Chapter 6 - MARGARET'S HOUSE
Margaret grew up in a house where finishing food was moral.
Her father had been a factory worker.
Her mother stretched meals through layoffs.
Waste was shameful.
Complaining was worse.
Margaret remembered one winter when the refrigerator held almost nothing.
Her mother made potato soup three nights in a row.
Margaret never forgot hunger.
Years later, she raised Michael differently.
More money.
More food.
But the rules remained.
Finish what you take.
No whining.
No disrespect at the table.
Michael followed them easily.
At least, that was Margaret’s memory.
Claire later found an old email Michael had sent his mother in college:
Please stop talking about food like it’s character. I still hide things I don’t want to eat because I hear your voice.
Claire read it twice.
Then a third time.
May you like
Margaret had built her entire defense on the belief Michael approved of her discipline.
The dead man had left evidence of something else.
