Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN IN WHITE
The paramedics examined Rosie and took her to Children's Medical Center for observation. Clara rode beside her, holding two wet fingers while Rosie drifted between crying and exhaustion.
“Mommy here,” Rosie mumbled.
“Always,” Clara promised, though the word hurt. Her husband, Daniel, had made that same promise before his fatal highway crash eight months earlier.
At the hospital, a physician named Dr. Shah explained that a child could seem better after being pulled from water and still develop breathing problems. Rosie would be watched closely. Clara answered every question. Elena, wrapped in a borrowed blanket, gave the rescue timeline without embellishment.
Beatrice arrived carrying a designer handbag and a story.
“My stepdaughter has been distraught since her husband died,” she told a police officer in the hall. “I worry about the little girl being left alone.”
“I wasn't alone,” Clara said. “I was in the kitchen. The pool gate was locked when I checked it this morning.”
Beatrice sighed for the officer. “She doesn't remember things accurately when she's upset.”
Detective Marisol Vega didn't take the bait. “Ma'am, I'll speak to each witness separately.”
When Beatrice stepped away, Elena quietly passed Clara a folded towel. Inside lay the red ribbon she'd pulled from the latch before leaving.
“Keep it,” Elena whispered. “Don't let her see.”
Clara touched the frayed end. “Why?”
“Because I heard the gate click before the splash. Someone opened it.”
Across the hall, Beatrice spoke into her phone, her face turned toward the windows.
“File the petition tonight,” she said. “Say Clara's been taking pills again.”
Clara's blood ran cold. She had never taken the pills Beatrice meant.
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And when the detective returned with her notebook, she asked the question Beatrice had planted: “Mrs. Bennett, is there anything in your medical history we should know about?”
