The normal rhythm of their house had disappeared.
At 7:14, Tanya opened her laptop at the kitchen table.
She wrote down the date.
December 7.
She wrote the time she had arrived home as precisely as she could remember. She copied the officer's name from the business card Hayes had left after recognizing her. She wrote Patricia Brennan's statements as closely as Jordan and Julian could remember them, then stopped herself before turning the boys into witnesses in their own kitchen.
Documentation mattered.
So did letting children be children.
She closed the notebook.
Jordan appeared in the doorway.
"Are you going to get her in trouble?"
Tanya looked at him.
"I don't know yet."
"She lied."
"Yes."
"To the police."
"Yes."
Jordan folded his arms.
"If I lied to the police, I'd be in trouble."
Tanya chose her answer carefully.
"Adults are supposed to be responsible for the choices they make too."
"Supposed to be isn't the same as are."
He was ten.
That sentence should not have sounded so old.
Tanya stood and pulled him close.
"No," she said quietly. "It isn't."
Sunday morning brought the first piece of evidence Tanya had not asked for.
David Carter lived next door with his wife Melissa and their teenage daughter. At 8:23, David texted Tanya.
Can I come over? I think our doorbell camera caught yesterday.
Tanya replied immediately.
Five minutes later, David sat at her kitchen table with a laptop.
"I didn't know what was happening until Melissa mentioned the cruiser," he said. "I checked the archive last night."
He opened the footage.
The camera did not show Tanya's entire yard, but the front door and most of the driveway were visible.
2:45:03.
Jordan came out carrying lights.
Julian followed with Santa.
They were laughing.
3:02.
Both went back inside.
3:08.
Both came out again.
3:15.
Patricia left her house and moved toward the Davis property.
3:18.
The police cruiser arrived.
David paused the recording.
"She saw them come out of your front door."
Tanya stared at the screen.
"Yes."
"For thirty minutes."
"Yes."
"And still called them thieves."
Tanya did not answer.
David looked ashamed.
"I've known Patricia for years. I knew she could be... difficult. I didn't know she was like this."
Tanya's expression hardened slightly.