Chapter 3 - Lily’s statement came first
Police did not interview Lily in the ballroom.
Good.
The first responding officer asked only enough to understand immediate safety.
Who was responsible for Lily?
Me.
Was she injured?
No.
Did she consume anything?
No.
Had I consumed the drink?
No.
The glass was preserved.
Then we left.
Nora came with us because Lily refused to release her hand.
Vanessa did not.
Her attorney arrived before the police finished taking adult statements.
That told me more about her family than it did about guilt.
Vanessa’s father had lawyers on call for business reasons.
Mine too.
Wealth makes legal representation arrive faster.
It does not make facts different.
The next morning, Lily met with a trained child interviewer familiar with deaf children and ASL.
A certified interpreter was present.
Nora was not.
I was not.
I watched none of it live.
Later, through the proper process, I learned what Lily said.
She had been looking for me.
She saw Vanessa take my water from a server’s tray.
Vanessa walked through the service curtain.
Lily followed because she thought Vanessa was bringing it to me.
In the corridor, Vanessa removed “a little dark bottle” from a silver purse.
Lily said Vanessa put:
“Three rain drops.”
That did not mean literally three drops.
Children use numbers loosely.
The interviewer did not treat it as dosage evidence.
Then Vanessa returned the small bottle to her purse.
Lily knew something was wrong because Vanessa looked around before doing it.
“What did Lily think was inside?”
“Poison.”
Why?
“Because poison goes in drinks when bad people hide.”
Cartoons.
Children’s safety books.
A concept.
Not chemistry.
Did Vanessa say poison?
No.
Did Lily see a label?
No.
Did anyone tell Lily Vanessa poisoned the water?
No.
What did Lily do?
She hid.
Then found me.
That was the beginning.
Not proof of toxic substance.
May you like
Observation.
The laboratory would have to answer the next question.
