Chapter 9: The Recording Was Fake

The courtroom erupted.

“Three days ago?” the judge repeated.

The acoustic analyst nodded.

“Yes, Your Honor. The metadata indicates that the current file was created three days ago.”

Adriana's face drained of color.

Her lawyer immediately stood.

“Metadata can be altered.”

“We need to establish whether the file itself was manipulated.”

The judge nodded.

“Then establish it.”

The analyst connected the USB drive to his computer and began examining the original audio structure.

I watched the screen in silence.

A waveform appeared.

Then another window opened.

“There are multiple audio layers here.”

The analyst frowned.

“The children's voices were recorded separately from the background noise.”

A shocked murmur swept through the courtroom.

I slowly turned toward Adriana.

“You said you recorded this outside my door.”

She couldn't answer.

“If you were standing outside my door, why are my children's voices on a separate audio track?”

Her lips trembled.

Daniel suddenly stood.

“This proves nothing.”

The prosecutor looked at him.

“Then perhaps you can explain why your property management office appears in the file's creation history.”

Daniel froze.

I stared at the screen.

The file had been processed on a computer registered to the building's management office.

My heart began pounding.

This wasn't just Adriana.

Someone had planned the entire thing.

The prosecutor turned to Daniel.

“Mr. Mercer, did you access this file?”

“No.”

“Did anyone in your office access it?”

“I don't know.”

The judge's voice hardened.

“You don't know?”

Daniel swallowed.

“Your Honor, my staff has access to the system. I cannot personally account for every file.”

The prosecutor nodded slowly.

“Then we'll obtain the access logs.”

Adriana suddenly started crying.

“Daniel told me it would work.”

Daniel snapped his head toward her.

“Stop talking.”

The courtroom went silent.

I looked at him.

“So you admit there was a plan.”

He said nothing.

The judge ordered both Adriana and Daniel to remain available for questioning.

Then he turned toward me.

“Ms. Wells, you stated that you had not moved into the apartment when these alleged disturbances began.”

“Yes.”

“Can you prove that?”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

I opened my phone and pulled up the records I'd saved after buying the apartment.

“My renovation contract began on September 22.”

“Before that date, the unit was empty.”

“The electricity was disconnected for renovation work.”

“My children were staying with their father.”

“And my movers didn't deliver my furniture until October.”

The prosecutor looked at the documents.

“Do you have access records for the building?”

The property manager answered before anyone else could.

“Of course.”

The prosecutor smiled faintly.

“Good.”

“Then those records should settle this.”

A court officer retrieved the building's electronic entry logs.

The screen showed every keycard entry into Unit 1608.

There were no entries by me during the period Adriana claimed the noise had occurred.

Not one.

The judge studied the records.

“Ms. Ferraro, you testified that the defendant was making noise almost every night.”

“Yes.”

“Yet the building records show she never entered the apartment.”

Adriana's shoulders began shaking.

“She could have entered another way.”

I almost laughed.

“The apartment was locked and under renovation.”

“There wasn't even furniture inside.”

The judge looked at Adriana.

“Do you still maintain that Ms. Wells was responsible?”

She opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.

Then the prosecutor asked the question that changed everything.

“Ms. Ferraro, where was your grandmother on the night she died?”

Adriana looked down.

“At home.”

“Alone?”

She hesitated.

“Yes.”

“Are you certain?”

Adriana's eyes flickered toward Daniel.

That tiny movement was enough.

The prosecutor noticed it too.

“Your Honor, I'd like to request the grandmother's medical and emergency records, along with the building's security footage from that night.”

The judge granted the request.

The hearing was temporarily suspended.

As people began leaving the courtroom, I remained seated.

My hands were still shaking.

I had spent days being called careless, selfish, and almost a murderer.

Now the story was collapsing.

But I wasn't satisfied.

Because there was still one question I couldn't shake.

If Adriana's grandmother hadn't died because of my noise, then what had actually killed her?

And why had Adriana been willing to destroy my life to hide it?