Chapter 6 - DANIEL'S BLIND SPOT
Rebecca confronted Daniel privately.
“Do you know how often you assume Emily is guilty before asking a question?”
Daniel bristled.
“That’s not fair.”
Rebecca opened Emily’s list.
He read.
Then dismissed two incidents immediately.
“The money was in her coat.”
“Exactly.”
“The necklace was in her drawer.”
“Exactly.”
He stared.
Rebecca said:
“You keep describing evidence as if evidence can’t be planted.”
Daniel looked angry.
“Lily is thirteen.”
“So?”
“She’s emotional.”
“So?”
“She misses her mother.”
“So does Emily.”
That stopped him.
Rebecca continued:
“You made one child responsible for being strong and the other responsible for being fragile.”
Daniel said:
“I protected Lily because Emily can be hard on her.”
“Or Emily became hard because you stopped believing her.”
He hated that.
Because it was possible.
Then Rebecca asked:
“Why did Lily immediately say Emily put the necklace in your pocket?”
“Because she saw her near me.”
“Before the employee even explained where it was?”
Daniel froze.
He replayed the scene.
The necklace came out.
Employee asked why.
Lily said:
Maybe Emily put it there.
How did Lily know Emily had moved it?
Maybe she guessed.
Maybe.
Then Daniel remembered Lily’s face when the necklace appeared.
He also remembered his own words.
Emily, what did you do?
Not:
What happened?
That sentence had left his mouth before anyone searched the bag.
He had convicted one daughter in under three seconds.
Then the next memory arrived.
The night Emily’s mother died.
Emily had been twelve.
Lily ten.
Emily sat silently on the hospital floor.
Lily screamed.
Daniel held Lily.
Everyone held Lily.
Emily walked to the vending machine alone.
He told himself she was strong.
What if “strong” had become the excuse for giving her less?
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
“I think I did this before Lily did.”
Rebecca frowned.
“What?”
“I made the roles.”
Not entirely.
But enough.
Then Daniel remembered Lily’s face when the necklace appeared.
May you like
Not confusion.
Fear.
