Chapter 3 - THE INJURY DIDN’T HAPPEN THE WAY RICHARD SAID
A DCF investigator named Monica Reyes arrived shortly after noon.
She spoke with Daniel first.
Then Elena.
Then Tommy.
Richard demanded to sit in.
Monica refused.
The interview lasted less than twenty minutes.
When she came out, she did not discuss everything Tommy said.
She asked Daniel one medical question.
“Could this fracture have happened the night before he came to the emergency department?”
“Yes.”
“Would waiting overnight matter?”
“It could increase pain and swelling. It wouldn’t necessarily change the long-term outcome, but a child with that injury should have been evaluated promptly.”
Monica nodded.
Then she asked:
“Could an adult remove this cast at home without medical training?”
“Yes.”
“Safely?”
Daniel looked at the thick plaster shell lying on the counter.
“Not like that.”
Richard was eventually allowed back into a conference room.
Not the exam room.
Tommy did not want him there.
That choice triggered another wave of anger.
“He’s six. He doesn’t decide.”
Monica’s voice stayed calm.
“He gets to tell us whether he feels safe.”
“He’s been coached.”
“By who?”
Richard glanced toward Daniel.
The answer was absurd enough that even Richard seemed to hear it.
He looked away.
Then Lauren arrived.
Daniel recognized her immediately from the emergency-contact photograph.
Thirty-seven.
Dark-blond hair pulled into a low ponytail.
Work slacks.
A navy cardigan.
She had driven from Milford after DCF reached her.
She entered the clinic already crying.
“Where is he?”
Monica stopped her gently.
“He’s safe.”
Lauren pressed a hand against her mouth.
Richard heard her voice from the conference room and started pounding on the door.
“You are not taking my son!”
Lauren froze.
Daniel watched her face.
Not anger.
Fear.
That mattered too.
When she was finally allowed to see Tommy, she stopped several feet from the exam table.
She did not rush toward him.
“Hey, baby.”
Tommy stared at her.
Lauren’s voice cracked.
“I’ve missed you.”
Tommy looked toward Monica.
Then asked:
“Why didn’t you come?”
Lauren’s face went blank.
“I did.”
Tommy shook his head.
“Dad said you stopped.”
Lauren closed her eyes.
For a moment Daniel thought she might collapse.
Instead she sat slowly in the chair.
“Tommy, I came every time they told me I could.”
Richard shouted from the other room.
“She’s lying!”
Tommy flinched again.
Lauren looked toward the sound.
Then at the dismantled cast.
“What happened?”
Daniel answered only the medical part.
“The cast was removed and rebuilt outside the hospital.”
Lauren stared.
“I didn’t know.”
Monica placed the key and plastic-wrapped note inside an evidence envelope.
Lauren saw the rusted metal through the plastic.
Her expression changed.
“Wait.”
Monica looked at her.
“You recognize it?”
Lauren stepped closer.
May you like
“That looks like the key Richard used for the storage unit.”
Richard stopped shouting.
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