Chapter 8 - THE CAR SEAT
The car seat wasn't Owen's. The bad news was worse.
Police found Scott's SUV abandoned near Sky Harbor Airport. Inside were blank custody forms, two burner phones, a copy of Elise's driver's license, and a hospital wristband with Owen's name printed on it.
The wristband was fake.
"What was he going to do with this?"
Detective Salazar didn't guess. "We'll find him and ask."
Elise did guess.
"Take Owen somewhere and make it look like I did it."
No one answered.
That afternoon, Naomi Reed returned from CPS with her supervisor. They had compared the anonymous reports to the evidence police collected.
"The timing is concerning," Naomi said. "The appliance allegation was submitted before the laundry-room incident."
"So close the case," Daniel said.
"I can't yet."
Elise flinched.
Naomi continued. "But I'm documenting probable third-party fabrication. That matters."
Then she asked to speak privately with me.
In the kitchen, she showed me a screenshot from one of the anonymous reports. The writer had included a photograph of Elise asleep on the couch with Owen against her chest.
It looked terrible.
I remembered the moment immediately.
"I took that picture," I said.
Naomi looked up.
"Owen was two days old. Elise had just fed him. Daniel was sitting three feet away. I took it because they both fell asleep for maybe thirty seconds and it was sweet."
The original photo was on my phone.
The CPS version had been cropped to remove Daniel's knee, his hand, and the bassinet beside the couch.
Someone had turned a family photo into evidence. Only six people had received the original. Lenora and Scott were two of them.
Then Elise's laptop chimed.
A new email had arrived from the fertility clinic's compliance department.
They had completed an emergency audit.
Someone had accessed Elise's records using staff credentials.
May you like
The employee name was attached.
Daniel read it once and whispered, "I know her."
