The investigator replayed the footage.
The stranger walked toward the side entrance.
He did not knock.
He looked around first.
Then he entered.
Sarah felt her stomach tighten.
“How did he get inside?”
Daniel shook his head.
“The garage door has a keypad.”
“Who knows the code?”
“Me. Sarah. My brother.”
Sarah stared at him.
“Anyone else?”
“Maybe the previous owner.”
The investigator asked, “When was the code changed?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Never.”
Sarah turned sharply.
“Never?”
“I didn't think it was necessary.”
“You never changed the code?”
“I didn't think anyone knew it.”
The investigator wrote something down.
“You should change it immediately.”
Daniel nodded.
The footage continued.
The stranger came out several minutes later.
The red bag was gone.
But his hands were empty.
The investigator stopped the recording.
“Do you have footage from inside?”
“No.”
“Only the garage.”
They checked the next camera.
A narrow view of the driveway.
The stranger had entered at 2:17 p.m.
He left at 2:29.
Twelve minutes.
Sarah looked at the clock.
“Where was Emma then?”
“At school.”
“And the cake?”
“In the refrigerator.”
Daniel suddenly looked at Sarah.
“The strawberries weren't in the refrigerator.”
“What?”
“I bought them that morning.”
“Where were they?”
“In the garage refrigerator.”
Sarah stared at him.
“You kept fruit in the garage?”
“I was going to bring everything inside before the party.”
The investigator asked, “When did you bring it inside?”
“About three.”
“After the stranger left?”
“Yes.”
Sarah felt a chill.
Someone had been inside the garage refrigerator before Daniel brought the strawberries into the house.
The question was no longer whether something had happened.
It was who had done it.
The investigator sealed the remaining food.
“Do not throw anything else away.”
Sarah nodded.
Daniel looked at the cake.
“I should have checked.”
Sarah answered quietly.
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
She did not soften the truth.
“You should have.”
Daniel accepted it.
The investigator asked whether the family had enemies or recent disputes.
Daniel said no.
Sarah thought.
“There was an argument with our neighbor.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What argument?”
“About the property line.”
“That was nothing.”
“He threatened to report us.”
“To the city.”
“Still.”
The investigator wrote down the neighbor's name.
Then Noah spoke.
“There was another person.”
Everyone turned.
“Who?”
“I don't know his name.”
“What did he look like?”
Noah described him.
Tall.
Dark jacket.
Baseball cap.
He had been standing across the street the previous evening.
Daniel frowned.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before the party.”
Sarah felt another wave of unease.
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“I thought he was waiting for someone.”
The investigator asked Noah to describe exactly where he had been standing.
They checked the footage.
The man appeared for less than a minute.
Then he walked away.
No vehicle.
No obvious connection.
The investigator looked concerned.
“We need to determine whether these are the same person.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
“They might be.”
Sarah sat beside him.
“Who would want to hurt Emma?”
“I don't know.”
The answer frightened her.
The next morning, a laboratory report arrived regarding the material recovered from the food.
The result was not consistent with ordinary chocolate or food residue.
It was a chemical compound used in gardening.
The amount detected was small.
But it should never have been in food.
Sarah read the report twice.
Emma had not imagined it.
Something had contaminated the strawberries.
Daniel sat across from her.
“I should have listened.”
Sarah looked at him.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
The investigator explained that the amount appeared insufficient to explain all of Emma's symptoms by itself, and the medical team would determine what caused her collapse. But the contamination itself was being treated as a serious safety issue.
Sarah looked toward the hallway.
Emma was drawing.
She had drawn the birthday cake.
The candle was enormous.
The strawberry was tiny.
“Why did you draw that?” Sarah asked.
Emma shrugged.
“I remember it.”
“Are you scared?”
“A little.”
“Of the cake?”
“No.”
“Of what?”
Emma looked toward the front door.
“That someone came into the house.”
Sarah froze.
“How do you know?”
“I saw him.”
Daniel stood.
“You saw the person from the camera?”
Emma nodded.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Sarah crouched.
“Where?”
“Outside the garage.”
“What did he look like?”
Emma thought.
“He had a hat.”
“Was he tall?”
“Yes.”
“Did he talk to you?”
“No.”
“What did he do?”
“He looked at me.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Did he come close?”
Emma shook her head.
“He pointed.”
“At what?”
“The garage.”
Sarah exchanged a glance with Daniel.
“What did he point at?”
“The red bag.”
The room became silent.
The investigator was called again.
Emma repeated what she remembered.
She had been playing outside before the party.
She had seen the stranger.
He had stood near the garage.
He had pointed toward the red bag.
Then he had walked away.
She had told Daniel that something strange was in the bag.
Daniel had dismissed her.
The investigator asked, “Did you see him touch the food?”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
“Did you see him enter the garage?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at the floor.
The investigator asked Emma to stop there.
She was not questioned further.
Afterward, Daniel sat alone in the kitchen.
Sarah found him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“You keep blaming yourself.”
“I ignored her.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked up.
“I thought being a good father meant keeping everyone safe.”
“It means listening too.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
Sarah sat beside him.
“We don't know yet who did this.”
“I know.”
“But we know Emma tried to tell us.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“That hurts.”
“It should.”
He looked at her.
Sarah continued.
“Not because you need to punish yourself. Because you need to remember.”
Daniel nodded.
The investigator returned with another development.
The red bag had been recovered from the garage.
It had been hidden behind a stack of gardening tools.
Inside were several items.
One was the chemical product.
Another was a pair of gloves.
The third was a folded piece of paper.
The investigator opened it carefully.
There was a name.
Daniel's name.
And beneath it was a date.
Tomorrow.
Sarah stared.
“What does that mean?”
The investigator shook his head.
“We don't know yet.”
Daniel stood.
“Tomorrow is the day of the school picnic.”
Sarah looked at him.
“Emma's class is going.”
Daniel's face changed.
The investigator immediately said, “Don't panic.”
But Sarah was already thinking.
Someone had entered their home.
Someone had tampered with food.
Someone had written Daniel's name and tomorrow's date.
And Emma's school picnic was tomorrow.
The investigator looked at them.
“We need to know whether this was meant as a threat, a message, or something else.”
Daniel asked, “What do we do?”
The investigator answered without hesitation.
“Until we understand this, Emma does not go anywhere without you.”
Sarah looked toward the stairs.
Emma was laughing with her brothers.
The sound felt painfully normal.
Daniel walked upstairs.
He stopped outside her room.
He did not enter.
He waited.
Then he knocked.
“Emma?”
“Yes?”
“Can I come in?”
A pause.
“Okay.”
Daniel opened the door.
He sat on the floor beside her.
“I need to tell you something.”
Emma looked at him.
“What?”
“You were right to tell us.”
Her face changed.
“About the bag?”
“Yes.”
“Are you mad?”
“No.”
“Are you scared?”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Emma looked relieved.
“Me too.”
He reached for her hand.
She allowed him to hold it.
“We're going to keep you safe.”
Emma looked toward the window.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“The man said something.”
Daniel's stomach tightened.
“What did he say?”
Emma whispered the words she had remembered all night.
“He said, ‘Tomorrow, you'll know why.’”
Daniel looked at the doorway.
The note had said tomorrow.
The school picnic was tomorrow.
And suddenly, the threat was no longer hidden.
Click Here to continue read next: PART4: The Family Canceled the Picnic and Followed the Evidence, but the Next Discovery Suggested the Stranger Knew Far More About Them Than Anyone Expected
The Candle Was Still Burning When Emma Suddenly Went Silent, and Her Father Realized the Birthday Celebration Had Turned Into an Emergency
Part 3 of 8
