Chapter 9 - THE DOORBELL CAMERAOur next-door neighbor, Martha Greene, had a doorbell camera angled poorly toward our side yard.
It did not show the lawn clearly.
It captured audio.
At 4:17 p.m.:
Sophie screaming:
“No!”
Then Claudia:
“Sit still.”
Sophie:
“Please don’t.”
Claudia:
“You had your chance.”
Scissors were not visible.
Audio continued.
Sophie:
“I want Daddy!”
Claudia:
“Daddy is not here to rescue you every time you behave badly.”
Then crying.
Then my voice minutes later:
“Claudia!”
Running footsteps.
The camera image caught me entering the backyard gate carrying a briefcase and toy dinosaur.
Then leaving the frame.
Audio:
My shout.
Claudia yelling.
Sophie screaming.
Impact.
My words:
“Get away from my daughter.”
That helped establish sequence.
It did not show the kick itself.
It did establish that Sophie was pleading before I arrived.
No gum argument.
May you like
No spontaneous struggle after my entrance.
Something had been happening already.
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