Chapter 6 - What Emily told the interviewer
Emily’s forensic interview happened the next afternoon.
I was not in the room.
That was good.
She needed someone trained to ask open questions.
The broad shape came later through investigators and court disclosures.
Cole had been at our home when I left for Atlanta.
That alone was news.
Rachel told Emily he was helping fix a kitchen leak.
First night:
Normal.
Second day:
Emily went into my office looking for colored pencils in a desk drawer.
She saw Cole there.
He had opened the small fire-resistant box I kept inside a cabinet.
It contained:
Emergency cash.
Passports.
Several pieces of jewelry that had belonged to Emily’s mother, Laura.
Laura died when Emily was four.
Cancer.
My first wife.
Emily recognized one necklace.
Silver chain.
Small blue stone.
She said:
“That’s Mommy’s.”
Cole told her:
“Your dad said I could move it.”
Emily answered:
“No, he didn’t.”
Ten-year-olds can be devastatingly confident at exactly the wrong time.
Cole told her to leave.
She went to Rachel.
Rachel said:
“Cole is helping us.”
Emily said he was stealing.
Rachel told her not to accuse adults without evidence.
Emily insisted.
That evening, one of Laura’s jewelry pouches was missing.
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Rachel still defended Cole.
Then the punishment began.
