Chapter 6 - The Bench Outside the Bank
Daniel could not simply hand me internal footage while police were reviewing it.
But he could tell investigators what he observed.
Lauren later received the timeline through proper channels.
At 12:54 p.m., Mom walked through the mall with Lily holding her left hand.
At 1:02, they entered a department store.
At 1:09, they exited.
At 1:11, Mom received a phone call.
At 1:13, she walked quickly toward the mall’s bank branch.
At 1:14, she stopped beside a bench approximately forty yards from the branch entrance.
She crouched in front of Lily.
Put a shopping bag beside her.
Pointed toward the bench.
Then walked into the bank.
Alone.
Lily did not wander away during checkout.
Mom left her sitting there.
Eleven minutes later, Lily stood.
Waited.
Walked toward the bank entrance.
A branch employee redirected her because she was unaccompanied.
Lily wandered toward the food court looking for Grandma.
At 1:18, a mall employee found her crying near the exterior doors.
I read the timeline twice.
Then I vomited in Lauren’s office bathroom.
When I came back, Lauren pushed water toward me.
“She intentionally left Lily alone.”
“That appears to be what the video shows.”
“Why?”
The answer was sitting inside the location.
The bank.
Not shopping.
Not coats.
A bank meeting.
Richard’s forensic accountant checked trust records.
Brookfield Mall’s branch belonged to Commonwealth Regional Bank.
Commonwealth also administered Kendra’s business checking account.
My sister called me that night before I could call her.
“I heard there’s video.”
“Why was Mom at the bank?”
Silence.
“Kendra.”
“She had an appointment.”
“For what?”
“It had nothing to do with Lily.”
“She left my three-year-old alone to attend it.”
“She thought she’d be five minutes.”
My hands started shaking.
“You knew?”
“Not about leaving Lily.”
“But you knew about the appointment.”
“Yes.”
“What was it for?”
“Business financing.”
There it was again.
The company.
Always the company.
Kendra begged me not to tell Richard until she explained.
“His audit already has us on the edge.”
“Us?”
She stopped.
“What does Mom have to do with your financing?”
Kendra hung up.
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I realized then that the trust review and the mall incident were not two stories happening at once.
They were moving toward each other.
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