Chapter 4 — The storm hits the porch as Oliver doubles down on his theory
Oliver leaned in closer to the glowing screen of the phone.
He pointed a thick finger at the video display.
“Look at that right there,” Oliver insisted, doubling down on his theory.
“The box wasn’t like that when he dropped it off.”
Samantha kept her eyes fixed on the playback.
“The courier left the flaps separated,” she noted.
“No, that’s not what I mean,” Oliver muttered, shaking his head.
“Someone came out here after the delivery truck left.”
“I guarantee you one of the kids messed with it.”
Chloe let out a fresh gasp of disbelief from the background.
“I didn’t!” she protested, her voice breaking all over again.
“Nobody came out here, Oliver,” Samantha said firmly.
“Just watch the footage.”
Outside in the real world, dark storm clouds rolled overhead in the background.
A heavy low rumble of thunder vibrated through the porch floorboards.
Wind gusts began to violently shake the hanging fern on the porch in the recording.
The violent movement of the hanging plant matched the turbulent weather unfolding live around the house.
Oliver refused to back down despite the empty porch on the screen.
“A gust of wind didn’t open those cardboard flaps that wide,” he argued stubbornly.
“Somebody had to come out here later to open the flaps further.”
Samantha sighed and reached out to drag the playback slider forward.
She needed to settle Oliver’s tampering claim once and for all by jumping straight into the thick of the storm.