Chapter 6 - Six Days Earlier
Michael installed the camera himself.
Tuesday night.
I had been at Cedar & Bloom’s production facility until almost ten.
The footage showed him on a ladder.
Sarah below.
He adjusted angle.
Sarah asked:
“Can it see the couch?”
Michael:
“Yes.”
“The hall?”
“Yes.”
“The kitchen?”
“Enough.”
Then Sarah:
“What if she takes Olivia upstairs?”
Michael:
“Don’t let it go that far.”
That sentence became important.
Then:
“I only need one clean clip of her hitting you.”
Sarah laughed.
“You think she’ll hit me?”
Michael:
“If you push hard enough.”
My hands shook watching.
Detective Price paused.
“You do not have to continue today.”
“I do.”
Next clip.
Thursday.
Sarah alone.
Standing by couch.
Looking into camera.
She practiced:
“Emily, calm down.”
Then:
“You’re frightening the children.”
Then fake crying.
She wiped nonexistent tears.
Again.
“You attacked me.”
Again.
Tyler walked into frame.
“Grandma?”
Sarah jumped.
Then laughed.
“Nothing, baby.”
He asked about camera.
“Uncle Michael wants to keep everyone safe.”
Then Friday.
Michael returned.
He handed Sarah something.
A printed page.
She read.
“You really think police will believe this?”
Michael:
“If she hits you on video, they don’t have to believe anything else.”
Then:
“What if she calls them first?”
“We call first.”
They did not.
Because I got to phone.
Then Sarah:
“And the company?”
Michael:
“Monday’s problem disappears if she’s dealing with attorneys and custody.”
There.
Business connection.
Then Sarah:
“What do I get?”
He looked irritated.
“Mom.”
“I’m asking.”
“You keep your coverage. I clear the medical balance. And Tyler stays here.”
“Not enough.”
Michael:
“We’ll talk after.”
Sarah wanted compensation.
For staging an assault accusation against me.
Then:
“What about the hot dog?”
Michael looked confused.
“What?”
“Tyler and Olivia. She loses it when I treat him better.”
Michael:
“Use whatever gets her angry. Don’t touch the kids.”
I froze.
He had said it.
Do not touch the kids.
That mattered.
Michael did not order Sarah to slap Olivia.
But he told her:
Use whatever gets her angry.
He put a camera in my home.
Wanted his mother to provoke me using two children.
Then Saturday night.
Sarah on phone to Michael from guest room.
“I think the girl is too little to understand.”
Michael:
“Then pick something else.”
Sarah:
“Emily understands.”
Michael:
“That’s the point.”
He knew Olivia might become part of provocation.
But did he foresee physical harm?
Maybe not.
Still reckless.
Then Sunday, 1:31 p.m.
Michael logged in remotely.
Sarah stood near couch.
Tyler eating.
Olivia playing.
Sarah looked directly at camera.
Tapped her wrist.
Like:
Ready?
At 1:38, Sarah called Michael.
Speaker audio faint.
“Now?”
Michael:
“I’m watching.”
Then hot dog plate moved.
Everything Tyler described.
Olivia reached.
Sarah slapped her.
The camera captured full sound.
My scream from kitchen.
Then I entered.
I watched only until my daughter fell.
Stopped.
I vomited into Detective Price’s trash can.
No dignity.
He handed tissues.
Then he said:
“There’s more.”
Michael on audio after Sarah slapped Olivia.
He said through Sarah’s phone:
“What the hell did you do?”
So he had not expected that.
Sarah whispered:
“She’ll come now.”
Michael:
“Sarah, I said don’t touch the kids.”
Sarah:
“Too late.”
Then I entered.
He did not call police.
Did not tell Sarah to stop.
He kept watching.
After I shoved Sarah:
Michael whispered:
“Stay in frame.”
Sarah moved toward me again.
After she grabbed my hair and I slapped her:
Michael:
“That’s enough.”
Sarah:
“One?”
Michael:
“Enough.”
But Sarah lunged again.
I slapped again.
Then Michael:
“Good.”
One word.
That word ended any comfort his earlier protest gave me.
He had been horrified Sarah hit Olivia.
May you like
Then he used what followed anyway.
Continue to the next part: Michael did not tell Sarah to strike Olivia, but after watching it happen he still continued the setup and used the chaos to capture the footage he wanted.
