Chapter 5 - THE NURSERY CAMERA
Our estate nursery had cameras.
Not hidden.
Visible security cameras at the hallway entrances and inside the nursery because DeLuca family history made privacy and protection complicated.
Elena hated them.
I had insisted.
For once, she was glad.
The footage was preserved before anyone reviewed it.
My security chief, Marco Ellis, did not touch the server.
He called an outside digital forensics firm.
Chain of custody.
Original media preserved.
Copies reviewed.
I was learning restraint quickly because newborn identity leaves no room for macho improvisation.
The footage showed no baby leaving the estate.
Good.
From hospital discharge to christening lunch, all three infants remained on property except two documented pediatric visits.
No unexplained transport.
No hidden handoff.
That reduced the probability of an actual child swap after discharge.
Then bracelet access.
Day Four home.
Vivienne entered the nursery at 3:18 p.m.
Bianca was with her.
Elena was asleep.
I was in a meeting downstairs.
Vivienne picked up Matteo.
Bianca stood near the dresser.
Video had no audio.
Vivienne examined his wrist.
Bianca shook her head.
Vivienne said something.
Bianca walked out.
Vivienne remained alone with Matteo for fifty-three seconds.
When she placed him back, his bracelet looked intact.
Could not see clasp detail.
Day Seven.
Vivienne entered alone.
She did not pick up a child.
She opened the top drawer of the medical cart.
Looked inside.
Closed it.
That drawer contained:
Thermometer covers.
Sterile gauze.
The home scanner dock.
Photocopies of discharge sheets.
No spare bands.
Then Day Nine.
Owen visited.
After he left, Vivienne entered the nursery and looked at the scanner dock.
Again.
Why?
No answer.
Then christening day.
Vivienne had arrived two hours early.
Video showed her entering Elena’s sitting room where the babies were being dressed.
She carried her handbag.
Left six minutes later without it.
Returned five minutes afterward.
Retrieved handbag.
During those eleven minutes, no baby left camera view because the nursery camera covered the bassinets.
But band tampering could have happened.
Then Elena remembered:
“My mother-in-law offered to change Matteo.”
Why?
Diaper.
Normal.
Elena allowed it.
Five minutes alone.
Then later:
The band was wrong.
The actual baby never left.
That was the first evidence suggesting the terrifying possibility:
May you like
Matteo might still be Matteo.
The bracelet could be the lie.
