Chapter 6: The Little Witness
Chapter 6: The Little Witness
By sunrise, the story had already spread across Chicago.
Groom Assaults Child at Luxury Wedding.
Local news crews gathered outside Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Satellite trucks lined the street.
Reporters spoke into cameras while photographers waited near the emergency entrance.
They knew a child had been injured.
They knew the groom had disappeared.
They didn't know the truth.
Not yet.
Inside the hospital, Sophie was finally sleeping peacefully.
The monitors beside her bed showed steady numbers.
The swelling around her head had stopped getting worse.
Dr. Melissa Grant smiled as she reviewed Sophie's chart.
"She's doing well."
I let out a breath I felt like I'd been holding for hours.
"Can she go home today?"
"If she continues improving, yes."
Relief washed over me.
"Thank you."
After the doctor left, Detective Brooks knocked softly on the open door.
"May I come in?"
"Of course."
He carried a brown evidence folder thicker than the one from the night before.
"I have an update."
I glanced at Sophie.
"Can we talk outside?"
He nodded.
The hallway was nearly empty.
Brooks opened the folder.
"The search for Preston is expanding."
"No sign of him?"
"Not yet."
"He abandoned his car."
I frowned.
"Where?"
"In a parking garage about twenty miles north of the hotel."
"So he planned this."
"It appears that way."
He pulled out another photograph.
"This came from a nearby security camera."
The image showed Preston wearing a dark baseball cap and sunglasses.
He had changed clothes.
His expensive wedding tuxedo was gone.
"He packed a change of clothes?"
Brooks nodded.
"They were found missing from his hotel suite."
A chill ran through me.
"So he prepared an escape before the wedding."
"That's what it looks like."
Before I could respond, another detective hurried down the hallway.
"Dan."
Brooks looked up.
"What did you find?"
"The bride."
"Amelia?"
"She wants to cooperate."
Brooks raised an eyebrow.
"Everything?"
"Everything."
He turned back to me.
"I think you should hear this."
An hour later, we sat inside a private consultation room.
Amelia looked nothing like the glowing bride I'd seen the night before.
Her wedding dress had been replaced by a gray sweatshirt borrowed from the hotel.
Her makeup was gone.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
The wedding ring was missing from her finger.
When she saw me, she immediately stood.
"Evelyn..."
Tears filled her eyes.
"I'm so sorry."
I didn't answer.
Not because I hated her.
Because I honestly didn't know whether she had known the truth.
She seemed to understand.
"I didn't know."
Her voice cracked.
"I swear I didn't."
Detective Brooks turned on a recorder.
"Ms. Harper, please tell us everything."
She nodded.
"Three weeks ago..."
"Preston started acting strange."
"How?"
"He became obsessed with appearances."
"He kept saying the wedding had to be perfect."
"He couldn't stand the thought of anything embarrassing happening."
She looked down at her hands.
"Then..."
"He asked me something that scared me."
Brooks leaned forward.
"What did he ask?"
"He wanted to know..."
"...whether children could be banned from the reception after the ceremony."
I frowned.
"But Sophie was the flower girl."
"I reminded him of that."
"What did he say?"
Amelia closed her eyes.
"He said..."
"'Not if she gives us a reason.'"
The room fell silent.
Brooks exchanged a glance with his partner.
"Did he explain what he meant?"
"No."
"I thought he was joking."
She began crying again.
"I should've asked more questions."
"No," I said quietly.
"You couldn't have known."
She looked at me with guilt written across her face.
"I keep thinking about Sophie smiling at him."
"I keep hearing him tell everyone she was a thief."
"I married a man I never really knew."
Before anyone could speak, there was a soft knock at the door.
A nurse peeked inside.
"Mrs. Carter?"
"Yes?"
"Your daughter is awake."
"And..."
"She says she remembers something."
I was already on my feet.
Sophie looked tired but alert.
She smiled when I entered.
"Hi, Mommy."
"Hi, sweetheart."
She glanced toward Detective Brooks.
"Is he a policeman?"
He smiled warmly.
"Yes."
"I'm Detective Brooks."
"I just want to ask you one question."
She nodded bravely.
"Okay."
He pulled up a chair beside her bed.
"Can you tell me what Uncle Preston said to you before he found his phone?"
Sophie stared at the ceiling for a moment.
Thinking.
Then her eyes widened.
"I remember."
"What do you remember?"
"He came over while I was coloring."
Brooks nodded.
"And then?"
"He told me..."
She paused.
"He told me not to move."
The detective's pen stopped.
"What exactly did he say?"
"He smiled."
"And he said..."
"'Stay very still, Princess.'"
"'I have a surprise for you.'"
A heavy silence filled the room.
Sophie continued.
"Then he touched my jacket."
"I thought he was putting candy in my pocket."
She looked at me.
"I even said thank you."
I felt tears welling up again.
Detective Brooks remained calm.
"Did he give you anything?"
"No."
"I checked later."
"There wasn't any candy."
She frowned.
"There was only his phone."
Brooks slowly closed his notebook.
He stood without saying a word.
Outside the room, another officer was waiting.
"What did she say?" the officer asked.
Brooks' expression was grim.
"We just got our final witness."
"The victim herself."
He looked back through the window at Sophie.
"Between the CCTV footage..."
"The waitress's statement..."
"And Sophie's memory..."
"We now have enough evidence to charge Preston Carter."
He reached for his phone.
"It's time to ask the judge for an arrest warrant."
But neither of us knew...
At that very moment...
More than three hundred miles away...
Preston was already making a phone call that would change everything.
Because he wasn't calling a lawyer.
May you like
He was calling...
Our father.
