Carter: What do you mean check the cameras? What happened to my son?
Margaret: Look at your phone, Carter! Look at what this monster did the moment you left for the office!
Carter: Margaret, calm down. Evelyn has been taking care of Leo all morning. She wouldn't—
Officer Miller: Sir, unlock your security feed immediately. We received a distress call from this woman claiming a child was in immediate danger.
Evelyn: This is a complete misunderstanding, Carter! Your mother is insane! She broke into our house with the police because she hates me!
Margaret: Shut your mouth, Evelyn! You thought nobody was watching! You thought you could get rid of Clara's baby and take everything!
Carter: Stop shouting! Both of you!
Carter's fingers trembled as he unlocked his phone screen. His thumb hovered over the smart home application that managed the mansion's high-definition security cameras.
Officer Miller: Play the live playback from the master bathroom from twenty minutes ago, sir.
Evelyn: Carter, darling, don't listen to them. I was just giving the baby a bath! It's a specialized aquatic therapy tub!
Margaret: Aquatic therapy?! You locked the glass lid! You sealed it shut!
Carter: Silence!
Carter hit the play button on his phone screen. The high-definition camera feed buffered for a second before filling the display. On the screen, Evelyn could be seen standing over the glass tank, her face twisted in a sneer that Carter had never seen in their two years of marriage.
Carter: No... no, this can't be real.
Officer Miller: Keep watching, Mr. Vance.
On the recording, the audio picked up Evelyn's harsh, echoing whisper clearly through the mansion's built-in microphone system: "Now even your dead mother cannot save you!"
Carter: My God...
Evelyn: Carter, listen to me! That audio is altered! It's an AI voice filter! Your mother staged this to ruin our marriage!
Margaret: You twisted serpent! You tried to murder my grandson for the inheritance!
Carter: You said those words... you put the lid on the tank... Evelyn, why?
Evelyn: Carter, sweetie, look at me! I love you! I love Leo! I would never hurt him!
Officer Davis: Ma'am, stay calm and step toward the door. You have the right to remain silent.
Evelyn: Don't touch me! Carter, tell them to release me! Call our corporate lawyers! Call the family attorney right now!
Carter: Call the lawyer? You almost suffocated my son!
Margaret: Give the baby to me, Officer. Please, let me hold my grandson.
Officer Miller gently handed the bundle of white towels to Margaret. The infant was still shivering, his small cries ringing through the quiet, opulent living room.
Margaret: Shh... Grandma's got you, Leo. You're safe now. Mama's watching over you from heaven, and I won't let anyone hurt you again.
Carter: Evelyn... how long have you been planning this?
Evelyn: Planning what?! I didn't do anything wrong! The tank has an air filtration system!
Officer Miller: The tank is a decorative display container, ma'am. We checked it. There are no air vents when the custom lid is locked.
Evelyn: You don't know what you're talking about!
Carter: I built this house, Evelyn. I designed that bathroom. That glass container was meant for ornamental fish, not a human child!
Evelyn: Carter, please...
Carter: Take her away.
Evelyn: You can't do this to me! I'm your wife! Half of this estate belongs to me!
Officer Davis: Walk, ma'am. Moving now.
As Officer Davis led a screaming, struggling Evelyn out through the double front doors, the silence that returned to the mansion was deafening. Carter sank onto the edge of the marble coffee table, pressing his hands against his face as tears finally spilled over his eyes.
Margaret: Carter... look at me, son.
Carter: I brought a monster into our home, Mom. I brought her right to Clara's baby.
Margaret: You didn't know. She fooled all of us. But this isn't over... we need to check the rest of the footage.
Carter: The rest of the footage?
Margaret: A mother's instinct made me check the security app today, Carter. But I think she's been doing things long before this morning.
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