Chapter 5 - Lucas remembers the pantry
The first useful memory came the next morning.
Not through police pressure.
A child interviewer was scheduled later.
But Lucas volunteered something while eating toast.
“I thought the candy was gross.”
My head snapped up.
Robert froze.
Dr. Miller was in the room.
He immediately said:
“Don’t ask leading questions.”
Good.
I forced myself to stay quiet.
He asked Lucas:
“What candy?”
Lucas pointed vaguely.
“The white one.”
“What white one?”
“The one in the kitchen.”
Robert looked at me.
The doctor said:
“Lucas, where in the kitchen?”
“Pantry.”
“Did someone give it to you?”
Lucas shrugged.
“I found it.”
My knees almost gave out.
“Where?”
Dr. Miller looked at me.
I shut up.
Lucas continued:
“In the little bag.”
“What little bag?”
“The sparkly one.”
Cosmetic pouch.
Police had found one behind the cereal.
“Did you eat something from it?”
“One.”
“Did you know what it was?”
“I thought mint.”
“Did anyone tell you it was candy?”
He thought.
“No.”
“Did anyone see you?”
“I don’t know.”
Then:
“Aunt Megan said not to touch her stuff.”
Robert closed his eyes.
Dr. Miller said:
“When did Aunt Megan say that?”
“Before.”
“Before what?”
“Before cake.”
That was enough.
We stopped.
Because memory in children should not be mined until it becomes what adults want.
The formal interview would handle details.
But the emerging possibility was horrifying precisely because it was ordinary.
Megan may not have poisoned Lucas deliberately.
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She may have hidden medication where a five-year-old could find it.
And Lucas may have mistaken it for something harmless.
