Chapter 15 - The Secret in Emily's Bedroom
The room went dead silent.
The hum of the fluorescent lights above felt deafening.
Detective Kowalski pulled up a chair and knelt gently beside Mason.
"Mason," Kowalski said in a calm, soothing voice.
"Can you remember anything else about that day?"
Mason looked at Daniel, seeking permission.
Daniel nodded, holding Mason's hand firmly.
"It’s okay, Mason. Tell the detective everything you remember. You are safe here."
Mason wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater.
"Mom was sick in bed with a bad cold."
"Vanessa had just started coming over to help with cooking because Dad was working late at the firm."
"Vanessa brought that silver-haired lady through the back garden door."
"They told me to stay in the playroom and watch cartoons."
"But I wanted to give Mom my drawing of a red dinosaur."
"When I opened Mom’s door, the silver-haired lady was holding a bottle of medicine drops."
"She put drops into Mom’s brown tea."
"She told Mom it was natural herbal vitamins from Switzerland."
Daniel’s hands began to shake violently.
Emily’s death had been ruled an acute pulmonary collapse caused by an unexplainable allergic reaction to over-the-counter medication.
No autopsy had been performed because Daniel, blinded by grief and manipulated by Julian’s legal advice, had signed the waiver to avoid putting the family through a traumatic post-mortem inquiry.
Julian had told Daniel back then that Emily had a congenital weakness that simply gave out.
It had been a lie.
Every single second of their lives over the last two years had been poisoned by murder.
"Did your mom drink the tea, Mason?" Kowalski asked quietly, jotting down notes on his pad.
"She drank half of it," Mason whispered.
"Then she started coughing."
"The silver-haired lady saw me at the door and smiled at me."
"She took the dinosaur drawing from my hand and ripped it into little pieces."
"She told me if I ever told Dad about the tea, a big black dog would come and bite my neck while I slept."
Mason began to cry again, burying his head against Daniel’s chest.
The pet collar.
The cruel jokes Vanessa and Diane had made about Mason being an unruly animal.
The threat of the collar wasn't an isolated whim of cruelty.
It was psychological conditioning to reinforce the terror that Rebecca had planted in Mason’s mind the day she poisoned Emily.
"My God..." Caroline whispered, covering her mouth with both hands, tears streaming down her face.
"They murdered my sister."
Daniel stood up, holding Mason tightly against his chest.
His face was completely devoid of color, but his eyes burned with an icy, lethal clarity.
"Kowalski," Daniel said, his voice terrifyingly calm.
"We are exhuming Emily’s body."
Kowalski looked at Daniel, seeing the profound, unbreakable resolve of a father and husband who had reached the edge of hell.
"I will file the emergency court order with the district attorney within the hour," Kowalski replied.
"In the meantime, Daniel, you and Mason cannot go back to that house."
"No," Daniel said firmly.
"We are going back."
"Daniel, that’s insane! Rebecca is out there!" Caroline protested.
"Rebecca is hunting for the trust documents hidden inside the floor safe in Emily’s study," Daniel said coldly.
"She doesn't know Julian has already confessed."
"She thinks she still has time to grab the bearer certificates and escape."
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"She will come to the house tonight."
"And I will be waiting for her."
