Chương 5
She swung them slowly.
A normal child movement.
A heartbreaking reminder that she was still just a child.
Margaret sat beside her.
“You did the right thing.”
Sophie looked down.
“Dad said I would make everything worse.”
Margaret felt anger rise.
She kept her voice steady.
“You told the truth.”
“But everyone was sad.”
“Yes.”
Sophie twisted the edge of her funeral dress.
“I didn’t want Mom to go away.”
Margaret looked at Emily’s coffin.
Neither of them spoke for a while.
The chapel became quieter.
The kind of quiet that came after something irreversible.
Nathan finally walked over.
Officer Ramirez immediately noticed.
“Nathan.”
The warning in the officer’s voice stopped him.
Nathan raised both hands slightly.
“I’m not doing anything.”
He looked at Sophie.
His expression softened.
For a moment, Margaret saw the man Emily had loved.
The man who had brought Sophie ice cream after school.
The man who had built a bookshelf in her bedroom.
The man who had taken family pictures.
That was the part Margaret struggled with.
If Nathan had always been cruel, everything would have been easier.
But people were complicated.
A person could create beautiful memories and still cause terrible damage.
“Sophie,” Nathan said quietly.
The girl looked at Margaret before looking at him.
That tiny action hurt Nathan.
Margaret saw it.
So did everyone else.
“I’m sorry you’re scared,” Nathan said.
Sophie said nothing.
“I should have been better at helping you understand.”
Still nothing.
Nathan swallowed.
“I know today has been confusing.”
Margaret watched him carefully.
There was something different about his apology.
Not the words.
The timing.
He was apologizing after being exposed.
Not before.
“Did Mom tell you anything?” Sophie asked.
The question caught him off guard.
“What?”
“Before she died.”
Nathan looked away.
Only briefly.
But enough.
Sophie noticed.
Children noticed more than adults believed.
“She was tired,” Nathan said.
Margaret’s eyes narrowed.
“Tired from what?”
Nathan looked at her.
“She was sick.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“Then why didn’t you tell the family?”
Nathan’s expression hardened again.
“Because Emily didn’t want everyone panicking.”
“Emily told you that?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Before.”
Before was not an answer.
Margaret knew it.
The officers knew it.
Nathan knew it.
A person could survive a lot of questions with confidence.
They struggled when details were required.
Officer Ramirez asked, “Mr. Brooks, where exactly were you the night your wife died?”
Nathan looked at him.
“At home.”
“Both of you?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone else there?”
“No.”
“What time did you find her?”
Nathan looked toward Emily.
The pause was longer this time.
“About six in the morning.”
“Who called emergency services?”
“I did.”
“From your phone?”
“Yes.”
Officer Ramirez wrote something down.
“Where is your phone now?”
Nathan touched his pocket.
“Here.”
“May I see it?”
Nathan stared at him.
The hesitation lasted only a moment.
But it was enough.
“Why?”
“Because I asked.”
Nathan slowly removed the phone.
He handed it over.
The officer did not unlock it.
He simply held it.
“Thank you.”
Nathan looked uncomfortable.
Margaret watched the exchange.
The phone had become something more than an object.
It was a piece of the story.
A thing everyone suddenly wanted to understand.
Detective Clooney arrived twenty minutes later.
He was older than Margaret expected.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
A calm expression that suggested he had spent many years listening to people explain things that were not true.
He approached Margaret first.
“Mrs. Collins?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Detective Clooney.”
She nodded.
“Thank you for staying.”
Margaret looked at Sophie.
“I wasn’t going anywhere.”
The detective followed her gaze.
Then he looked toward Nathan.
“Mr. Brooks.”
Nathan straightened.
“Detective.”
The politeness returned.
Margaret almost admired the discipline.
Almost.
Clooney glanced around the chapel.
“Before we talk, I need to understand something.”
He looked at Margaret.
“Why did you believe there was something wrong?”
Margaret opened her mouth.
The answer seemed simple.
Then it became complicated.
Because the truth was she had not known.
Not completely.
She had only seen pieces.
A frightened child.
A nervous husband.
A covered mark.
A reaction.
“I didn’t believe anything at first,” Margaret said.
Nathan looked relieved.
Then she continued.
“I noticed something.”
The relief disappeared.
Clooney nodded.
“That’s usually where it starts.”
He looked at Emily.
“What happened when you moved the collar?”
Margaret described it.
Every detail.
No exaggeration.
No assumptions.
Just what she saw.
That mattered.
Detectives needed facts.
Not anger.
Not grief.
Not revenge.
When she finished, Clooney turned to Nathan.
“Mr. Brooks, do you have an explanation?”
Nathan looked around the chapel.
At the people listening.
At Sophie.
At Margaret.
Then back at the detective.
“Yes.”
His voice was low.
“I do.”
Nobody moved.
Nathan took a breath.
But before he spoke, his phone vibrated in the detective’s hand.
Everyone heard it.
The sound was small.
Ordinary.
Yet the reaction was immediate.
Nathan looked at the screen.
Clooney looked too.
A message notification appeared.
Nathan’s face changed.
And Margaret knew before anyone said a word that whatever was on that screen had not been meant for them to see.
The notification appeared.
Nathan stared at the screen.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
The detective held the phone carefully, not moving his fingers toward it, not opening anything, simply allowing the unexpected interruption to exist.
“What is it?” Officer Ramirez asked.
Nathan did not answer.
His eyes stayed fixed on the screen.
Margaret watched the color leave his face again.
It was not the same fear she had seen when she revealed Emily’s neck.
That had been panic.
This was recognition.
“Mr. Brooks?” Detective Clooney said.
Nathan blinked.
“It’s nothing.”
The answer came too quickly.
Clooney looked at him.
“Then why did you react like that?”
Nathan looked around the chapel.
His eyes searched for an escape that was not physical.
A different explanation.
A different version.
“It’s a personal message.”
Clooney nodded slowly.
“From who?”
May you like
Nathan hesitated.
Margaret noticed that he had no trouble lying when he had time.
