“No,” I said quietly. “I think I’m just finally seeing it.”
She went silent.
The responder took her aside again.
I didn’t follow.
I couldn’t.
Our daughter was still holding onto me.
Later that night, another video was reviewed.
This one was shorter.
The recording began with my wife’s voice.
She sounded calm.
Far calmer than she had sounded during the incident I witnessed.
She was explaining what she called the purpose of the exercise.
The camera moved across the yard.
The cage came into view.
Then she walked closer.
The recording showed her preparing the area before our daughter ever appeared.
That answered one question.
She had planned the setup in advance.
But it raised another.
Why had she been doing it before that day?
The responder paused the video.
“There are timestamps on these files,” he said.
“How many dates?”
“Several.”
My mouth went dry.
