Chapter 2: The Woman Who Knew His Password
The police didn't arrest anyone that afternoon.
They didn't need to.
Officer Brooks simply asked everyone to remain available for questioning and placed Lily's phone back inside its evidence sleeve.
But the damage had already been done.
Marcus couldn't stop looking at Vanessa.
She stood beside the living-room window, pretending to read something on her phone.
Her cream blouse was immaculate.
Her hair was perfectly styled.
She looked like a woman who had spent the weekend enjoying a luxury hotel, not someone who might have been connected to the final moments of a dying child.
“Vanessa,” Marcus said.
She looked up.
“What?””
“Come here.””
“Marcus, not now.””
“Come here.””
She reluctantly walked toward him.
Officer Brooks remained near the fireplace, watching.
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Did you touch my phone on Monday?””
Vanessa frowned.
“Why would you ask me that?””
“Just answer.””
“I don't remember.””
“You don't remember?””
“I was with you all weekend. We were together practically every minute.””
“That isn't what I asked.””
She crossed her arms.
“Are you accusing me of something?””
Marcus glanced toward the officer.
“I don't know what I'm accusing you of. That's why I'm asking questions.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“This is unbelievable. Your daughter has died, and you're looking for someone to blame.””
Claire suddenly stood.
“Don't you dare.””
Vanessa turned.
“Excuse me?””
“You heard me.””
“Claire, I'm trying to help.””
“No. You're trying to make yourself comfortable.””
Vanessa's expression hardened.
“You have no idea what Marcus and I have been through.””
Claire looked at her for a long moment.
Then she said something that made Marcus lower his eyes.
“Neither do you.””
Vanessa opened her mouth, but Officer Brooks intervened.
“Let's keep this respectful. Mrs. Hale, could you tell me when you last saw your daughter alive?””
Claire sat down again.
“Monday evening. I was at St. Mary's Children's Hospital.””
“What time did you arrive?””
“Just after four.””
“And Mr. Hale?””
“He wasn't there.””
Marcus flinched.
Officer Brooks continued.
“Did you attempt to contact him?””
Claire unlocked her phone.
“I have the call records. I also sent several messages.””
She handed him the device.
The officer scrolled through the conversation.
The messages were heartbreaking in their simplicity.
Marcus, Lily's condition is getting worse.
Please answer.
She wants to speak to you.
I'm begging you. Just five minutes.
Then, at 7:45 p.m.:
She saw your message. She's crying. Please tell me you didn't send it.
And finally:
Marcus, she's asking for you again.
There was no response.
Officer Brooks handed the phone back.
“Did your daughter have any other way of contacting her father?””
Claire nodded.
“She had his number memorized. She used to call him from my phone whenever she missed him.””
Marcus stared at the floor.
“She used to sing to me,” he whispered.
Claire looked at him.
“What?””
“On the phone. She'd sing that stupid song about the little blue train.””
For the first time, Claire's expression softened.
Then she remembered the hospital room.
The oxygen tubes.
The little hand resting against the blanket.
The unanswered calls.
Her face closed again.
“She sang it on Monday,” Claire said.
Marcus looked up.
“She did?””
“Yes. She asked me to record it so she could send it to you.””
He swallowed.
“Where is the recording?””
Claire looked toward the side table.
“I don't know if I can listen to it.””
Officer Brooks took a small notebook from his pocket.
“Mrs. Hale, would you mind checking whether the recording is still on your phone?””
Claire hesitated.
Then she opened her gallery.
There was a video.
The thumbnail showed Lily lying against a hospital pillow, wearing a pale yellow gown.
Her cheeks looked thinner than Marcus remembered.
Claire pressed play.
A faint electronic beep sounded in the room.
Then Lily's voice emerged.
“Hi, Daddy.””
Marcus's knees weakened.
Lily smiled weakly at the camera.
“Mommy says you're busy. That's okay.””
She paused to catch her breath.
“I made you a picture. It's a house. It has three rooms. One for Mommy, one for you, and one for me.””
Claire began crying silently.
Lily continued.
“When you come back, can we go to the park? I want the big swing.””
She coughed.
Then she smiled again.
“I love you, Daddy. Even when you're busy.””
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
Marcus pressed both hands against his face.
He remembered the park.
He remembered pushing Lily on the swing while she shouted, “Higher, Daddy!””
He remembered promising to take her every Saturday.
Then work had become more important.
Then his marriage had collapsed.
Then he had met Vanessa.
And somewhere along the way, he had convinced himself that sending money was the same as being a father.
“Play it again,” he whispered.
Claire shook her head.
“I can't.””
“Please.””
“I said I can't.””
Officer Brooks quietly closed his notebook.
