Chapter 7 - WHAT LILY SAW
We didn't pressure her.
That was important.
A child psychologist handled the interview.
I watched from another room with Ruth and investigators.
Lily sat with her teddy bear.
Owen sat beside her.
“What do you remember?” the psychologist asked.
Lily looked at Owen.
Then at the floor.
“Daddy was yelling.”
“At who?”
“Rebecca.”
My hands tightened.
“What were they saying?”
“I don't know.”
She thought.
“Daddy said, ‘You told Grant.’”
The room behind the glass became completely silent.
“Then what happened?”
“Rebecca was crying.”
“Was your daddy angry?”
“Yes.”
“Did he hurt her?”
Lily immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“What happened next?”
“A man came.”
“Who?”
“Uncle Grant.”
There it was.
Grant Holloway had told investigators he hadn't seen Ethan for three weeks before the accident.
Lily had just placed him inside the house hours before Ethan died.
“What did Uncle Grant do?”
Lily's breathing changed.
The psychologist slowed everything down.
“You're safe.”
Lily nodded.
“He told Daddy to give him something.”
“What?”
“The red book.”
Investigators looked at one another.
No red book had been recovered.
“What happened after that?”
“Daddy told us to go upstairs.”
Lily swallowed.
“But I came back because Owen's bear was downstairs.”
Owen looked at his teddy bear.
“I saw Uncle Grant push Daddy.”
Ruth covered her mouth.
Lily continued.
“Rebecca said, ‘Stop.’”
For one moment, I wondered if Rebecca had tried to protect Ethan.
Then Lily finished.
“She said, ‘Not here.’”
The words hit the room like a hammer.
Not stop.
Not don't hurt him.
Not here.
Lily remembered seeing Grant and Rebecca leave with Ethan.
Three hours later, Ethan's car went off an icy road.
He died before paramedics arrived.
The original investigation found no evidence of another vehicle.
But nobody had known to look for Grant.
Now they did.
May you like
By evening, federal agents were preparing warrants.
And then Rebecca disappeared.
