Chapter 5 - CHLOE’S VERSIONChloe’s interview was short.
Because she was eight.
Because competent adults did not turn her into a detective.
A child-safety specialist asked:
“What did you see Grandma do?”
Chloe placed both hands beneath her thighs.
“She opened the white box.”
“What happened next?”
“She used the little spoon.”
“What did she do with the spoon?”
“Put stuff in Mommy’s tea.”
“How many times did you see that?”
Chloe thought.
“Today.”
“Any other days?”
“Maybe.”
“What does maybe mean?”
“I saw Grandma stir Mommy’s cup when Mommy wasn’t there.”
“Did you see powder that time?”
“No.”
Good.
No inflation.
“Did Grandma ever put powder in your drink?”
“No.”
“Julian’s?”
Chloe laughed.
“Daddy drinks coffee.”
Children have hierarchies.
“What made you tell Mommy today?”
Chloe’s face changed.
“Grandma told me not to touch the white box.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Why?”
“She said it was grown-up medicine.”
There.
Medicine.
Not supplement.
The interviewer asked:
“Did Grandma tell you not to tell Mommy?”
Chloe shook her head.
“No.”
That mattered.
Eleanor had not coached her into silence.
May you like
Not directly.
Chloe simply saw something adults had not expected her to notice.
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