. CHAPTER 5 — The Teddy Bear Camera
Mrs. Vaughn came to the hospital at dawn wearing slippers and a coat over her nightgown. She looked older than she had the night before, as if guilt had added years to her while Ava was not watching.
“I should have spoken sooner,” Bea said.
Ava led her to a quiet corner near the vending machines. Noah stood close, arms folded, eyes sharp.
Bea’s voice shook. “Lily was crying when I brought the cookies. Your mother said she was being dramatic. Then Lily said she wanted to call you. Diane took her tablet.”
Ava closed her eyes.
“There’s more,” Bea whispered. “Lily has that teddy bear camera you bought after the package thefts. The one on the shelf. She told me once it only turns on when there’s movement.”
Noah was already moving.
They returned to the house with a police officer and a warrant that Noah’s colleague had helped rush through after the toxicology report. Diane was gone. Her closet stood open, hangers swinging like thin metal fingers. The wineglass had been washed and placed neatly in the cabinet, but Diane had always underestimated the difference between clean and innocent.
The teddy bear sat on Lily’s shelf, one glass eye aimed at the bed.
When the footage played, Ava stopped breathing.
There was Diane, sitting beside Lily, smiling as she held a spoon near the child’s mouth. Lily turned her face away. Diane’s voice came through the tiny speaker, calm and sweet.
“Stop making your mother’s life harder.”
Lily cried. Diane leaned closer.
“If you sleep, everyone will be happier.”
Ava covered her mouth. Noah’s hand hit the table so hard the officer flinched.
Then came the worst part. After Lily fell still, Diane took out her phone and recorded the room from a different angle, whispering, “Ava left medication by the bed. I tried to stop her.”
She had not panicked.
May you like
She had rehearsed.
Ava realized then that the monster had not entered her home that night. The monster had been invited in years ago because Ava still wanted a mother.
