Chapter 2: She Knew Before Anyone Told Her
Clara didn't answer Beatrice.
She walked straight to the nearest officer and said three words.
"She knew first."
The officer turned.
"Ma'am?"
"Beatrice walked through that door and immediately asked what we found under the sofa." Clara's voice was steady, but her hands were shaking.
"Nobody told her.
Nobody called her.
So how did she know?"
Beatrice stopped wailing.
Just for a second.
But Clara saw it.
Scott stepped forward, phone still recording.
"She's a grieving mother.
She's in shock.
Don't twist her words."
"She wasn't in shock," Mr.
Miller said quietly from the corner.
"She walked in pointing.
That's not grief.
That's knowledge."
One of the detectives pulled Beatrice aside.
The hallway went silent.
Then Lily tugged Clara's sleeve and whispered something that made Clara's knees nearly give out.
"Mommy…
Grandma Beatrice was here.
The night Daddy left.
She came in when you were sleeping.
I saw her from my door."
Clara looked at her daughter.
"What did she do, baby?"
Lily pointed at the corner where the potted plant had been.
"She put something behind the big flower pot.
And then she left."
The detective stopped writing.
He looked up slowly.
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That was when Scott's phone slipped out of his hand and hit the floor.
The truth was already unraveling — and Beatrice hadn't said another word since.
