Teresa pressed her lips together. “He had promised there wouldn’t be anything frightening. Owen likes photography. That’s why we agreed to the first workshop. When they started asking him to record real houses, I stopped it.”
Owen lifted his sleeve. “I didn’t take all the pictures. Some showed up after I left. Somebody else must have had the tablet.”
Mara asked about the uploads attributed to her name. Owen explained that the tablet automatically tagged images with the shared account, so everybody’s work looked as though it belonged to Mara. He thought that was a silly design but hadn’t known how to fix it.
Then he said something important. “Simon wanted me to learn one thing. He said the picture inside a picture tells the real story.”
“Like the reflection in my glass?” Mara asked.
Owen nodded. “He told us to look in mirrors and windows for things the photographer didn’t notice. But sometimes Simon put things there on purpose.”
Mara showed him the picture of Willa and the man with the black case. Owen studied it for several seconds.
“That’s the portable projector case,” he said. “They use it to make the painted doors look like they’re opening.”
“Do you know why it was in my yard?”
“I don’t know. But Simon took the old tablet after the workshop and said he’d return it.”
Teresa folded her hands tightly. “He knew where we lived. He knew Owen’s school. The first time I asked for the photos back, he smiled and said we had agreed to a permanent collaborative artwork. He spoke as if my son were a piece of furniture.”
“Did he threaten you?” Priya asked.
“Not directly. He sent a message saying the premiere depended on Owen being brave. He said several people would lose their jobs if we ruined it.”
Owen’s shoulders moved slightly under his coat. “He also said Willa had ruined everything.”
Mara looked up. “Why Willa?”
“She saw us at the house. She told Celia we shouldn’t be taking photographs of somebody else’s windows. Simon got angry. Then he told us Willa was making trouble because she wanted the attention for herself.”
Mara remembered the warning Willa had mouthed toward the camera. The older woman might have understood only part of the plot, but she had known someone intended to use Mara’s home for something concealed.
Holt arrived to interview Teresa and Owen. She listened carefully and wrote down their account. Then she pulled Mara aside.
“We found the case,” she said. “Rusk left it at the warehouse. It’s equipment for projecting moving images onto surfaces. But the police are more interested in the altered service door at your house.”
“Can you connect him to that?”
