I grabbed my phone and called the police. This was not something I could deal with alone.
After all, my wife was being held against her will in a basement.
The dispatcher kept telling me to slow down.
“My wife is on a live camera,” I said. “Someone took her and is impersonating her. The woman in my house is her twin sister, pretending to be my wife.”
Two officers arrived within 15 minutes.
Detective Brooks came shortly after.
I showed them the live feed, the photographs, and told them about the birthmark.
They confirmed that the video was indeed a live feed.
Detective Brooks leaned closer to the screen.
“Do you recognize the room?”
“No.”
“Do you know where Ava lives?”
“No. I didn’t even know she was alive.”
They checked the laptop’s network data while another officer searched public records.
It turned out that Ava owned a small house 40 minutes away.
The camera feed was linked to an internet connection registered at that address.
Detective Brooks turned to me.
“We are sending a team now.”
“What about Ava?”
“We wait for her.”
That hour was the longest of my life.
The officers stayed out of sight. Detective Brooks sat with me in the kitchen.
