Vanessa turned toward the nook, her face sharp and pale on the forty-inch screens, and brought her right arm forward in a wide arc.

The heavy iron pan struck the side of Emma’s head and knocked her sideways onto the maple syrup bottle on the floor.

The recorded audio came through the courtroom’s ceiling speakers, catching the hard thud against wood and then total silence from the child.

In the gallery’s second row, two court observers sat up straight and leaned toward the center aisle.

On the video, Patricia walked into the frame eight seconds later, stepped over Emma’s legs, and took a kitchen towel off the counter rack.