Chapter 2: The Officer Who Didn't Believe Them
Chapter 2: The Officer Who Didn't Believe Them
The officer's eyes moved from Lily's pale face to my father, who stood on the porch with his arms folded as if he were waiting for someone to apologize for ruining breakfast.
"What happened here?" Officer Daniel Brooks asked.
Before I could answer, my mother stepped forward.
"It was all a misunderstanding," she said smoothly. "The little girl likes to play hide-and-seek. She climbed into the dumpster herself."
Even the paramedic froze.
Marcus stared at her in disbelief.
"She's four," he said. "She couldn't even lift that lid by herself."
Officer Brooks looked toward the dumpster. The heavy commercial lid required both hands and enough strength that even adults struggled to open it.
He wrote something in his notebook.
Vanessa laughed nervously.
"Kids do crazy things."
Then another officer walked toward the dumpster.
"There are footprints," he called.
Everyone turned.
The muddy prints weren't tiny.
They belonged to an adult.
The officers exchanged a glance.
Officer Brooks looked back at my family.
"I don't think this was a game."
Then the paramedic shouted.
"We found pills."
A small white tablet had fallen from Lily's pajama pocket.
Within seconds, the entire scene changed.
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No one was talking about a family argument anymore.
This was now a possible attempted homicide.
