Chapter 7 - THE BRUISE
Lily did not remember how she got the bruise.
That almost made it worse.
Dr. Grant told me not to push.
"Memory at five is incomplete. Don't force her to build a story because adults want one."
So we went back to the video.
Frame by frame.
At 6:18 p.m., Lily entered the ballroom in a red Christmas dress.
No bruise visible.
At 6:42, Victoria took her into the hallway.
At 6:49, they returned.
Lily was rubbing her arm.
Nora zoomed in.
The bruise had appeared.
Police questioned Victoria again.
She had remarried and lived in Boston.
When confronted with the full video, she stopped denying.
"I pinched her."
I stared through the observation glass.
Nora asked, "Why?"
"Marcus said the court needed visible evidence she had been grabbed."
"By Liam?"
"Yes."
"Did Liam grab her?"
"No."
"Did you intend to say he did?"
Victoria started crying.
"Harold said it was temporary. He said once Liam got counseling, everything would go back."
"You believed that?"
"I wanted to."
Nora showed her Evelyn's affidavit.
Victoria collapsed.
"My mother told you?"
"She tried to protect Lily."
Victoria covered her face.
"She told me to leave that night."
"Why didn't you?"
"I was scared of Harold."
I almost shouted through the glass.
Scared.
Everyone had been scared except the five-year-old they used as bait.
Then Nora asked the question I had been waiting for.
"Who recorded the hidden message before the party?"
Victoria looked up.
"What hidden message?"
"The one saying, 'If Liam reacts the way we expect, we finally have what we need.'"
Her confusion looked real.
"That wasn't part of the plan."
Nora paused.
"Who else knew about the video system?"
Victoria whispered one name.
Elaine.
My aunt.
May you like
And suddenly I remembered something.
Elaine had been the person who handed my father the travel bag.
