Chapter 4 - SARAH'S LIE
Emily read the message twice.
“What is she talking about?”
“I don't know.”
Detective Bennett watched both of us.
“Has Noah been ill recently?”
“No.”
“Medication?”
“No.”
“Any reason Sarah might blame your wife?”
I almost answered immediately.
Then I remembered Thanksgiving.
Sarah and Emily had argued.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
But it had never really ended.
Sarah had accused Emily of treating Matthew differently from Noah.
Emily had told her that Matthew's behavior was becoming aggressive.
Two weeks earlier, Matthew had shoved another boy at school.
Sarah insisted the other child started it.
Then last month, Matthew broke Noah's science project.
Sarah called it an accident.
Noah said it wasn't.
Emily stopped letting the boys spend time together without an adult nearby.
Today was supposed to be an exception.
A birthday.
Three hours.
Family.
I felt sick.
Detective Bennett asked the obvious question.
“Why did you allow Noah to attend?”
Because I trusted my sister.
There it was again.
That word.
Trusted.
At 7:20 p.m., Noah woke.
The doctor said we could ask a few questions.
Emily sat beside him.
I stood at the foot of the bed.
“Noah?”
He looked at me.
“Did I ruin the party?”
That question nearly destroyed me.
I moved beside him.
“No.”
“Dad—”
“You did nothing wrong.”
His eyes filled.
“Aunt Sarah said everybody was mad.”
“Nobody who matters is mad at you.”
Emily took his hand.
“Can you tell us what you ate?”
Noah thought.
“Pizza.”
“Anything else?”
“Cake.”
“Cookie?”
He nodded.
“Who gave it to you?”
“Aunt Sarah.”
Emily and I looked at each other.
“What kind?”
“I don't know.”
“Did it taste weird?”
Noah nodded again.
“It had peanut butter.”
My chest tightened.
Noah had a documented peanut sensitivity.
Not usually life-threatening.
But enough to cause stomach pain, vomiting, swelling, and breathing problems.
Sarah knew.
His snack list had been on her refrigerator for years.
I stood.
Detective Bennett was already moving toward the door.
“Stay here.”
She left.
Twenty minutes later, Sarah called me.
I didn't answer.
She called again.
Then again.
Finally, Bennett returned.
“We have officers at the house.”
“And?”
“Sarah says the cookie was an accident.”
Emily laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Of course she does.”
Bennett continued.
“She claims Noah took it himself.”
Noah heard her.
“No.”
We all turned.
He looked frightened.
“She gave it to me.”
Bennett approached slowly.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
Noah swallowed.
“She said the regular cookies were for Matthew's friends.”
“What happened next?”
“She gave me one from a different plate.”
“Did she say anything?”
Noah looked at me.
“She said, ‘Maybe this will fix your attitude.’”
Nobody spoke.
Bennett wrote it down.
Then Noah added something.
“There was a camera.”
My head lifted.
“What camera?”
“At Aunt Sarah's.”
“Where?”
“Kitchen.”
I knew about Sarah's security cameras.
Front door.
Driveway.
Backyard.
I didn't know she had one in the kitchen.
Noah pointed toward the corner of the hospital room.
“Up high.”
“Did you see it today?”
He nodded.
Bennett immediately reached for her phone.
Sarah had refused consent to search.
That was about to become irrelevant.
Because now the police had probable cause to seek a warrant.
At 9:11 p.m., Bennett received the call.
She listened.
Her expression changed.
Then she looked at me.
“What?”
She ended the call.
“The kitchen camera is gone.”
My stomach dropped.
“Gone?”
“Removed from the wall.”
Emily whispered.
“She knew.”
Bennett nodded.
“Maybe.”
Then she added something worse.
“But the mounting bracket is still warm.”
Sarah hadn't removed it before the party.
May you like
She had removed it after we left.
And if she thought destroying one camera would erase what happened, she was about to learn how cloud storage worked.
