Chapter 5 - THE FORENSIC INTERVIEWThree days later Sophie met with a trained child forensic interviewer.
I was not in the room.
I hated that.
It was necessary.
The interview was recorded.
Questions began nowhere near baths.
School.
Pets.
Bun-Bun.
Favorite cereal.
Truth versus pretend.
Then gradually:
“Tell me about bath time at your house.”
Sophie said:
“Daddy does brave baths.”
“What is a brave bath?”
“You don’t get out.”
“Tell me more.”
“There’s the timer.”
“What does the timer do?”
“Reset.”
“What makes it reset?”
“If I get up.”
“Anything else?”
“If I cry too much.”
My chest hurt when the detective summarized that later.
Sophie described a kitchen timer usually set for five minutes.
If she stood, the timer restarted.
If she tried to climb out, Mark put her back.
How?
“Hands.”
Where?
“Arms.”
Did it hurt?
“Sometimes.”
Any bruises?
She remembered one on her wrist “a long time ago.”
No photograph.
No medical record.
Then the cup.
“What do you call what’s in the cup?”
Sophie shrugged.
May you like
“Sleepy juice.”
The room inside my head went white.
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