Chapter 4 - The Unbroken Recording
Detective Jenkins called the forensic digital forensics unit right to the hospital room.
Within forty minutes, a technician plugged the pink toy camera into an encrypted laptop. Because the camera belonged to a child's toy line, it had a continuous "safety loop" function that recorded five-minute audio-visual clips whenever the motion sensor was activated.
The technician clicked Play.
The small screen lit up. The camera angle was tilted upward from where Lily had set it on the nightstand to take a picture of her stuffed bunny before her nap.
On the video, the bedroom door creaked open.
My mother, Patricia, walked into the frame, her face contorted with a terrifying, cold hatred that made my blood run cold. Behind her stood my father, Robert, holding a heavy glass paperweight he had brought up from his study downstairs.
"Look at her," Patricia’s voice rang out crystal clear through the laptop speakers. "Dressed like a beggar in our guest room. David's daughter is getting a ten-thousand-dollar party, and this little parasite is ruining the family photos."
"We should have cut Claire off the day she had this bastard," Robert’s voice responded coldly. "Hold her arms down, Patricia. Let's make sure she doesn't ruin any more of Madison's pictures."
The video showed my mother pinning six-year-old Lily’s wrists against the mattress while my father pressed the heavy brass edge of the paperweight ruthlessly down against the child's cheek until a sickening crack echoed through the room, followed by Lily’s muffled scream before she went completely limp.
"At last," Robert’s voice said as he wiped the brass paperweight with a handkerchief, "she’ll look as worthless as she truly is."
The room was filled with absolute silence.
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Detective Jenkins was pale. The technician looked sick to his stomach. I stood there, tears pouring silently down my face, holding my sleeping daughter's small hand.
"That's it," Detective Jenkins whispered, her eyes burning with fierce determination as she snapped her laptop shut. "That's attempt to commit aggravated assault on a minor, felony child abuse, and falsifying police reports. I'm getting a high-priority bench warrant right now."
