Chapter 5 - Missing Seconds
The emergency custody hearing was held two days later.
Claire expected a dramatic courtroom confrontation.
Instead, most of it felt painfully ordinary.
Lawyers spoke in measured tones.
Documents were handed to a clerk.
A judge asked precise questions.
Diane was not present, though her attorney appeared regarding the requested no-contact provision.
Ryan sat with his own lawyer.
That surprised Claire.
She had assumed Diane would provide one.
Perhaps Ryan had finally understood that his mother’s interests and his were not the same.
The judge reviewed Lily’s medical records, police documentation, witness statements, and the initial information regarding prior incidents.
A temporary order followed.
Lily would remain with Claire.
Diane was to have no contact with Lily pending further proceedings.
Ryan would have supervised contact twice weekly until the court received more information.
Ryan’s shoulders collapsed slightly when he heard it.
Claire felt no triumph.
Only relief.
Outside the courtroom, Ryan approached.
“I’m not fighting the supervision.”
“That’s wise.”
“I want her safe.”
Claire looked at him.
“Wanting it now doesn’t erase not doing it before.”
“I know.”
For once, he did not argue.
Rebecca appeared.
“The hotel responded to our preservation request.”
Claire immediately turned.
“And?”
“There’s a problem.”
They went to a quiet corner.
The ballroom had six cameras.
Five had captured portions of the evening.
The sixth—the camera closest to the cake table—showed a ninety-four-second gap.
The recording resumed after Lily was already on the floor.
Claire felt cold.
“Technical failure?”
“The hotel says it is investigating.”
“Diane knew there was a problem before I did.”
Rebecca nodded.
“That interests me too.”
The banquet manager, Margaret Sloan, had already told police that the security system was maintained by an outside contractor. Hotel management claimed nobody on site had intentionally deleted footage.
“Can deleted video be recovered?”
“Sometimes.”
“Can Diane have someone destroy it?”
“That would create additional legal problems.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“No.”
Rebecca’s eyes hardened.
“It doesn’t.”
Meanwhile, other footage was helpful but incomplete.
One camera showed Diane reaching for the champagne bottle.
Another showed several guests suddenly turning.
A third captured Claire rushing toward Lily seconds later.
None showed the actual contact.
Witnesses mattered more.
Margaret had seen Diane’s arm come down.
A bartender named Samuel Ortiz had heard Diane say, “Maybe you’ll learn.”
Two guests were certain the bottle had struck Lily.
Three others were unsure because people had blocked their view.
And then there were phones.
Dozens of them.
Rebecca and Officer Hale were trying to identify everyone who had been recording.
That afternoon, Claire returned to Natalie’s apartment to find Lily sitting at the table with crayons.
Her drawing showed a house.
A very small house.
Only two people stood beside it.
Claire and Lily.
“Where’s Daddy?” Claire asked before she could stop herself.
Lily shrugged.
“He lives at Grandma’s.”
Claire’s heart hurt.
“He doesn’t, sweetheart.”
“Is he mad at me?”
“No.”
“Because I told?”
Claire sat beside her.
“No one who loves you should be angry because you told the truth about getting hurt.”
Lily considered this.
“Grandma gets angry at the truth.”
“Yes.”
“Daddy gets scared of Grandma.”
Claire looked at her daughter.
“Why do you say that?”
“His face changes.”
Children noticed more than adults wanted to believe.
That evening, Ryan arrived for his first supervised visit.
The supervisor was a licensed social worker named Denise Warren.
Claire stayed in Natalie’s bedroom while the visit occurred in the living room.
She heard Lily laugh once.
The sound hurt and relieved her at the same time.
When the hour ended, Denise spoke privately with Claire.
“Lily appears bonded to her father.”
Claire nodded.
“She loves him.”
“She was also watching him very closely whenever he mentioned his mother.”
“Did he?”
“Only once. He said Grandma was sorry Lily got hurt.”
Claire’s jaw tightened.
“That’s not the same as being sorry she hurt her.”
“I noticed.”
Denise wrote something on her clipboard.
Before leaving, Ryan asked Claire for thirty seconds.
Natalie remained nearby.
“I went to the bank.”
Claire remembered the brass key.
“And?”
“The box exists.”
“What was inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said you went.”
“My name isn’t authorized.”
“Then why do you have the key?”
“My father gave it to me when I was seventeen.”
Claire frowned.
“He told me never to let Mom know I had it.”
Ryan swallowed.
“I forgot about it for years.”
“Until now.”
“Yes.”
“Who can open it?”
“The bank says the account was transferred into an estate trust after Dad died.”
Ryan looked exhausted.
“And the trustee is my mother.”
Claire almost laughed at the absurdity.
“Then that’s useless.”
“Maybe not.”
He pulled a folded paper from his jacket.
“My father’s attorney handled the trust.”
Ryan handed it to her.
The attorney’s name was Harold Finch.
Below it was an address in Manhattan.
Claire looked up.
“What are you planning?”
“I called him.”
“And?”
“He said he’ll meet me tomorrow.”
Ryan hesitated.
“Then he asked whether my mother knew I had the key.”
Claire felt unease move through her.
“What did you say?”
“The truth.”
“And what did he say?”
May you like
Ryan looked toward the room where Lily had been drawing.
“He said, ‘Then don’t tell her where you’re going.’”
