Chương 12
“She saw it with me.”
“And she kept reading.”
Laura closed her eyes.
“Why are you still protecting her?” he asked.
“She gave me a job when no one else would.”
“That was eleven years ago.”
“My husband had emptied our savings and disappeared. I was forty-one. I had no references that mattered to people who paid well. Margaret hired me after one interview.”
“So you owe her.”
“I did.”
“Past tense?”
Laura’s mouth tightened. “I don’t know.”
“Did she ask you to watch me?”
“She asked me to note changes in your routine.”
Daniel felt heat rise beneath his sweater.
“What changes?”
“Missed meals. Late nights. Drinking.”
“I don’t drink.”
“I told her that.”
“Medication.”
“She knew you took it.”
“Who gave her permission?”
“No one.”
“Did you report on Emily?”
“I told Margaret when school called or when Emily had trouble sleeping.”
“You live in my house. You eat at my table. You helped with her birthday party.”
Laura looked toward the doorway. “I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I know enough to be ashamed.”
He did not expect the word. It left him nowhere easy to place his anger.
“Did you lock her in?”
“No.”
“Did Margaret?”
Laura’s eyes returned to the cup.
“I did not see her do it.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think she could?”
Laura took a breath.
“I think your mother can convince herself that an action is harmless if the outcome she wants feels important enough.”
Daniel stood very still.
“Would she lock a child in a freezer?”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Then Laura added, “Not if she understood the danger.”
The refrigerator hum in the station break room carried through the open door.
“What does that mean?” Daniel asked.
Laura pressed both palms against the cup.
“Margaret played hiding games with Emily before. Closets. The pantry. Once, the laundry cabinet.”
“The laundry cabinet is vented.”
“I know.”
“Did she tell Emily to hide yesterday?”
“I didn’t hear her.”
“Did she go downstairs during her call?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said you were in the laundry room.”
“I was.”
“Could you hear her suite door?”
“No.”
“Could she have reached the kitchen and returned?”
“Yes.”
“Could you?”
“Yes.”
“Could Mercer have remained in the house?”
Laura looked up. “Yes.”
Nothing closed.
Every answer left all three doors open.
Charles Mercer agreed to meet Daniel only because Detective Bell requested that they both return for a clarification of the timeline. They sat on opposite sides of another conference table. Mercer had removed his overcoat. He wore a charcoal suit and a plain white shirt. A silver signet ring rested on the smallest finger of his right hand.
Daniel looked at it.
Mercer noticed.
“I’ve worn it since college,” he said.
“Did Emily see it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she see you?”
“Yes.”
“You told police you didn’t speak to her.”
“I didn’t.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Mercer’s mouth moved almost into a smile, then stopped. “You sound like your mother.”
“Don’t.”
Mercer folded his hands. “Your daughter appeared at the study door around five. Laura directed her away. That was my only contact with her.”
“What were you doing in my study?”
“Reviewing boxes marked with your father’s initials.”
“And my computer.”
“It was open.”
“It was locked.”
“The screen was visible.”
“You photographed a draft email.”
“Yes.”
“You entered my bedroom.”
“The bathroom door was open.”
“So you walked in.”
“I observed a prescription container from the hall.”
“You photographed the label from the hall?”
Mercer paused. “I stepped inside.”
“You were hired to find a letter.”
“I was hired to assess whether your mother’s concerns had factual support.”
“By photographing medication?”
“Medication can be relevant.”
“To what?”
“Capacity, depending on the medication and condition.”
“Sertraline is prescribed to millions of people.”
“I am not a physician.”
“Then why photograph it?”
Mercer looked toward Detective Bell, who remained near the wall.
“Because Mrs. Hayes had asked whether Daniel was receiving treatment,” Mercer said.
“You were building a custody file.”
“No.”
“A guardianship file.”
“I was gathering information.”
“That phrase is cowardice wearing a tie.”
Mercer’s expression remained composed. “I understand your anger.”
“You do not.”
“You found your child in danger. You need the danger to have a face.”
Daniel looked at the silver ring.
“Maybe she gave it one.”
Mercer did not look away.
“Your vehicle was gone by five sixteen,” Detective Bell said. “Where did you go?”
“To a gas station on Briar Road.”
“Your transaction occurred at five twenty-seven.”
“Yes.”
“That leaves eleven minutes.”
“I drove there.”
“It is a six-minute drive.”
“Traffic.”
“Camera footage shows light traffic.”
Mercer’s jaw tightened. “I made a call from the parking lot.”
“To whom?”
“A client.”
“Records show the call began at five twenty-four.”
“Then I sat in the vehicle.”
“For eight minutes?”
“Approximately.”
“Why?”
“I was reviewing notes.”
“Can anyone verify that?”
“No.”
Daniel said, “You could have left the SUV near the house, returned on foot, and driven away again.”
“The neighbor’s footage shows my vehicle leaving.”
“It doesn’t show who was driving.”
Mercer glanced at him. “Laura cannot drive my vehicle without the key.”
“Did she have it?”
“No.”
“Did Margaret?”
“No.”
“Was there a second key in the house?”
“No.”
“Where was the key while you were upstairs?”
“In my coat pocket.”
“The coat Emily saw through the doorway.”
Mercer’s composure shifted.
Only slightly.
“What are you implying?”
“That a six-year-old saw your coat and silver ring. Then someone with something shiny on their hand told her to play hide-and-seek.”
“I never approached the freezer.”
“Did you know the cameras were off?”
“Yes.”
“Who told you?”
“Margaret.”
“Before you arrived?”
“Yes.”
“So you knew there would be no recording of what happened inside my house.”
“I knew my client did not want her documents recorded.”
May you like
“You knew exactly when the system would be blind.”
Mercer leaned back. “If I intended to commit a crime, returning in the same vehicle your daughter recognized would be remarkably foolish.”
