I kept my voice gentle and told Lily she had done nothing wrong. Through the little speaker, Naomi spoke again, still calm, telling her daughter to return the card and wait quietly until she called back. But I noticed something in that soft voice now, a thread of tension underneath the sweetness. She was not comforting a frightened child. She was managing a witness.

I asked Lily one careful question. Had Mommy ever told her why the house mattered so much? Lily nodded slowly and whispered that Mommy said if I ever loved them too much, a lawyer would take the house away, and that only the recordings could keep them safe. Then the red light blinked twice, and I understood the device did far more than send a simple message.