Brittany stayed nearby, hovering with forced concern, bringing coffee that was always wrong and asking repeatedly if the cause had been confirmed.

The detective returned with more questions, this time focusing on finances and legal matters, which made Brittany suddenly more animated as she explained that our parents owned their home outright.

That detail landed heavily in my mind.

That night, Miles accessed the smart thermostat system and found that several logs had been deleted.

Deleted.

Not missing.

Not corrupted.

Intentionally removed.

We returned to the house again, and this time Miles inspected the furnace vent closely, pointing out fresh scratches around the screws.

“This was loosened recently,” he said, his voice steady but tense.

In the kitchen drawer, we found the missing hallway detector hidden among random items, completely stripped of batteries.

Back at the hospital, I searched through my mother’s belongings and found a torn note in her handwriting that read only, “Do not trust.”

The unfinished warning sent a chill through me.

Miles accessed the doorbell camera system and discovered gaps in the footage, but after attempting recovery, one clip reappeared.