Chương 12
The doorbell rang.
Both women froze.
Liam looked up from the kitchen table.
"Who?"
Mara checked the small screen beside the door.
"Not Jeffrey."
Claire exhaled.
Mara opened the door to a woman in a navy coat carrying a slim black bag and a state identification badge clipped near her waist.
"Dana Ruiz?"
"Yes."
Claire stepped forward.
"I'm Claire."
Dana shook her hand, then looked past her toward Liam.
"Is that him?"
Claire nodded.
Liam had slid halfway out of his chair.
Dana did not approach.
She crouched near the entryway instead.
"Hi, Liam."
He stared at her.
"I'm Dana."
He looked at Claire.
"Another doctor?"
Dana smiled faintly.
"No."
"Do you have stickers?"
"I do not."
He considered her usefulness and apparently found it limited.
Dana stood.
"I'd like to speak with you first."
Claire led her into the living room.
Mara stayed in the kitchen with Liam.
Dana took out a notebook but did not open it immediately.
"Before we start, are there any weapons in this house?"
"No."
Mara called from the kitchen, "Unless butter knives count."
Claire closed her eyes.
Dana looked toward the doorway.
Mara appeared.
"Sorry."
Dana's mouth twitched.
"Butter knives do not count."
Mara nodded.
"Good."
She disappeared again.
Dana opened the notebook.
"Tell me what happened today from the moment you arrived at Jeffrey's house."
Claire did.
She tried to keep her voice flat.
She failed when she reached the moment Liam raised his hands in front of his face.
Dana did not interrupt.
Claire described the table, the cake, Cynthia's comment, Jeffrey's response, the chair beneath the handle, Austin's statements, Marilyn's admission, and the urgent care visit.
When she mentioned the camera, Dana's pen stopped.
"Where did you learn about that?"
"Marilyn called me."
"Did she say whether the footage still exists?"
"No."
Claire handed over her phone.
"Jeffrey sent me this picture after the clinic."
Dana examined the utility-room photograph.
"You said the room looked different when you were there?"
"I never went inside."
"Did you see the hallway?"
"Yes."
"Any dirt?"
"I wasn't looking at the floor."
Dana nodded.
"That's okay."
Claire hated the relief in the words.
Dana zoomed in on the photograph.
"You said Marilyn told you he swept after you left?"
"Yes."
"Did she tell you exactly what she saw him sweep?"
"Just dirt."
"Any clothing?"
"No."
"Food?"
"No."
"Any bodily fluids?"
Claire stared at her.
"No."
Dana wrote something.
"Do you still have the clothes Liam was wearing?"
Claire's stomach tightened.
"In his bag."
"Washed?"
"No."
"Good."
The word landed badly.
Dana noticed.
"Sorry."
Claire shook her head.
"I know what you mean."
"I may recommend you keep them unwashed for now."
"Okay."
"Do not bag them in plastic if they're damp."
"They aren't."
Dana nodded.
"If possible, put them in a clean paper bag."
Mara appeared again.
"I have grocery bags."
Dana looked at her.
"Perfect."
Mara went upstairs to retrieve the clothes.
Dana turned back to Claire.
"Do you have the original video from the dining room?"
"Yes."
"Has it been edited?"
"No."
"Uploaded anywhere?"
"No."
"Sent to anyone?"
"Only myself."
Dana looked up.
"How?"
"I texted it to my own number because I panicked about losing it."
"That's fine."
Claire took a breath.
"I also took screenshots of Jeffrey's messages."
"Keep those too."
Dana paused.
"Has Jeffrey asked you to delete anything?"
"No."
"Has he asked you to change your account?"
Claire thought of his message about handling things privately.
"He said Marilyn is confused."
Dana's eyebrows lifted slightly.
"Confused how?"
"Then he said she has memory problems."
"Does she?"
"Not that I know of."
"Any diagnosis?"
"No."
Dana wrote again.
Claire watched her pen move.
"He's trying to discredit her."
Dana looked up.
"Maybe."
The caution irritated Claire.
Then she understood why it had to be there.
Dana was not supposed to adopt Claire's version simply because Claire was frightened.
That was probably what Claire wanted from an investigator and hated from an investigator at the same time.
Mara returned with the dirty clothes folded inside a brown paper grocery bag.
Dana took them without unfolding anything.
"May I document that you're voluntarily providing these?"
Claire nodded.
"Yes."
Dana wrote the time on the outside and signed beneath it.
Then she asked Claire to sign.
The ordinary motion of a pen across paper made the afternoon feel suddenly official.
Claire looked toward the kitchen.
Liam was building a tower from crackers.
One fell.
He ate it.
Dana followed her gaze.
"I'd like to see him briefly."
Claire's shoulders tightened.
"What are you going to ask?"
"Very little."
Dana closed the notebook.
"I need to observe that he's here and safe."
Claire nodded.
"And if he says something?"
"I listen."
They moved into the kitchen.
Liam immediately looked at Claire.
She sat beside him.
Dana stayed across the table.
"That's a tall building."
Liam examined his cracker tower.
"It's a garage."
Dana nodded.
"Of course."
"Dino parks there."
"What does Dino drive?"
Liam looked mildly offended.
"He doesn't drive."
Mara covered her mouth.
Dana nodded seriously.
"My mistake."
"He walks."
"That makes sense."
Liam placed another cracker on the tower.
It collapsed.
He frowned.
Dana waited.
He rebuilt it.
Claire watched him watching Dana.
After a minute, he asked, "Are you police?"
"No."
"Why you here?"
Dana leaned her forearms on the table.
"Because a doctor asked me to make sure you're okay."
Liam looked at Claire.
"Mommy said I'm okay."
Dana nodded.
"She knows you very well."
"I sleep with Dino."
"I heard about Dino."
His attention sharpened.
"Grandma found him."
"That's good."
"He was in trash."
Dana did not react visibly.
"Was he?"
Liam nodded.
"Cynthia put him."
Claire's pulse jumped.
She kept her mouth shut.
Dana's voice remained neutral.
"Okay."
Liam pressed two crackers together.
"Dino was bad."
Dana waited.
Claire could feel every muscle in her body trying not to help.
Liam frowned at the crackers.
"No."
He corrected himself.
"Cynthia said Dino bad."
May you like
Dana nodded once.
"What do you think?"
