Morris waited until Natalie sat down again.
“Severe exhaustion and postpartum mental health conditions can affect judgment and behavior,” the doctor said.
“They deserve immediate treatment.
They do not make an infant’s injuries less serious.”
Dana asked whether there were cameras in the Hayes home.
Ethan nodded slowly.
“A security camera in the living room.
One in the hallway.”
Natalie turned toward him.
“They’re not recording.”
“The company stores motion clips for thirty days,” Ethan said.
Her face changed.
It was small at first: a tightening around the mouth, a flicker in her eyes.
Then she reached for her purse.
The officer stepped between her and the door.
“Please remain seated.”
“I need air.”
“You can have the door opened.
You cannot leave.”
Dana requested Ethan’s permission to access the security account.
He agreed.
Natalie laughed once, without humor.
“Of course you did.
You always do whatever your mother wants.”
“This isn’t about my mother,” Ethan said.
“It has always been about her.”
Ethan looked at Margaret, then at the closed door behind which his son was being monitored.
“No,” he said.
“This is about Noah.”
It was the first time Margaret had heard strength in his voice all day.
The security company sent a verification code to Ethan’s phone.
Dana entered it on a hospital laptop.
Hundreds of short motion clips appeared, each marked by date and time.
They began with the day Noah came home.
Most showed ordinary fragments: Ethan carrying bottles, Natalie pacing with the baby, a nurse washing her hands, Margaret arriving with groceries.
The sound was faint but clear enough to identify voices.
Then Dana opened a clip from twelve days earlier.
The camera faced the living room.
Natalie sat on the sofa with Noah in her arms.
The baby was crying.
Ethan’s voice came from the kitchen.
“Do you want me to take him?”
“No.”
“You’ve been up all night.”
“I said no.”
The baby cried louder.
Natalie stood too quickly.
Her hand closed around his middle.
For one second, the camera caught her fingers pressing into his small body as she lifted him away from her chest.
“Stop!” she shouted at him.
“Just stop!”
The clip ended.
Margaret’s vision blurred.
Ethan covered his face.
Natalie said nothing.
