvarez didn't argue.
He made the call.
For ten minutes, I sat on the bottom stair while Mom paced.
Finally, Alvarez's phone rang.
He answered.
"Yes.""
His face tightened.
"Send it securely.""
Mom stopped moving.
"What?""
Alvarez lowered the phone.
"The file isn't from the classroom security system.""
"Then what is it?""
"A phone recording.""
My stomach turned.
"Of Emma?"" Mom asked.
"Apparently.""
"Apparently?""
"We should watch it before drawing conclusions.""
Mom sat beside me.
"You don't have to watch.""
I wanted to say no.
Instead, I said, "I do.""
Detective Alvarez opened the video.
The image shook.
Someone was filming through the narrow window in the classroom door.
The date stamp read September 18.
Our classroom was empty except for Madeline, Ms. Parker, and me.
I had forgotten.
I hadn't gone to recess with everyone.
I had returned for my water bottle.
Onscreen, younger-me walked through the door.
Ms. Parker immediately turned.
"Emma, why are you here?""
"My bottle.""
"Get it and go.""
Madeline sat at a desk crying.
A stack of papers lay in front of her.
I glanced at them.
"Are you okay?""
Ms. Parker moved between us.
"Outside.""
"But she's crying.""
"Emma.""
I grabbed my bottle.
Then I looked toward the security camera.
Its green light was off.
The person filming from the hallway zoomed in on me.
I stared directly toward the door.
The video ended.
Mom whispered, "Who filmed that?""
Alvarez replayed the last seconds.
A reflection appeared in the classroom glass.
A man's hand.
A dark suit sleeve.
A silver watch.
I recognized it.
"Mr. Hayes.""
Alvarez looked at me.
"You're sure?""
"He always wore that watch.""
Mom's voice shook.
"Why was he recording my daughter?""
Detective Alvarez didn't answer yet.
There was another file on the drive.
A text document.
Its title was:
OBSERVATION NOTES.
Alvarez opened it.
There were names.
Sophie Bennett.
Benjamin Ross.
Lucas Mason.
Noah Carter.
And me.
Beside each name were short notes.
*Bennett — emotional, likely to tell parent.*
*Ross — compliant after warning.*
*Mason — father confrontational. Avoid.*
*Carter — mother works long shifts. Financial leverage possible.*
Then mine.
*Collins — watches adults closely. Sits near camera control. Potential problem.*
My skin went cold.
Mom read it over Alvarez's shoulder.
"They were watching her.""
"It appears so.""
"They knew she sat near that switch.""
"Yes.""
"Before today?""
"Since September.""
I suddenly remembered Ms. Parker looking at me after I turned the camera back on.
Emma.
She hadn't simply been angry.
She'd recognized the exact danger someone had already warned her about.
Mom wrapped both arms around me.
Detective Alvarez scrolled farther.
At the bottom was a final note.
*Recommend seat change before next disciplinary cycle.*
Mom's face twisted.
"'Disciplinary cycle'?""
Alvarez photographed the screen.
"That's a phrase we're going to ask Hayes about.""
"If you find him.""
"We will.""
His phone rang.
He answered.
This time he listened for only a few seconds.
"Where?""
He stood.
"We're coming.""
Mom stared.
"What happened?""
"Hayes was found.""
"Where?""
"At his mother's house.""
Mrs. Hayes had been detained at the school, but her son had apparently used a side entrance at her property.
Police had found him in her home office.
He wasn't alone.
Ms. Parker was there too.
By midnight, both were in custody for questioning.
Mom wouldn't let me go anywhere near the station.
I didn't argue.
But at 8:00 the next morning, Detective Alvarez called.
He put the phone on speaker.
"Mrs. Collins, we found additional material.""
"What kind?""
"A second flash drive.""
Mom looked at me.
"More videos?""
"Yes.""
"Of Emma?""
"No.""
He paused.
"Of Principal Whitmore.""
That surprised us both.
"What was he doing?""
"Arguing with Mrs. Hayes.""
"When?""
"Last spring.""
"About what?""
"Scholarships.""
Mom sat down.
Alvarez continued.
"In the recording, Whitmore threatens to report irregularities to the board.""
"Then why didn't he?""
"We don't know yet.""
I thought of Principal Whitmore's face when the investigation started.
The shock.
The confusion.
But also something else.
Fear.
"What irregularities?"" Mom asked.
"Financial ones.""
"What does that have to do with Noah?""
"We're not sure.""
Then Alvarez said something that made me sit up.
"The Hamilton Grant may not have been the beginning of this.""
"What was?""
"We found scholarship money missing.""
Mom frowned.
"Missing?""
"Large amounts.""
"How large?""
"Potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars.""
I thought about Mrs. Hayes saying scholarship students cost the school money.
Maybe they hadn't been trying only to remove kids.
Maybe they were hiding something.
Mom asked, "Where did the money go?""
"We're tracing it.""
"To Hayes?""
"Possibly.""
Then Alvarez paused.
"But one transfer already has a name attached.""
"Whose?""
He told us.
Mom stopped breathing.
Because it wasn't Parker.
It wasn't Mr. Hayes.
May you like
And it wasn't Mrs. Hayes.
It was Principal Whitmore.
