Chương 6
Arthur immediately softened his hand against the boy’s back.
“Sorry.”
Leo watched the overturned frame.
“You like that picture.”
Arthur swallowed.
“I used to.”
Collins shifted her weight.
“Mr. Mercer, there’s another issue.”
Arthur looked at her.
“We need access to Mrs. Mercer’s bedroom and personal areas.”
“Take whatever you need.”
“There are limits to what we can search without consent or a warrant.”
Arthur’s impatience flashed.
“It’s my house.”
“That does not automatically make everything in it legally yours to search.”
“She lives here because I married her.”
“I understand.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
His voice rose.
Leo flinched.
Arthur stopped immediately.
The anger vanished from his face and left shame behind.
“Sorry,” he said to Leo.
The boy nodded.
Collins waited.
Arthur looked at her again.
“What can I do?”
“Preserve everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“Don’t go through her devices, drawers, bags, messages, or private accounts.”
“If there’s evidence in them?”
“Then we need to obtain it properly.”
Arthur gave a humorless laugh.
“So I’m supposed to sit in my own house and wait.”
“Yes.”
“That’s insane.”
“It can feel that way.”
Arthur looked ready to argue.
Elena spoke before he could.
“If you find something and ruin it, she can use that.”
He turned toward her.
Elena shrugged.
“I watch crime shows.”
For half a second nobody reacted.
Then Leo made a small sound that might have been a laugh.
Arthur looked down at him.
Even Collins smiled faintly.
The moment disappeared quickly, but it changed the room.
Arthur rubbed one hand over his face.
“Fine.”
He looked at Collins.
“I won’t touch anything.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you need my phone?”
“Not at this point.”
Arthur glanced toward Leo.
“His tablet?”
Collins considered.
“Where is it?”
“In his room.”
Leo shook his head.
Arthur felt it.
“What?”
“I don’t want it.”
“You don’t have to use it.”
“No.”
Arthur looked at Collins.
The detective crouched several feet away, keeping her voice casual.
“Leo, did something happen with the tablet?”
He stared at Arthur’s shirt buttons.
Nobody moved.
Then he whispered, “She used it.”
Arthur’s entire body tightened.
Collins remained still.
“For what?”
Leo did not answer.
Arthur kissed his hair.
“You can tell us later.”
Leo shook his head.
“She read my messages.”
Arthur looked down at him.
“What messages?”
“The ones to you.”
“I didn’t get messages from you.”
“I know.”
The words seemed to empty the room.
Arthur stared at his son.
Leo finally looked up.
“I sent them.”
“When?”
“A lot.”
Arthur’s face went white.
“What did you say?”
Leo’s eyes filled.
“I asked you to come home.”
Arthur’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Collins rose slowly.
“Do not touch the tablet.”
Arthur nodded without looking at her.
Leo wiped his nose against his sleeve.
Arthur did not correct him.
“I thought you didn’t answer because you were busy,” Leo whispered.
Arthur looked at the boy as if there were no one else in the house.
“I never saw them.”
Leo’s lower lip trembled.
“She said you did.”
Arthur pulled him tightly against his chest.
“No.”
His voice broke.
“No, buddy.”
Leo closed his eyes.
Arthur held him until the boy’s breathing slowed.
Then Arthur looked over Leo’s shoulder at Collins.
Whatever shock had been in his face was gone.
Something steadier had replaced it.
“Get the warrant,” he said.
Collins nodded.
Arthur’s hand remained spread across the back of his son’s head.
“And find out where those messages went.”
Collins did not promise speed.
She only said, “We’ll follow the evidence.”
Arthur almost laughed at that.
Evidence felt abstract compared with the weight of Leo in his arms.
He wanted something immediate.
A door kicked open.
A phone unlocked.
A confession dragged into daylight.
Instead there would be paperwork, permissions, interviews, records, waiting.
He hated waiting.
For most of his adult life, money had reduced waiting to an inconvenience.
Now it meant nothing.
Leo shifted against him.
“Can we go now?”
Arthur looked toward Collins.
She nodded.
“The hospital is expecting you.”
Elena stood.
“I’ll get his shoes.”
Leo reached toward her without lifting his head.
“The blue ones.”
“I know.”
She left the kitchen.
Arthur looked after her.
“Detective.”
Collins paused.
“If she hadn’t called you, would this have happened?”
Collins studied him carefully.
“This part would not have happened tonight.”
Arthur looked down.
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
He waited.
She did not elaborate.
Arthur seemed to understand anyway.
Elena returned carrying Leo’s sneakers and a small backpack.
She crouched in front of him.
“One foot.”
Leo lifted the wrong one.
Elena glanced up.
“The other foot, mister.”
He corrected himself.
The familiarity of it made Arthur’s chest ache.
Elena had probably put these shoes on him a hundred times.
Arthur could not remember the last time he had.
He watched her tie the laces without double-knotting them because Leo hated double knots.
That detail hurt too.
“Can she come?” Leo asked.
Elena’s hands stopped.
Arthur answered too quickly.
“Yes.”
Elena looked at him.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
“My daughter is at home.”
Arthur closed his eyes briefly.
“Of course.”
Elena stood.
“She knows I’m working late, but I should call her.”
“Take the car.”
“What?”
“Take my other car.”
“I have my own.”
“Elena.”
His voice sharpened.
She stiffened.
Arthur stopped himself.
“Sorry.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Please.”
She looked at him for a moment.
“I’ll drive myself.”
Arthur nodded.
“All right.”
Leo watched the exchange.
“You’re both being weird.”
Elena snorted before she could stop herself.
Arthur looked at his son.
“Fair.”
Leo almost smiled again.
Arthur stood with him.
The detective walked them to the foyer.
The house was quieter now.
The officers had moved most of their activity upstairs.
One stood near Victoria’s bedroom door.
Another was measuring something along the staircase.
Arthur avoided looking at the blood mark.
Leo did not.
His body tightened.
May you like
Arthur shifted him so his view was blocked.
Outside, the evening air felt cooler than it had an hour earlier.
