Chapter 21 - THE IMPOSSIBLE SUSPECT
The house went dead silent.
“If you didn’t do it,” David whispered, “and I didn’t do it…”
Claire followed his gaze up the stairs, toward Lily’s bedroom. “No. No, David, she’s fourteen. She doesn’t know the first thing about metalwork. And why would she hurt herself?”
David’s mind raced. Lily spent every afternoon doing homework at the folding table in his auto shop. She watched him machine parts. She asked questions about torque, leverage, and friction. She was the smartest kid in her physics class.
And she had unfettered access to his tool chest whenever he was under a car.
“I need to be sure,” David said quietly.
He went out to his truck and retrieved a brand-new hinge mechanism he had purchased that morning from a medical supply warehouse. He walked back into the house and placed it on the kitchen island.
“I’m going to install this new hinge on her brace tonight,” David told Claire. “I’m going to tell her it’s a temporary fix until Dr. Evans gets a replacement. Then, I’m putting a motion-activated trail camera in the garage.”
Claire covered her mouth, her hands trembling. “David, if she’s doing this... she needs psychiatric help. This is Munchausen.”
“Let’s just see what the camera catches,” David said.
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But as he picked up the new hinge, a sickening realization washed over him. He already knew what the camera would show. He just didn't know why.
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