“Mr. Hale, I need to ask you about your devices.””
Marcus wiped his eyes.
“My phone?””
“Yes. Where is it?””
“In Chicago. I left it at the hotel.””
“Did you take another phone with you?””
“No.””
“Did anyone have access to your account passwords?””
Marcus glanced at Vanessa.
She looked away.
“My office manager has access to my work account,” he said.
“Vanessa knows the password to my personal cloud account.””
Vanessa immediately looked up.
“Because you asked me to help organize your photographs.””
“When?””
“Months ago.””
Marcus narrowed his eyes.
“Do you still have access?””
“I don't know.””
Officer Brooks wrote something down.
“That's important. We'll need to establish whether anyone accessed your accounts or devices.””
Vanessa let out an impatient breath.
“This is getting ridiculous.””
The officer turned toward her.
“Ma'am, you don't have to answer questions without legal advice. But I would strongly recommend that you cooperate with the investigation.””
Vanessa gave a short laugh.
“I'm not the one who abandoned his daughter.””
Marcus turned sharply.
“What did you just say?””
She blinked.
“I said—”
“I heard you.””
“Marcus, don't twist my words.””
He stepped closer.
“Don't you ever use my daughter against me.””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“I've stood by you through everything. I've dealt with Claire's constant calls, her demands, her emotional blackmail—”
“Stop.””
“She never accepted that your marriage was over.””
“Stop talking.””
“And now she's making you feel guilty because—”
“GET OUT.””
The words echoed through the room.
Vanessa stared at him.
“What?””
“Leave.””
“Marcus, you're not serious.””
He pointed toward the door.
“Take your handbag. Take your things. Just get out of my sight.””
She looked at Officer Brooks, apparently expecting him to intervene.
He didn't.
Vanessa picked up her handbag.
As she passed Marcus, she leaned toward him.
“You're making a terrible mistake.””
He didn't answer.
The front door slammed.
For a few seconds, the only sound was the ticking clock above the fireplace.
Then Claire spoke.
“You really didn't know?””
Marcus turned.
She was staring at him with exhausted eyes.
“I swear I didn't.””
Claire looked down at her hands.
“Do you know what Lily asked me the last night?””
He shook his head.
“She asked whether you were angry with her.””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“She thought she had done something wrong because you weren't answering.””
“I didn't know.””
“She asked me if Daddy had a new family now.””
Marcus's breath caught.
Claire continued.
“I told her you loved her. I told her you were coming.””
“Claire…”
“I lied to a dying child because I didn't want her last moments to be filled with the belief that her father had forgotten her.””
Marcus lowered himself onto the sofa.
He had no defense.
No explanation.
No sentence that could repair what had happened.
Officer Brooks approached him.
“Mr. Hale, there's one more thing.””
Marcus looked up.
“The message sent to Lily's phone wasn't the only suspicious activity we found.””
“What do you mean?””
“The device used to access your account appears to have been connected to a secondary phone.””
Marcus frowned.
“I don't own a secondary phone.””
“That's what we thought.””
Officer Brooks took out his notebook and showed him a photograph.
It was a screenshot of a device registration page.
A phone had been connected to Marcus's personal account several months earlier.
The registered device name was:
*VANESSA'S IPHONE.*
Marcus stared at it.
Then he slowly looked toward the closed front door.
“She told me she only used my account to organize photographs.””
Officer Brooks nodded.
“That may be true. But there's another detail.””
“What?””
“The device was used to access your messages at 7:31 p.m. on Monday.””
Marcus felt his stomach tighten.
The message to Lily had been sent at 7:42.
Eleven minutes later.
Claire leaned forward.
“Are you saying Vanessa sent it?””
“I'm saying we need to establish who was holding the device.””
Marcus stared at the screenshot.
He suddenly remembered something.
On Monday evening, Vanessa had told him she needed his phone to take a photograph of their dinner reservation.
He had handed it to her without thinking.
But that was hours earlier.
And the phone had remained in her possession while they were at the restaurant.
He looked at Officer Brooks.
“Can I ask you something?””
“Of course.””
“Where was Vanessa when Lily died?””
The officer paused.
“We're checking that now.””
Marcus swallowed.
Then the officer added something that made the room go cold.
“According to the initial records, she wasn't at the restaurant with you for approximately twenty-three minutes that evening.””
Marcus looked up.
“What?””
“Your hotel has security footage. We're requesting it.””
Claire gripped the edge of the sofa.
“Where did she go?””
Officer Brooks closed his notebook.
May you like
“That's what we intend to find out.””
And for the first time since entering the house, Marcus understood that the woman he had brought into his daughter's life might have been hiding something far worse than jealousy.
