Gertrude’s hands tightened on her purse.

-To a hospital.

Marquez turned to me.

-Mrs. Vaughn. Show them.

I held up my phone so the screen faced the couch.

I pressed play.

The night vision image appeared. Chloe’s little bed. The nightstand. The edge of the main bed with me asleep under the covers.

Christopher stepped into frame.

On the couch, the real Christopher went still.

On the screen, he lifted Chloe’s shirt. He held his phone light against her back.

Then his voice came out of my phone’s speaker. Low. Whispering. Every word perfectly clear in the small beige room.

Mom. It’s me. Are you awake?

Gertrude’s face went white.

It’s worse. It’s bright red. It’s hot.

Delacroix leaned forward. His mouth opened.

If Cass sees that, it’s over. She’ll take her to the ER. They’ll X-ray it. They’ll find it.

-Turn that off.

Gertrude. Barely a whisper.

I didn’t turn it off.

I told you to stop with the needle thing. I told you two weeks ago. I told you it was going to go wrong.

Christopher had his hand over his mouth.

Get dressed. Take her to Marsh. He can get it out and write it up however you want. Tell him it happened at Cass’s watch.

Delacroix closed his portfolio very slowly.

It’s not my kid, Mom. That was your whole point. Remember? I’m not losing this house over somebody else’s kid.

The clip ended.

The room was completely silent.

Not even the coffee maker made a sound.

Detective Marquez looked at Christopher for a long time.

-Mr. Vaughn. Would you like to revise your statement about when you woke up?

Christopher didn’t answer. His face had gone gray. His hands were shaking in his lap.

Marquez turned to Gertrude.

-Mrs. Vaughn. The needle in your granddaughter’s back has a gold elongated eye. Your daughter-in-law tells me you use imported English needles with gold eyes in your sewing. Is that correct?

Gertrude stared at the dead phone screen in my hand.

-Mrs. Vaughn.

-Many people use those needles.

-Do many of them live in your granddaughter’s house?

Gertrude didn’t answer.

Then Delacroix found his voice.

-Detective, before anyone says another word. I need to raise a serious legal concern.

-Go ahead.

-That recording captures a private telephone conversation between my client and his mother. Neither of whom consented to being recorded. Mrs. Vaughn was asleep. She wasn’t a party to the call. Under Arizona Revised Statutes 13-3005, intercepting a wire or oral communication without the consent of at least one party is a class five felony.

He looked at me.

-Mrs. Vaughn may have just committed a crime.

Christopher looked up. Something came back into his face. Hope. Ugly and quick.

Marquez didn’t blink.

-Counselor, it’s a baby monitor. Mounted in plain view. In a child’s sleeping area. In a bedroom your client shares with his wife. Your client complained about the camera for eight weeks. He knew exactly where it was. He chose to stand directly under it and make a phone call.

-Knowledge of a camera isn’t consent to recording.

-That’s going to be a fun argument for you in front of a judge. I don’t think it’s going to be as fun as you think. And even if you win it, the camera also recorded video. Of your client lifting his daughter’s shirt to look at an infected wound sixteen minutes before he told his wife he was asleep and didn’t know anything was wrong.

-We’ll be moving to suppress.

-You do that.

Marquez stood up.

-Christopher Vaughn. Gertrude Vaughn. I’m not arresting either of you yet. But I’m going to need you both to stay right here. An officer will be outside this door. DCS is going to want to talk to you.

-Is my client free to leave?

-Your client is free to leave. Your client’s mother is free to leave. I would strongly advise neither of them to go anywhere near that house until we’ve talked to a judge about a search warrant.

Christopher stood up.

-I need to go home. I need to get Chloe’s things. Her rabbit. She needs her rabbit.

He looked at me. Pleading.

-Cass. Her rabbit. She can’t sleep without it.

I looked back at him.

-I’ll get her rabbit.

-Cass.

-I’ll get it, Christopher.

He held my eyes for a long moment.

Then he sat back down.

I walked out into the hallway. Marquez followed me.

-You okay?

-No.

-You’re doing better than most people would be.

-I know.

-Your daughter’s surgery should take about an hour. You should sit down. Get some water.

-Detective, how long does it take to get a search warrant at four in the morning?

-An hour. Maybe two. I have to wake up an on-call judge.

-My husband is the admin on our Nanit account.