Chapter 9 - Reese Remembered the Conversation She Had Misunderstood
Memory rarely arrives in order.
Reese proved that.
Nearly a month after the incident, she was warming a bottle when she suddenly remembered a sentence Graham had said weeks before the stroller rolled.
She called Camille.
“I think I got something wrong.”
Camille came downstairs.
Reese explained.
The day she overheard Graham and Judith discussing her employment, Judith had said:
“She chose Reese. That’s what matters.”
At the time, Reese assumed Judith meant Camille had hired her.
Then Graham replied:
“She defended her twice already.”
Reese had interpreted that as family annoyance.
Now it sounded different.
“Defended me about what?” Reese asked.
Camille knew.
Two small incidents.
A diaper rash Judith blamed on Reese even though the pediatrician called it ordinary irritation.
A missed nap Judith claimed happened because Reese kept Maisie overstimulated, though Graham knew the baby had slept in the car.
Both times, Graham presented Judith’s criticism to Camille.
Both times, Camille defended Reese.
Camille sat down.
They had not simply been creating complaints against the nanny.
They had been making Camille reject those complaints.
Building a pattern in which Camille repeatedly chose Reese’s judgment over Judith’s.
Why would that matter?
Camille called Maren.
Maren listened and answered carefully.
“One possibility is they wanted to portray you as ignoring warning signs.”
“For what?”
“I’m not saying that is what happened.”
“For what, Maren?”
“If a parenting dispute developed later, Graham might have believed it would help him argue that your childcare judgment was poor.”
Camille went cold.
“He was setting me up for custody.”
“Maybe.”
The word frustrated her.
But Maren would not give certainty without evidence.
That evening, Camille opened an old conversation in her own mind.
Graham questioning whether she would move closer to Beth if their marriage ended.
Judith asking whether Camille’s company had offices outside Illinois.
Graham becoming strangely interested in who had selected Reese.
Judith repeatedly saying, “Camille insisted on keeping her.”
Three clues.
Same direction.
Camille had assumed the stroller trap was about getting Reese fired.
Now she saw a darker possibility.
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Maybe Reese had never been the real target.
Maybe she had only been the tool.
