Chapter 6 - The Pills in the Silver Case
I wanted to drive straight to Daniel's bank. Priya stopped me. "The account name doesn't prove your brother received the money. People use stolen identities. Preserve the email and let investigators trace it."
It embarrassed me how quickly I'd been ready to accuse him again.
Sofia was helping Mom unpack when a little silver pill case fell from a cardigan pocket. "Where did you get these?" she asked. Inside lay two different kinds of tablets, both pale blue. Mom thought they were her blood-pressure medicine. The label on the pharmacy bottle in her bag described a completely different pill.
"Vanessa fills my organizer," Mom said. "She said the doctor had changed the shape."
We took the medication to Mom's actual physician, Dr. Feld. She wouldn't identify loose pills by sight. She kept the containers for review with the pharmacy and ordered a medical evaluation because Mom reported unusual drowsiness and two recent falls.
"I thought I was losing my mind," Mom told her. "Vanessa kept telling me I was."
Dr. Feld leaned forward. "Feeling frightened or confused around someone is not proof you can't make decisions. We're going to find out what you've been taking."
In the exam room, Mom admitted she'd hidden food in her slippers because Vanessa sometimes locked the pantry. She also showed us tiny marks on her arm from the times Vanessa had grabbed her to force her into a chair. I kept thinking of my polished dining room, the lavish dinners I'd hosted while she ate alone afterward.
On our way out, Vanessa called me. I let it ring. Then she sent a photograph of our wedding day and wrote: WE BUILT EVERYTHING TOGETHER. DON'T LET YOUR MOTHER DESTROY IT.
Sofia saw the message over my shoulder. "You should ask who 'we' means," she said.
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Another message appeared, this time from an unknown number: IF ELENA STOPS TAKING THE NIGHT PILLS, ADAM WILL MOVE THE DATE UP. The phone number had a New Jersey area code.
Mom read it and whispered, "That's where Daniel went."
