Chương 11
“No.”
“Could you have closed it?”
“No.”
“Did you see Emily near it?”
“No.”
Her denials came more quickly, losing the precise pace she usually maintained.
Daniel thought of Emily saying the person smelled like the blue room.
He thought of cream shoes on the kitchen floor.
He thought of his mother appearing in the glass doorway, not rushing, not asking what had happened, telling him to listen.
“What were you going to say?” he asked.
Margaret looked at him.
“When you came into the kitchen. You said, ‘Daniel, listen to me.’ What were you going to say?”
“I wanted to explain Charles.”
“Before I asked about him.”
“His car was arriving.”
“Emily hadn’t identified it yet.”
“She did immediately afterward.”
“Afterward.”
Margaret’s eyes moved toward Malcolm.
Daniel leaned forward. “You already knew she had seen him.”
“I knew she might have.”
“How?”
“Because she was upstairs earlier.”
“She told you?”
“I saw her in the hall.”
“With Mercer?”
“No.”
“Then how did you know she saw him?”
“I assumed.”
“You don’t assume.”
The room fell silent.
Margaret sat back.
Detective Bell asked, “Mrs. Hayes, did Emily interrupt Mr. Mercer while he was reviewing documents?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did anyone tell her to play downstairs?”
“Laura may have.”
“Did you hear anyone mention hide-and-seek?”
“No.”
“Did you hear the freezer close?”
“No.”
“Did you know it had closed?”
“No.”
Each answer became smaller.
After the interview, Margaret stood in the station lobby with Malcolm while Daniel waited for Anna to return his call. Television news played silently above a row of plastic chairs. A weather map moved across the screen in bright colors.
Margaret approached him.
“Emily should not remain in a hotel.”
“She won’t.”
“You cannot take her back to the house while police are still processing it.”
“I know.”
“Anna’s apartment is unsuitable.”
“I know.”
“You could use the Lake Forest property.”
The family owned a house an hour north, empty most of the year.
“No.”
“It has security.”
“So did my house.”
Margaret recoiled slightly.
Daniel put his phone away.
“You and Laura are moving out,” he said.
“Daniel.”
“Your belongings will be packed after police clear the rooms.”
“You are reacting emotionally.”
“My daughter was locked in a freezer during an investigation you hid from me.”
“I did not cause that.”
“You caused the conditions.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“It is enough.”
Margaret’s face became stern again, but her eyes remained unsteady. “And if removing me is precisely what someone wanted?”
Daniel paused.
She saw it.
“Consider the possibility,” she said. “Someone used Charles’s car, the camera outage, and my secrecy to create a conclusion you were already prepared to reach.”
“I wasn’t prepared to believe you could do this.”
“I did not say I did it.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Malcolm moved closer. “Margaret, stop.”
She looked at him. “He needs to think.”
“He needs to go to his daughter.”
Daniel walked away before either of them could say more.
Laura’s interview lasted nearly three hours.
She asked to speak with Daniel afterward.
They met in a small room at the station with the door open and Officer Alvarez visible at a desk outside. Laura sat with both hands around a paper cup of water. Without Margaret beside her, she looked younger and more tired.
“I did not lock Emily in the freezer,” she said.
Daniel remained standing.
“Why did you disable the cameras?”
“Your mother asked me to.”
“You could have refused.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Laura looked into the cup. “Because refusing your mother is not a habit I developed early enough.”
“That’s convenient.”
“It is not meant to be.”
“Where were you when the freezer opened at five twenty-three?”
“The laundry room.”
“Alone.”
“Yes.”
“Can anyone verify that?”
“No.”
“Did you tell Emily to play downstairs?”
“I told her not to go into your office.”
“When?”
“Around five.”
“Why?”
“Mr. Mercer was reviewing documents.”
“Did Emily see him?”
“She saw his coat through the doorway.”
“Did he speak to her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
Laura lifted her eyes. “I told her we were preparing a surprise for you.”
Daniel felt his shoulders tighten.
“What surprise?”
“There was no surprise. I needed a reason she could understand.”
“She said the person told her not to spoil a surprise.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
“The detective told me.”
“Did you tell her to hide?”
“No.”
“Did you mention a game?”
“No.”
“Did you touch the freezer?”
Laura’s expression changed.
“When?”
“I moved frozen meals into it yesterday morning.”
“Your prints were on the lid.”
“They should be.”
“My mother’s were too.”
Laura looked down again.
“You put food in there for her,” Daniel said. “Did she ever help?”
“No.”
“Did she open it yesterday?”
“Not while I was with her.”
“Were you wearing gloves?”
“No.”
“Did Mercer?”
“I did not see him near the kitchen.”
“Did he leave a folder?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“On the table outside the sitting room.”
“When did you find it?”
“Five thirty-one.”
“You’re sure?”
“I checked my phone because I had missed a reminder.”
“What reminder?”
“Your mother’s evening medication.”
“Did she take it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“She was reading the folder.”
Daniel folded his arms. “You were with her from five thirty-one until you heard me.”
“Yes.”
“When did you hear me?”
“Five thirty-five or thirty-six.”
“Why didn’t you come immediately?”
Laura swallowed.
“Your mother told me to close the folder first.”
The answer was so ordinary that Daniel believed it.
Not because it cleared her. Because it sounded like the exact kind of terrible delay human beings created without deciding to be terrible.
“What was in the folder besides the photograph of my draft email?”
“Notes about your work schedule. Copies of public property records. Information about the Seattle firm. A photograph of a prescription bottle.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What prescription?”
“Sertraline.”
“From my bathroom.”
“Yes.”
“Mercer entered my bedroom.”
May you like
“I didn’t know until I saw the photograph.”
“Did you tell my mother?”
