Chapter 4 - VANESSA’S FIRST LIE
Vanessa had spent the night in a hospital conference room.
At seven in the morning, Detective Bennett questioned her.
Daniel watched through the observation window.
Vanessa looked twenty years older.
No diamonds.
No perfect hair.
No burgundy gown.
A nurse had given her gray sweatpants and a hospital sweatshirt.
Bennett placed a recorder on the table.
“When did you first suspect Rebecca was mistreating Emily?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I didn’t.”
Bennett said nothing.
Vanessa looked toward the glass.
She couldn’t see Daniel.
But Daniel could see her.
“I knew Rebecca was strict with her.”
“How strict?”
“She yelled.”
“Did she lock Emily in rooms?”
Vanessa’s eyes dropped.
“I didn’t know that.”
Bennett slid a photograph across the table.
Emily’s bruises.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“When did you first notice these?”
“A few weeks ago.”
“What did Rebecca tell you?”
“That Emily had fallen.”
“And you believed her?”
Vanessa didn’t answer.
Bennett leaned forward.
“Mrs. Mercer, your daughter recorded you.”
Vanessa’s head snapped up.
Bennett played the audio.
Rebecca’s voice filled the room.
“You already helped me hide it once.”
Then Vanessa.
“That was different.”
Then Richard.
“Enough. If Emily talks, all of us lose.”
Bennett stopped the recording.
“What did you hide?”
Vanessa began crying.
Daniel felt no sympathy.
Not yet.
Bennett waited.
Finally Vanessa whispered.
“Rebecca had a son.”
Daniel frowned.
He had never heard this.
Vanessa continued.
“His name was Noah.”
“When?”
“Ten years ago.”
“What happened to him?”
Vanessa’s hands shook.
“He died.”
Bennett remained still.
“How?”
Vanessa looked toward the mirror.
“Rebecca was twenty-four.”
“She was overwhelmed.”
“She left him alone.”
“For how long?”
“Almost nine hours.”
Daniel felt sick.
Vanessa continued.
“There was an accident.”
“What kind?”
“He got into the pool.”
Bennett’s expression changed.
“And your family concealed it?”
“My father did.”
“Why?”
“Rebecca was drunk.”
Daniel stepped away from the glass.
Suddenly Emily’s words echoed in his head.
She put me in the water.
Bennett asked the question he was thinking.
“Did Emily know about Noah?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
Vanessa stopped.
Her expression changed.
“No.”
Bennett leaned closer.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Three weeks ago, Emily found a photograph.”
“What photograph?”
“Rebecca holding Noah.”
“And?”
“She asked who he was.”
Bennett stared at her.
“What did Rebecca do?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“She panicked.”
Daniel understood.
The bruises had started three weeks ago.
The same week Emily discovered Noah.
This had never been about discipline.
Rebecca had been terrified that Emily would expose a secret the Blackwoods had buried for ten years.
But there was still something Daniel didn’t understand.
Why would an eight-year-old girl knowing about a dead child threaten Richard Blackwood?
Then Bennett asked one more question.
“Was Noah’s death ever reported?”
May you like
Vanessa opened her eyes.
“No.”
