Chapter 3 - The Empty Apartment
Police found Rachel’s apartment unlocked.
No one was inside.
Claire was not permitted to enter, but Detective Grant later described what his team discovered.
A package of industrial neodymium magnets sat beneath Rachel’s bed.
A stolen hospital uniform hung in her closet.
Printed photographs of Lily covered the dining table.
Several pictures had circles drawn around the child’s abdomen.
The evidence appeared overwhelming.
It also appeared too perfect.
“People who plan crimes sometimes keep trophies,” Grant said.
“And sometimes people who frame innocent women make sure police find exactly what they expect,” Claire replied.
Grant did not disagree.
The officers also found blood near the kitchen door. The amount was small, but a broken drinking glass lay nearby. Rachel’s phone was discovered in the alley behind the building.
Her car was missing.
No traffic camera had yet captured her leaving.
Claire returned to Lily’s room after midnight.
Her daughter was asleep. Daniel had been released from questioning but ordered not to leave the city.
The blood on his jacket was confirmed to be his. He had cut his palm while breaking a glass that morning.
The magnet remained unexplained.
Daniel sat in a chair near the window.
Claire stopped in the doorway.
“Who gave you permission to come in?”
“The nurse called you. You didn’t answer.”
Claire checked her phone. She had missed three calls while speaking with Grant.
“I’m still her father.”
“And you may have carried the weapon used to hurt her.”
Daniel stood.
“Someone put that magnet in my pocket.”
“Who had access to your jacket?”
“My mother. Her housekeeper. People at the office. Rachel came to my apartment two days ago.”
Claire stiffened.
“Why?”
“She wanted money.”
“You never told me.”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
“Everything matters now.”
Daniel looked toward Lily.
“She said you were refusing to help her. She asked me for fifty thousand dollars.”
“Did you give it to her?”
“No.”
“Why was she at your apartment?”
“She knew the security code.”
“How?”
Daniel did not answer quickly enough.
Claire understood.
“You gave it to her.”
“Months ago. When we first separated. Rachel sometimes brought Lily over.”
Claire felt anger rising beneath her exhaustion.
“You let my sister enter your apartment whenever she wanted?”
“She was helping us.”
“No. She was helping you hide your relationship with someone.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“This is not the time to restart old accusations.”
Claire had suspected for months that Daniel had been unfaithful before the separation. He denied it. Rachel had defended him more strongly than anyone.
That had always seemed strange.
Daniel moved closer.
“Claire, whatever happened between us, I did not hurt Lily.”
“I want to believe that.”
“But you don’t.”
“Someone used her hope that you would come home. Someone knew exactly what she wanted most.”
Daniel looked down.
“I told her I might come back.”
Claire stared at him.
“When?”
“Last week.”
“You told a five-year-old you might return without discussing it with me?”
“I said we were trying to fix things.”
“We were not trying to fix anything.”
“I was.”
Claire stepped away from him.
“You wanted Lily to pressure me.”
“No.”
“You let her believe our marriage could be repaired if she behaved correctly. That is why she swallowed those magnets. Someone told her they would bring you home, and she believed them because you had already planted the hope.”
Daniel’s face collapsed.
He sat down slowly.
“I never meant for that to happen.”
Intent no longer mattered to Claire.
Lily stirred.
Her eyes opened.
“Daddy?”
Daniel rushed to the bed.
“I’m here.”
Lily looked at him with sleepy relief.
“Did the medicine work?”
Daniel’s mouth opened, but no sound emerged.
Claire took Lily’s hand.
“There was no bad thing inside you, sweetheart. You never needed to fix us.”
“But the lady said Daddy would stay.”
Daniel bowed his head.
“Who was the lady?” he asked.
Lily frowned as she tried to remember.
“She had Aunt Rachel’s bracelet.”
“Did she look like Aunt Rachel?”
“I didn’t see.”
“Did she smell like her?”
Lily nodded.
Claire leaned closer.
“What did she smell like?”
“The flowers from Grandma’s house.”
Daniel slowly lifted his head.
Evelyn Bennett filled every room of her mansion with white lilies.
Her perfume was custom-made from the same flowers.
Before Claire could speak, the lights went out.
The heart monitor continued on emergency power, but the room fell into darkness.
A figure appeared behind the glass door.
May you like
Claire saw the outline of a blue surgical cap.
The handle began to turn.
