Instead, I asked the question that still bothers me.
“Did you go into my bedroom today?”
Emma blinked.
“Yes.”
Vanessa looked at me.
“There.”
Emma turned toward her.
“Lily left her rabbit in Mr. Whitmore’s room this morning. I went in to get it.”
Marlene spoke quietly.
“I saw her come downstairs.”
That was enough to make suspicion feel like evidence.
It wasn’t.
But at the time, I let it.
“Empty your pockets,” I said.
Emma stared at me.
Then she did.
Nothing.
Marlene picked up the apron.
And there was Claire’s ring.
Emma’s hand went to her mouth.
“No.”
Vanessa stepped backward.
“Oh my God.”
Emma looked at me.
“I didn’t put that there.”
I picked up the ring.
My fingers were shaking.
“Then how did it get there?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s your apron.”
“I know.”
“You were upstairs.”
“To get Lily’s rabbit.”
Vanessa leaned against the counter.
“Andrew, call the police.”
Emma looked at me.
“Please check the cameras.”
I wish I could say I listened.
I didn’t.
I was angry.
Not about the money.
About Claire.
About someone touching something that belonged to her.
And maybe, underneath that, I was angry because I’d trusted Emma with parts of my family I hadn’t trusted anyone with in years.
“Pack your things.”
Emma didn’t move.
“Mr. Whitmore—”
“You’re done.”
Lily screamed from the hallway.
“No!”
I turned.
All three children were standing there.
Emma walked toward them.
Vanessa stepped between them.
“I think it’s better if you go.”
Emma looked at me.
“Can I at least say goodbye?”
I looked at my children.
Noah was crying.
Owen had his fists pressed against his sides.
Lily was holding the rabbit.
I made another decision I would regret.
“No.”
Emma stood completely still.
Then she took off her cardigan, folded it once, and placed it on the chair.
She walked out through the front door.
It was raining hard.
I watched her cross the driveway without an umbrella.
Behind me, Lily started crying.
“Daddy, bring her back.”
I didn’t.
Not that night.
Not the next morning.
And by the second day, none of my children would eat dinner.
Three Empty Plates
Owen pushed his pasta away.
Noah hadn’t touched his.
Lily’s plate was still exactly as the cook had set it down.
Vanessa sat beside me.
“They’ll adjust.”
I looked at the three plates.
“They haven’t eaten properly in two days.”
“Because you’re letting them turn this into a protest.”
Owen looked at her.
“She didn’t take it.”
Vanessa put down her fork.
“Owen.”
“She didn’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
He looked at me.
“Emma said cameras don’t lie.”
My fork stopped halfway to my mouth.
“What?”
“When my Lego broke. She checked the playroom camera because Noah said I broke it.”
Noah frowned.
“I thought he did.”
Owen pointed toward the hall.
“She said cameras don’t lie.”
I looked toward the pantry.
There was a camera above the doorway.
I’d installed the system after a break-in at a neighboring property.
I had cameras covering the main entrances, kitchen, back hall, garage, and parts of the first floor.
Emma had asked me to check them.
I had forgotten.
No.
That’s not true.
I hadn’t forgotten.
I had decided I didn’t need to.
I stood.
Vanessa looked up.
“Where are you going?”
“My office.”
She didn’t ask why.
That was the first thing I noticed.
The Camera Above the Pantry Door
I opened the security app.
Tuesday.
2:14 p.m.
I found the kitchen camera.
Emma appeared first.
She was making sandwiches.
Then she left through the mudroom to pick up the children.
2:41.
Vanessa entered the kitchen.
She was carrying something small in her right hand.
I leaned closer to the monitor.
Marlene came in behind her.
Vanessa picked up Emma’s apron from the chair.
Marlene walked to the pantry doorway and looked down the hall.
Vanessa slipped her hand into the apron pocket.
Three seconds.
That was all it took.
Then she folded the apron and put it back.
I watched it twice.
Then a third time.
My office door opened behind me.
“Andrew?”
Vanessa.
I turned the monitor toward her.
She stopped.
Neither of us spoke.
The video continued playing.
Marlene looked down the hallway.
Vanessa’s hand disappeared into Emma’s apron.
Then came back out empty.
Vanessa looked at the screen.
Her face lost all color.
“Andrew, I can explain.”
I clicked pause.
“Explain.”
“It wasn’t supposed to become this.”
I stared at her.
“What was it supposed to become?”
She rubbed both hands together.
“I wanted her gone.”
“So you put my wife’s ring in her pocket.”
“I was going to find it before anything serious happened.”
“You did find it.”
She stopped.
I stood.
“You found it exactly where you put it.”
“Andrew—”
“Give me the house key.”
She stared at me.
“You’re ending our engagement over a nanny?”
I looked back at the frozen image.
“No.”
I held out my hand.
“I’m ending it over you.”
She took the key from her purse and placed it on my desk.
Marlene was gone before nine that evening.
I didn’t yell at her.
I showed her the recording.
She sat down at the kitchen table.
“Ms. Bennett said Emma was trying to replace her.”
“And you believed that?”
Marlene looked at the floor.
“I shouldn’t have helped.”
“No.”
I opened the back door.
“You shouldn’t have.”
After she left, I went upstairs.
The children were awake.
I sat on the floor between their beds.
Lily was holding the rabbit.
“You were right.”
Owen sat up.
“About Emma?”
“Yes.”
Noah rubbed his eyes.
“So she’s coming back?”
I looked at them.
“I’m going to ask.”
Lily handed me the rabbit.
“Take Bunny.”
“Why?”
She looked at me as if the answer were obvious.
“So Emma knows we’re sorry.”
I took it.
For once, I didn’t tell my children everything would be fine.
I didn’t know if it would be.
Emma Had Already Packed
Emma lived in a small apartment in Somerville with a roommate.
I arrived the next morning with all three children.
There were two suitcases beside her door.
Emma opened it wearing jeans and an old college sweatshirt.
She looked at me.
Then at the children.
Lily ran past me.
“Emma!”
Emma dropped to her knees.
All three children reached her at once.
She wrapped her arms around them.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
I stood in the hallway holding Claire’s rabbit.
When Emma finally looked at me, her expression changed.
“Why are you here?”
I held out my phone.
“I checked the camera.”
She didn’t take it.
“Two days later.”
There wasn’t much I could say to that.
“Yes.”
