Chương 6
Outside the neonatal unit, the rest was already moving faster.
Police obtained warrants for the apartment, Robert and Diane’s phones, their vehicle, and Robert’s home office. Detectives photographed the bottle warmer, the kitchen counter, the trash, and every open cabinet. They collected the tea kettle, two mugs, a sugar jar, a jar of honey, powdered formula, breast milk storage bags, and a dish towel with formula residue.
The medication blister pack contained a prescription sedative issued to Robert six months earlier after a back procedure. Four tablets were missing. Robert’s pharmacy record showed no refill.
That alone proved little. Robert had a lawful prescription. He could have used the tablets at any time. The pack could have been carried into the apartment by someone else. The drug in Emily and Noah belonged to the same class, but initial hospital screening could not establish that it came from those exact tablets.
The opened diaper bag complicated things.
It contained a second baby bottle, clean but uncapped, and Emily’s discharge papers. One page listed postpartum warning signs. Another recorded the medications she had received during labor. Someone had written a sedative name in the margin in blue ink.
Emily said the handwriting was not hers.
Robert said it looked like Vincent’s.
Vincent’s attorney immediately requested that no officer ask Vincent for a handwriting sample without counsel present.
Detective Quinn spent the morning moving between the hospital, the apartment, and the precinct. By noon, she had consumed three coffees and eaten half a granola bar that had expired in March.
Ellis found her in the evidence room staring at photographs of Emily’s kitchen.
“Building camera caught Robert and Diane leaving at six fifty-eight,” he said.
“Carrying anything?”
“Diane had the purse. Robert had a grocery bag.”
“Arrived with it?”
“Same bag.”
“Could contain the medication.”
“Could contain groceries.”
“What did the doorman say?”
“They were arguing.”
“About?”
“He heard Diane say, ‘You gave too much.’”
Quinn turned.
“Exact words?”
“That’s what he says now.”
“Now?”
“He first told the responding officer they were talking quietly.”
“So why the change?”
“He saw the news vans.”
By noon, a reporter had obtained the emergency call address. By one, local television had footage of Vincent entering the hospital in his black suit. By two, an online article described him as the owner of Moretti Executive Transportation and “a figure with alleged ties to New York organized crime.”
No source was named.
Quinn knew exactly what that meant. Someone in law enforcement had talked. Or someone around Vincent had decided the public should know who had been threatened.
The hospital moved security to Emily’s floor.
A social worker named Beth Ivers introduced herself shortly after lunch. She was in her fifties, wore practical shoes, and carried a folder with Noah’s name printed across the tab.
Emily looked at the folder as though it were another weapon.
“Why are you here?”
“Because a newborn was exposed to a dangerous substance at home.”
“We didn’t give it to him.”
“I’m not suggesting you did.”
“Then why is there a file?”
Beth pulled a chair close to the bed.
“Because the hospital is required to report certain injuries. Child protective services will review the circumstances before Noah is discharged.”
Vincent stood near the window.
Emily looked at him.
Beth followed her gaze. “That review includes everyone in the household.”
“What does that mean?” Emily asked.
“It means they will ask about supervision, visitors, medications, substance use, criminal history, domestic safety, and whether the home is secure.”
Vincent’s face did not change.
Emily’s did.
Beth noticed.
“Is there something you need to tell me before the investigator arrives?” she asked.
Vincent stepped forward. “My lawyer will be present.”
“I’m not conducting an interrogation.”
“No. You’re deciding whether my son comes home.”
“I don’t make that decision alone.”
“Which means you help make it.”
Beth closed the folder.
“Mr. Moretti, this becomes easier when people stop treating every question as an attack.”
“And safer when people understand what questions cost.”
Emily looked at him. “Stop.”
He turned.
“Sit down,” she said.
He did.
Beth opened the folder again.
Emily asked, “Can they take Noah?”
“If they believe discharge to the home presents an immediate danger, they can ask the court for protective placement or require a safety plan.”
“My relatives poisoned us.”
“That is one allegation under investigation.”
“It’s not an allegation. There was a drug in his blood.”
“The exposure is confirmed. The person responsible is not.”
Emily gripped the blanket.
“What do you need from me?”
“Honesty.”
She looked at Vincent again.
Beth did not miss it.
“I’ll come back when both of you are ready,” she said.
After she left, Emily stared at the closed door.
Vincent said, “I will handle it.”
She laughed once, exhausted and bitter.
“That sentence is how we got here.”
“I can make sure they don’t remove him.”
“How?”
He did not answer.
“Exactly.”
“I would never hurt him.”
“I know that.”
“Then what are we discussing?”
“We’re discussing whether the life you built around us is something the state will call a safe home.”
His mouth tightened.
Emily’s voice softened, which made it worse.
“I don’t even know what’s in our home.”
“Nothing dangerous.”
“There’s a gun in the bedroom.”
“Locked.”
“Is there another?”
He looked away.
“How many?”
“Two.”
“Where?”
“One in the office safe.”
“And the other?”
“In the car.”
“What else?”
“Cash.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“That isn’t a number.”
“Emily.”
“Are there drugs?”
“No.”
“Records?”
“Yes.”
“Of crimes?”
“Some.”
She closed her eyes.
“You brought that into the apartment?”
“The safe cannot be opened without me.”
“That is not the point.”
“I kept it separate.”
“From the baby whose crib is twenty feet away?”
Vincent stood.
The movement was controlled, but anger had entered it.
“I have spent every hour since he was born making sure nobody came near him.”
“You missed the two people I invited for tea.”
His face went still.
May you like
Emily regretted the line immediately.
The regret did not make it untrue.
