Lily Was Blamed for Shattering Grandma Helen’s Favorite Vase — Then the Pet Camera Showed She Never Touched It
Chapter 3 — The Dog Had Been Startled Before the Crash
Claire replayed the footage from a few minutes earlier.
“Wait.”
Buddy had not simply wandered into the table.
Something had made him move suddenly.
Claire turned up the camera audio.
A mechanical buzzing sound came from the hallway.
Then Buddy appeared.
He looked behind him.
His ears flattened.
He moved quickly into the living room.
That was when he bumped the table.
Claire frowned.
“What’s that noise?”
Helen knew immediately.
“The robot vacuum.”
Claire stared.
Helen had programmed the new vacuum to clean automatically before the dinner guests arrived.
It normally ran at night.
Buddy hated it.
Every time the machine approached, he moved into another room.
“You scheduled it while Buddy was loose?” Claire asked.
Helen sighed.
“I forgot.”
The entire sequence was suddenly clear.
Helen moved a heavy ceramic vase from a safe shelf onto a narrow table.
She placed long flowers inside it.
She started the robot vacuum.
The vacuum startled Buddy.
Buddy moved quickly into the living room.
His body bumped the table.
The vase fell.
Lily happened to be the first person Helen saw afterward.
And somehow, all those events had been reduced to:
“Lily broke it.”
Claire looked toward her daughter.
“You weren’t even part of what caused it.”
Lily nodded firmly.
“I was coloring.”
Helen closed her eyes.
“You were.”
