PART 6 – I Had Spent the Night Answering Questions About Myself, but There Was Something in Our House That Could Speak for Me

I finally got another opportunity to speak with the officers.

I was still exhausted.

My clothes were the same ones I had worn when I carried Lily out of the house.

I hadn't thought about changing.

I hadn't thought about eating.

My mind kept returning to the hospital room and the X-ray image.

Officer Carter was there.

Officer Bennett was also involved in the questioning.

I tried to explain that I wanted the circumstances surrounding Lily's injury investigated carefully.

I didn't want assumptions to replace evidence.

I didn't want anyone deciding what had happened simply because I was the parent who stayed home.

I was willing to answer questions.

I was willing to explain our household routine.

But I also wanted the same attention given to every person who had access to Lily.

Daniel was nearby.

Patricia was nearby.

I looked at them before speaking again.

There was no reason to hide anything about our house.

And there was no reason to pretend that the security camera didn't exist.

"There's a camera in our dining room."

Officer Carter looked at me.

I continued.

"It records that area of the house. You should check the footage."

For the first time in what felt like hours, I had something concrete to offer.

Not an explanation.

Not a guess.

Evidence that might show what had happened.

Officer Bennett asked me about the camera.

I explained where it was located.

I told him that the dining room was covered by the recording system.

I wanted them to examine the footage rather than rely only on what Daniel or I remembered.

I didn't know exactly what the camera had captured.

I wasn't claiming it would answer every question.

But I knew it was worth checking.

The officers listened.

Daniel looked at me.

I couldn't read his expression.

Patricia remained quiet.

I wondered why neither of them had mentioned the camera themselves.

Perhaps they hadn't thought about it.

Perhaps they were too focused on blaming me.

I didn't know.

I was done trying to understand their reactions.

I wanted facts.

I wanted the truth about what had happened to Lily.

The officers began discussing the information I had provided.

I stayed close enough to answer any additional questions.

My mind kept returning to the dining room.

It was an ordinary room.

A table.

Chairs.

The place where we ate meals and spent time together.

I had never imagined that its security camera might become important in a hospital investigation.

Now it seemed like one of the few things I could rely on.

People forgot details.

People remembered things differently.

People sometimes said what they believed rather than what they had actually seen.

A recording was different.

It could preserve what happened in front of it.

I didn't know whether the camera had captured Lily swallowing anything.

I didn't know whether it had recorded the person responsible.

I only knew that the officers needed to check.

Daniel finally spoke.

"Why are you bringing up the camera now?"

I looked at him.

"Because we need to know what happened."

He didn't respond immediately.

I turned away.

There was no point in having another argument.

My daughter was still in the hospital.

Whatever had happened, the important thing was to establish the truth.

I wanted to see the footage.

I wanted the officers to see it.

And I wanted everyone who had been so quick to accuse me to wait until the evidence had been examined.

For once, I wasn't asking anyone to believe my version of events.

I was asking them to look.

Click here to continue reading: PART 7: The Dining Room Camera Was Something I Had Almost Forgotten About Until the Officers Began Asking About Our Home