Debbie pulled up to the courthouse at 8:45 a.m. and dropped Nate and Emily off while she searched for a parking spot with Charlie. Emily had been up all night speculating what could possibly happen that morning. Now that she had a glimmer of hope, it’d be harder to accept if she were proven guilty. Valerie was standing at the door with a huge grin on her face and led them into the conference room. There was a TV set up in the corner that hadn’t been there the week of the trial.
“So, you heard the news from your mom that there’s been new evidence found?” Valerie asked Emily as she took a seat at the end of the table.
“Yeah,” Emily replied. “Why aren’t they presenting this in court? I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
Debbie trudged in with Charlie, both smelling like cigarettes, and they sat down at the table with everyone.
“So, what’s the scoop?” Charlie asked, clearly excited to be in the back room and in on everything for the first time.
“Were you aware that Mr. Thomas had a hidden camera inside of the house, Emily?” Valerie asked. Emily stared at her blankly.
“Inside?” she asked. “No. Where?”
“He had a hidden camera in a big taxidermy bear in the family room that I guess no one knew about but him. Apparently, a family member just found footage on his phone from it that we were unaware of because it was not installed by the same security camera company as the one that installed the outside cameras.”
“Daddy killed that mean bear with Uncle Tommy in Alaska and Tommy killed a cheetah in Africa,” Sophie whispered in her ear. Emily stared at her lawyer, dumbfounded. “I remember my first time babysitting and he pointed out that bear and said something about how it watched over the house or something.” It was all starting to make sense.
“So, the bear’s camera has views of the family room, foyer, and most of the kitchen the way it’s set up. We were able to view everything that went on the evening of the ninth, as well as evidence of his several affairs, including with Hannah the babysitter.”
Emily nodded her head, soaking in the information. “But what did it see that would change anything that happened that night?” she asked her. Valerie leaned over and turned on the TV. On the screen, Emily saw the Thomases’ family room, foyer, and kitchen from the bear’s eyes.
“Wild,” Charlie proclaimed, stretching out his arms behind his head.
Valerie pressed a button and it fast-forwarded through Emily entering the room, sitting with the girls watching TV, and making them dinner on the night of November 9. “Now, it’s hard to tell from this far away, which is why we have a program that allows us to zoom in.” She pressed another button and zoomed in on the kitchen as it showed Emily taking the macaroni pot off the stove and turning the knob off.
“See that?” Valerie directed, pointing at the screen. “It shows you almost certainly did take the macaroni from the stove and turn the burner off.”
“Boom!” Charlie yelled.
“But I still could have maybe not turned it all the way? Maybe I turned it halfway and left it on?” Emily asked, still not convinced of her innocence.
“Well, there’s more,” Valerie promised as she pressed another button, fast-forwarding the tape through the night to when Mr. and Mrs. Thomas arrived home. Emily viewed the tape as it showed her walking down the stairs and saying goodbye as Mr. Thomas staggered into the kitchen and Mrs. Thomas took off her coat. Mr. Thomas stumbled around in the kitchen and poured himself a shot before putting the macaroni pot back on the stove and turning the knob. He staggered over to the pantry and took out a bag of Doritos, opened the bag, and poured them into his mouth. Mrs. Thomas stumbled in and poured herself a drink. The footage showed them sitting in the kitchen for a bit longer as he reheated the macaroni and then scooped the noodles straight from the pot into his mouth without taking it off the stove. After a few minutes, he and Mrs. Thomas hobbled into the family room and sat on the couch.
“So, he turned the stove back on!” Debbie yelled.
“Yes,” Valerie said. “It looks like after you left, Mr. Thomas reheated the macaroni and cheese and put it back on the stove. He turned the stove back on and must have left it on.”
Emily wept in relief. “So, I didn’t kill the girls?” she asked.
“You didn’t kill them, honey,” Valerie explained. “And you know how I know?”
“How?”
Valerie pressed play and Emily watched as the footage showed Sophie shuffling down the stairs with her blankie in her hand, rubbing her eyes as she headed over to the couch. Mrs. Thomas marched over to her, picked her up, and carried her back upstairs. Mr. Thomas then staggered across the room and picked up Trixie from the dog bed and began to cuddle with her on the couch.
Emily stared at the screen with raised brows and relief.
“The girls were alive and well when you left, Emily. You didn’t leave the stove burner on. Mr. Thomas did.”
“So, what does this mean now?” Nate asked, sitting up straighter.
“It means the prosecution has dropped the manslaughter charges. They now have no evidence at all that you had anything to do with the death of this family. Did you leave while babysitting? Yes. Could minor charges be brought up for that? Sure. But this case has been dismissed. You’re innocent.”
Emily bent over with her head between her legs and sobbed tears of joy, sadness, grief, relief, and guilt.