Chapter 3 - What Robert knew
I did not get to interrogate my husband in the kitchen.
Police separated us.
Robert gave his statement in the dining room.
I stayed with Officer Cole near the front door.
What I learned that night came in pieces.
Some from police.
Some from Robert later.
Some from Megan.
Some from pharmacy records.
Some remained uncertain.
Three months before Lucas’s birthday, Robert noticed their father’s medication disappearing faster than expected.
Henry had undergone back surgery eleven months earlier.
He no longer regularly used the stronger prescription.
A limited remaining supply stayed locked at his house.
At least it was supposed to.
Megan had a key to Henry and Patricia’s house.
She helped with groceries.
Picked up prescriptions.
Drove Henry to appointments.
Megan also had history Robert never told me in full.
Six years earlier, after a shoulder injury, she had developed a dependency on prescription medication.
Treatment.
Recovery.
Three sober years.
A brief relapse two years ago.
Another treatment program.
Then, according to the family:
Fine.
I knew there had been:
“a rough period.”
That was all.
Robert had told me she struggled with pain medicine once.
He never described the relapse.
Never told me Henry suspected pills missing.
Never told me Megan had recently asked him for money twice.
Never told me she had appeared at his office one afternoon visibly impaired and insisted she had taken an antihistamine.
Why?
Because he was protecting her privacy.
Because he did not want me treating her like a threat.
Because she loved Lucas.
Because addiction did not automatically make someone dangerous.
All statements that contained truth.
None answered why a medication package bearing Henry’s name had been hidden in my pantry after my son was poisoned.
Robert had confronted Megan two weeks before the birthday.
She denied taking anything.
He believed her?
Not exactly.
He wanted to.
He told her:
“If you’re struggling, tell me.”
She became furious.
Called him controlling.
Said Henry had probably miscounted.
Then Robert dropped it.
He did not tell Henry.
Did not tell Patricia.
Did not tell me.
He later said:
“I thought I was giving her a chance to tell the truth.”
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What he actually gave her was privacy while risk remained unresolved.
Those were not the same thing.
