Chapter Nine

"Emily, it is time."

Emily looked at Sarah and nodded.

She had spent the whole day crying when William asked her to rest. She did listen. She went to her room and slept. She didn't feel the need to cry nor did she have the strength anymore. She figured if she cried or didn't cry it would not change any of the Reeds' minds. Nobody would believe she was innocent. Either way, she would still lose her job, so it was better to face her problems like a big girl.

She and Sarah made their way to the already filled living room. The whole maid had been invited to see her fail. "Classy," she mumbled to herself.

Marcus had told her he had places and things to do, so she did not expect to see him there. She was only disappointed not to see Katie there. She hadn't had the time to talk to her friend yet. She made a mental note to find Katie to tell her she did not steal from her father. She would say her truths even if Katie would not believe her.

Kelvin, who had been impatiently waiting for the moment, took the stage. "So we all know why we are here, one of these maids stole from me and, worst of all, took a huge amount of money from my father. Earlier this morning, we found my father's credit cards and my missing gold necklace in one of the maids' bags," he paused. "Emily to be precise. I then decided, as a lawyer that I am, it might have been planted in her bag by anyone, so we decided to investigate."

Sarah sighed.

"I noticed that my golden necklace was missing from its usual spot on a Saturday. The day before that, I wasn't around. When I returned home the next day at noon, nobody was home. I met Mark outside, and Emily in William's room cleaning." Kelvin paused to get water. "As I was saying, Mark was outside and Emily was inside. As we all know, the drivers and security have their own quarters outside the main house, which explains why I was quick to point out Emily this morning. That same morning, my father called my mom to report a huge amount of money missing which my mom confirmed she did not take."

"My able mother requested her able maid, Grace," he swiftly smiled at Grace, who flushed in return, "to check Emily's assigned room. Which she did. Interestingly, my missing necklace and my father's two credit cards were found in her bag. My brother William," he called the name as though it made his tongue bitter, "Williams suggested it was not a good idea to judge the case that morning, and he was right. As I mentioned earlier, someone might be trying to frame our dearest Emily."

"As you all know, there is a security camera in my parents' bedroom, and the door of every maid's room for security reasons. I decided to check the security cameras for that Saturday, I will show you," he mumbled, and turned to play it on his laptop.

Everyone began whispering and glaring at Emily. Grace stood beside Missus Reeds and Emily could swear she saw her snicker, as if the whole thing was turning out well.

Emily blinked to see Sarah looking at her irritated. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am fine."

"I said how could he have possibly got you on camera?" She whispered.

Emily shrugged. "I have no idea."

Sarah nodded.

Emily felt sad, she could see the doubts forming in her friend's eyes as Kelvin played the tape.

The room was gravely silent. Emily watched herself walk into Mister and Missus Reeds' room, picked up the two credit cards from where they were and promptly left the room. She was then seen walking into her room. A few seconds later, she left her room and, after about a minute later, rushed with a shiny necklace in hand to the room.

The glaring and whispering became intense after the tape. Sarah sat stiff beside Emily, not daring to speak to her or look at her.

Grace shushed everyone to create the audience Missus Reeds' needed.

"I believe this came as a shock to each one of you as it is to me. I suppose you know I choose Emily above most of you all to personally serve my son William. I had honestly believed she was a good person," unlike Kelvin, Missus Reeds sounded sad. "I was heartbroken by this discovery, and while Grace pulled the evidence together, I had hope it would all be a misunderstanding. But when I saw this video, there was nothing else I could do than the obvious."

Her voice instantly became venomous as he turned to Emily. "Emily, we employed you even after the terrible review we got from your last boss, and I honored you by placing you in charge of my son William, even though there were clearly others who were willing to serve him better than you ever will. We took care of your pathetic mother's health and even cleared all the debts you owe the hospital. I truly wish there were more ways to punish you," she grumbled. "Emily, from now on, you will no longer be there."

"Wait!" Katie called, running down the stairs in her pajamas and her laptop in hand.

"Oh Katie, this is no time for your nonsense!" Kelvin wailed impatiently.

"I have new evidence!" Katie said breathlessly as she bent in front of Kelvin.

"We have seen all the existing evidence, Katie, there is no time for this!" Kelvin said in a husky voice. "Mother, will you please continue?"

Missus Reeds narrowed her eyes to Katie. "What new evidence, Katie?"

"It's right here," she said, pointing at her laptop.

"William had installed a security camera in his room after he found out Emily had put used gum in random places in his room." She shot a warning glance at Emily. "He has a video about what happened in his room that same Saturday."

"Oh, Katie, will you?"

"Kelvin let her speak!" Missus Reeds yelled at him.

"I will just play it," Katie muttered, and touched some buttons quickly and played a video.

It started when Emily was cleaning the room and cursing Williams. Emily frowned, but her cheeks did not, but instead, it flushed red. It went on to show where he used his pillow to clean her armpit.

"Are you for real?" Sarah whispered loudly in her ears.

Katie paused the video. "This is where it gets interesting." Kelvin walked into the room and everything he said was loud and clear. It showed when he threw her into the bed and when she had managed to escape. It also showed a part of Kelvin picking William's pocket.

"Okay, this is just insane," Kelvin cried.

"Shut it Kelvin!" Missus Reeds yelled.

"No camera had any record of Emily again till later that evening when everyone was home," Katie narrated. "Mother, you can confirm that on your own security channel."

"I have not been able to access my security channel for a while now, the password has been changed," Missus Reeds complained.

"It is true your password has been changed," Katie confirmed. "Surprisingly, it was changed that very same Saturday about an hour after the incident in Willaim's room. Now if you look at the video Kelvin showed, Emily walked swiftly into your room, mother. She opened the door with a key, and you will all agree with me that no maid has the key to any place other than her room in this mansion except for only one exception, Grace, of course."

Emily could see Grace standing still glaring at Kelvin from the order part of the room.

"We also noticed that Emily walked quickly. Now, if you know anything about Emily, you will know she cannot take two correct steps without falling."

The maids, security and drivers all nodded in agreement. " Now the strangest thing was the date. The date at Kelvin's was three days ago and on my tape we see Emily cleaning and doing some more disgusting things to my brother's room."

L

Kelvin groaned angrily.

"Most interesting of all was the shoe Emily was wearing. That shoe was bought by Missus Reeds, and it was given to our dearest Grace," Katie said mockingly.