Chapter 6 - The Visitor in the Hall.
The visitor was Denise.
She stood at the nurses' station with both hands wrapped around a paper cup she had not touched.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
Claire stepped into the hall and closed Lily's door behind her.
"Why are you here?"
Denise looked over Claire's shoulder.
"Is she awake?"
"A little."
Relief crossed Denise's face.
Then fear returned.
"I need to tell you what I didn't tell the police last night."
Detective Ruiz joined them.
"You can tell us together."
Denise nodded.
"Robert called me after everyone left the house."
Claire felt her jaw tighten.
"From where?"
"The station."
Ruiz's expression changed.
"He was allowed one call before formal questioning."
Denise stared at her cup.
"He told me I was confused about seeing him upstairs."
Claire almost laughed from disbelief.
"He told you what you saw?"
"He said the party was loud, I had wine, and I was mixing up the timing."
Ruiz asked quietly.
"Did he ask you to change your statement?"
Denise swallowed.
"Not directly."
"What did he say?"
"He said families survive by remembering things the same way."
Claire closed her eyes.
That sounded exactly like Robert.
Polite words wrapped around a threat.
Denise continued.
"Then he reminded me that he helped with my mortgage two years ago."
Claire looked at Ruiz.
The detective's face remained neutral, but her pen moved quickly.
"Anything else?"
Denise nodded.
"There was another person upstairs."
Claire felt the corridor narrow around her.
"Who?"
"My grandson, Ethan."
Ethan was twelve.
He had spent most of the party playing video games with headphones on.
At least that was what everyone believed.
"What did he see?"
Denise shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Then why mention him?"
"Because this morning he asked me why Grandpa Robert was carrying Lily's phone."
Claire stared at her.
Ruiz stopped writing.
"When did he see that?"
"He says he came upstairs looking for a charger."
"Where is Ethan now?"
"With his mother."
Ruiz immediately stepped away to make a call.
Denise looked ashamed.
"I should have said something years ago."
Claire's anger shifted.
"Years?"
Denise flinched.
"Patricia has always needed control."
"Control is not the same as this."
"I know."
"Then what are you saying?"
Denise looked at Lily's closed door.
"When our children were little, Patricia would decide what everyone was allowed to feel."
Claire said nothing.
"If someone cried, they were dramatic."
"If someone disagreed, they were disrespectful."
"If something embarrassing happened, it became a misunderstanding before anyone could name it."
Claire felt a cold recognition.
Patricia had used all three words in less than twelve hours.
Dramatic.
Disrespectful.
Misunderstanding.
Ruiz returned.
"Ethan's mother agreed to bring him in with a child interviewer."
Denise exhaled.
Then Claire's phone vibrated again.
This time the message was from Robert.
YOU ARE MAKING A SERIOUS MISTAKE.
A second message followed.
ASK LILY WHAT REALLY HAPPENED BEFORE YOU ACCUSE PEOPLE.
Claire stared at it.
Lily had barely spoken.
Robert should not have known that she was awake.
Claire looked toward the nurses' station.
"Who told them?"
May you like
No one answered.
Then a hospital employee at the far end of the corridor quickly turned away.
