Chương 10
She waited.
He meant it.
After a moment she stepped closer.
“Benny sleep with me.”
Vincent looked toward Teresa.
Teresa came up the rest of the stairs.
“We can ask the police to photograph and process everything here first.”
“Process?” Lily repeated.
Teresa crouched.
“It means they look very carefully.”
“Like doctor?”
“Kind of, but for toys.”
Lily frowned.
“Benny not sick.”
“No.”
“Then no doctor.”
Teresa nodded solemnly.
“Fair.”
Vincent looked at her.
“You’re negotiating evidence handling with a three-year-old.”
“I’ve negotiated with worse.”
“Who?”
She looked at him.
“Frequently you.”
A knock sounded at the front door.
Marco went to answer it.
Two uniformed officers entered with snow melting on their shoulders.
Behind them came a plainclothes detective Vincent recognized from charity dinners but had never spoken to directly.
Detective Lena Ortiz was in her early forties, compact, tired-eyed, and wearing a wool coat that looked practical enough to survive several winters.
She greeted Vincent without warmth.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“Detective.”
Teresa stepped forward.
“I’m Teresa Bell, counsel.”
“I know.”
“That sounded ominous.”
“It wasn’t meant to.”
Ortiz looked toward Lily.
The child immediately moved behind Vincent’s leg.
Ortiz noticed and lowered her voice.
“We can do this quietly.”
Vincent nodded.
Teresa described the bag, the rabbit, and the key before allowing anyone near them.
Ortiz listened without interrupting.
She then asked where the bag had been found.
Mrs. Alvarez showed her.
One officer began photographing the kitchen counter and surrounding floor.
The other went with Marco to review security footage.
Vincent remained near the stairs with Lily.
Ortiz approached slowly.
“I’m not going to take your rabbit right now.”
Lily peered around Vincent’s coat.
“No?”
“No.”
“But I need to look at him.”
“Why?”
“Because someone brought him here when they weren’t supposed to.”
Lily considered that.
“Bad person?”
Ortiz paused.
“Maybe somebody who made a bad choice.”
Vincent noticed the distinction.
So did Teresa.
Lily thought about it, then whispered, “Rebecca makes bad choices.”
Vincent’s stomach tightened.
Ortiz did not react.
She did not ask Lily to explain.
Instead she looked at Vincent.
“Could I speak with you away from her?”
“No,” Lily said.
Everyone looked at her.
She grabbed Vincent’s trouser leg.
“No Grandpa go.”
Vincent looked at Ortiz.
“We speak here.”
Ortiz nodded.
“Fine.”
She kept her voice low.
“Your son regained consciousness.”
Vincent’s shoulders dropped slightly.
“Can he talk?”
“Yes.”
“How bad?”
“Concussion, broken wrist, several bruised ribs.”
Vincent glanced at Lily.
She was looking at Bruno, who had stretched himself across the hallway rug.
“Did he say what happened?”
Ortiz looked at Teresa first.
Then Vincent.
“He says Rebecca pushed him.”
Vincent’s face hardened.
Teresa immediately said, “What exactly does he remember?”
“He confronted her in the basement.”
“Why basement?”
“Because he went looking for something.”
Vincent looked at the key downstairs.
“What?”
Ortiz studied him.
“A black document box.”
Teresa’s eyes shifted toward Lily.
Vincent said nothing.
Ortiz continued.
“Daniel says he remembered seeing Rebecca carry it downstairs several times over the past few months.”
“Did he know what was inside?”
“No.”
“So why look tonight?”
“He says your conversation about Lily’s bruises changed how he interpreted some things.”
Vincent’s mouth tightened.
“What things?”
“Rebecca kept telling him Lily fell often.”
Vincent looked at the child behind his leg.
Ortiz continued.
“She also told him the preschool had concerns about aggressive behavior.”
Teresa frowned.
“Did they?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Daniel never verified?”
Ortiz’s expression said enough.
Vincent looked away.
“He believed his wife.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not a crime.”
“No.”
Vincent heard the accusation anyway.
Not from Ortiz.
From himself.
He had made the same mistake in reverse.
He had decided Rebecca was cruel long before he had proof of anything worse.
Daniel had decided she was trustworthy because marriage required some version of that belief.
Neither had paid enough attention to Lily.
Ortiz continued.
“Daniel went downstairs and found the closet locked.”
“With this key?”
“We haven’t established that.”
“He confronted Rebecca.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He says she told him there was nothing in the closet that concerned him.”
Teresa raised an eyebrow.
“That’s a strange sentence between spouses.”
“His description, not mine.”
“What happened next?”
“He tried to take her keys.”
Vincent’s eyes narrowed.
“Then?”
“Argument.”
“Physical?”
“Daniel says she shoved him away.”
“Once?”
“Initially.”
Vincent waited.
Ortiz glanced toward Lily.
“He says he moved toward the closet again.”
“And she pushed him down the stairs.”
Ortiz nodded.
Lily’s fingers tightened around Vincent’s leg.
“Bad stairs,” she whispered.
Ortiz heard.
Her expression changed almost imperceptibly.
Vincent put one hand on Lily’s shoulder.
“She mentioned them earlier.”
“To whom?”
“Child services.”
“Exact words?”
Teresa answered before Vincent could.
“She said, ‘Rebecca pushes things.’”
Ortiz nodded once.
“That needs to go through the forensic interview process.”
Vincent disliked every word in that sentence except process.
“What about the box?”
Ortiz looked at him.
“Missing.”
Vincent stared at her.
“What do you mean missing?”
“The closet was open when officers returned after Daniel’s statement.”
“And no box?”
“No.”
“Rebecca?”
“Also gone.”
Teresa stepped forward.
“She left the house after police responded?”
Ortiz nodded.
“When?”
“We’re establishing that now.”
Vincent looked toward Marco.
Marco was already pulling out his phone.
Ortiz pointed at him.
“Do not.”
Marco stopped.
“Do not what?”
“Whatever you were about to do.”
“I was checking our gatehouse.”
“That’s fine.”
“I was also going to call someone.”
“That’s the part I mean.”
Vincent almost smiled despite himself.
Marco put the phone away.
Ortiz continued.
“Rebecca’s vehicle is still at the residence.”
“So someone picked her up,” Teresa said.
“Possibly.”
“Dark crossover?”
Ortiz looked at her.
“Why?”
Marco returned from the adjoining room.
“The vehicle at our east gate tonight was a dark crossover.”
Ortiz turned.
“Make?”
“Couldn’t confirm.”
“Plate?”
“Partial.”
He showed her the still image.
Ortiz took the phone.
The picture showed the back half of a black crossover disappearing beyond the stone wall.
Snow obscured most of the plate.
Three characters were visible.
May you like
Ortiz zoomed in.
Her eyes narrowed.
