‘No,’ Lisa scoffed. ‘But the camera faces Uno’s bridge and the doorway to the kitchen, we’ll see who went in there and—’
‘I’ve found it!’ Fred beamed as he shouted excitedly holding aloft the treasure he had discovered downthe back of the sofa.
Lisa’s heart leapt. She would happily be proven wrong about Sam if it meant she got her bracelet back. As she took in the sight of the pound coin Fred held in his dimpled hand she tried not to let her disappointment show. ‘That’s great Fred. You can keep it.’ She attempted to smile before returning her attention to her phone.
Felicity rubbed Lisa’s arm apologetically.‘Hey, Fred I’ve got an idea.’ Felicity went to her bag and took out a notebook and a pack of twistable crayons. ‘You should draw a map, to show us where you found it?’
Felicity guided Fred to the table, ensuring he was fully engaged in the activity before returning to Lisa, who was staring at her phone.
‘The Pet Cam’s movement activated, you can scroll up to four hours of recording viathe app. It might show something.’
‘But don’t you turn it off when you come in?’
‘I’m supposed to, but to be honest, until Fred knocked it off the table, I’d forgotten about it. The novelty of checking it wore off after a couple of days. It’s probably more appropriate for kittens, like Kit and Kaboodle … Look there’s footage!’
‘That’s us, this morning. Ha! There’s me with my cup oftea.’ Felicity giggled.
‘Good, so we know it’s working. We just need to hope there haven’t been more than four hours of activity since my bracelet was taken.’ Lisa scrolled through the footage.
She and Felicity leaned forward staring at the phone screen.
‘Look, that’s me after my shower last night, I’m in my towel.’
‘There’s Nathan.’
‘Oh!’ Lisa’s cheeks flushed as she hurriedlyforwarded through the recording.
‘Wait! What was going on there?’
‘Nothing,’ Lisa squeaked, her cheeks burning hotter while she made a mental note to check if recordings were stored for any period on the device itself.
‘Right, look food leaving the kitchen. The Austins have arrived.’
‘OK.’
They watched as Lisa and Nathan went in and out of the kitchen, and Uno stretched ashe moved positions.
‘Look, there’s Sam!’ Felicity pointed at the screen. ‘That’s a short skirt. Her legs are so—’
‘Flick, that’s not helping.’
‘Sorry, it’s just—’
‘I know!’
‘OK. So she’s gone straight past the kitchen door—’
‘To the toilet, and back again,’ Lisa finished.
Felicity looked at Lisa. ‘And you definitely didn’t leave the bracelet in the bathroom?’
Lisasat back from her phone. ‘No. I remember leaving it in the kitchen.’ She swallowed past the lump in her throat. ‘I really did.’ She pictured it exactly where she left it and felt tears sting her eyes. ‘Honestly, Flick, my brain hasn’t entirely turned to mush, I know where I left my bracelet!’
Felicity put her hand on Lisa’s arm. ‘We’ll get to the bottom of it. Pass your phone. I’ll look whileyou grab yourself a tissue.’
Lisa passed Felicity her phone, stepped over her feet and went to the kitchen. As she wiped her face, she took a breath. She just wanted her bracelet back. Proving that Sam wasn’t as innocent as Nathan believed she was would be a bonus, but more than anything she wanted her bracelet back where it belonged. Nathan had given it to her to fill with memories. How couldshe do that if it were lost? Fresh tears threatened to run down her cheeks.
‘Lisa quick!’
Lisa dashed to the lounge. ‘What is it?’
Felicity looked at her, eyes wide, holding the phone, the recording paused. ‘Here’s your culprit. Caught red-handed!’
Lisa looked from the screen back to Felicity. Attempting to take the revelation in, she swallowed.
