Chapter 5 - What the Paramedic Saw
Two officers entered first.
Alex stepped back immediately and raised both hands.
“The wooden stick is on the kitchen floor. Victor swung it once beside her body. She is six months pregnant.”
Victor started speaking.
Claire did not.
A paramedic knelt beside her.
“Claire, can you tell me where you hurt?”
“My hip. My back. I’m dizzy.”
“Did anything strike your abdomen?”
“No.”
“Did you fall?”
“Yes.”
The paramedic examined her carefully.
Claire’s pulse was elevated.
Her skin was cold.
She had tenderness along her side.
The baby’s movement had slowed.
They needed to transport her.
Victor approached.
“I’m her husband. I’m coming.”
Claire’s hand closed around the paramedic’s sleeve.
“No.”
The single word stopped everyone.
Victor stared at her.
The officer stepped between them.
“You will remain here.”
Helena tried to explain that Claire had always been emotionally unstable.
The officer asked whether she saw Victor raise the stick.
Helena claimed she was not watching.
Nora’s recording showed Helena looking directly at Claire.
Raúl said he believed Victor only intended to scare her.
The officer wrote the statement down.
Victor’s family did not understand that their excuses made the situation worse.
They were admitting the intimidation was normal.
Alex followed the stretcher toward the hallway.
Claire reached for him.
“I need you to find the blue folder.”
“Where?”
“Under the nursery floorboard.”
Victor heard.
His face changed.
Alex saw it.
“What is in the folder?”
Claire looked at her husband.
“Everything.”
Victor moved toward the stairs.
An officer blocked him.
“You are not going anywhere.”
Alex bent closer to Claire.
“What does everything mean?”
“Pictures. Bank records. Messages.”
Her voice weakened.
“And the video from the basement.”
Alex froze.
He had never known the house had a finished basement room.
Victor’s mother looked away too quickly.
Alex saw it.
Before the paramedics carried Claire outside, she whispered one more sentence.
“Do not let them erase the camera.”
May you like
That was when Alex realized the violence in the kitchen was not the beginning of the case.
It was the first moment Claire had managed to make visible.
