Chapter 7 - THE MEDICINE WAS NOT AN ACCIDENTThe drug level in Ben was low.
Enough to make a newborn unusually sleepy.
Dr. Shah believed Ben had avoided lasting injury.
That relief lasted approximately ten seconds.
Then I thought about Emily.
The medical examiner cautioned us against conclusions.
A common sedating antihistamine could exist in many homes.
Emily might conceivably have taken something herself.
Investigators needed more.
They found it.
A recent pharmacy purchase on Mother’s loyalty account included dissolvable nighttime antihistamine tablets.
That still did not prove she administered them.
Then Ortiz reviewed the nursery footage from the beginning rather than starting with the confrontation.
At 8:54 a.m., Mother entered carrying tea.
She handed a mug to Emily.
Emily drank twice.
At 9:17, she rubbed her eyes.
At 9:24, she sat down unexpectedly.
At 9:31, she stood, swayed, and grabbed the dresser.
The confrontation escalated afterward.
The first 911 call came seven minutes later.
I remembered the mug Mother had prepared for me downstairs.
“Did you test it?”
Ortiz looked at me.
“The lab has it.”
That was the third piece I could not fit anywhere yet.
Mother had apparently given Emily something sedating.
Someone had placed the same type of medication in Ben’s bottle.
And when I came home, Mother had placed a fresh drink beside documents she desperately wanted me to sign.
Coincidence was becoming harder to believe.
Caleb agreed to speak through his attorney.
He admitted practicing my signature.
Mother had told him the trust money morally belonged to the entire family.
“She said Daniel went off playing soldier while everyone here kept the family functioning.”
When Ortiz asked about the medication, Caleb denied knowing anything.
Then she asked why the baby had been given a bottle before Daniel arrived.
Caleb stared at the table.
“Mom said he needed to sleep.”
“Why?”
Caleb shook his head.
“She wanted the house quiet.”
“For what?”
“I don't know.”
Ortiz slid a photograph across the table.
The dining table.
Documents.
Pen.
Mug.
May you like
Caleb looked at it.
And stopped talking.
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