Chapter 6 - what Patricia Recorded
Detective Reed took Daniel's phone from his hand without breaking the call.
"Mr. Miller, this is Detective Marcus Reed with the Columbus Division of Police."
Silence came through the speaker.
Then the call ended.
Rachel stared at Daniel's phone.
"He knew."
Detective Reed was already dialing another officer.
He asked them to locate Steven Miller immediately.
I could hear my own pulse.
"What recorder was in the case?"
Reed looked at me.
"Officers listed two digital recorders in the basement box, not the car."
"Then Steven thinks there was another one."
"That is what it sounded like."
Daniel stood suddenly.
"I need to call him back."
"No."
Detective Reed's tone stopped him.
"Do not contact your uncle until we speak with him."
Daniel looked helplessly toward Rachel.
She gave him nothing.
A nurse came to the waiting room and told me Lily's numbers had improved slightly.
The word slightly became the best word I had heard all morning.
I returned to Lily's bedside while the detectives handled Steven.
Claire came with me.
Daniel stayed outside.
I had not formally told him he could not enter.
He seemed to understand that following me would make things worse.
Lily's face looked almost peaceful if I ignored the tubes.
I could not ignore the tubes.
Claire sat beside me and rested her hand over mine.
"You do not have to solve everything today."
"I have to know what happened."
"You know the most important part."
"Do I?"
I looked at her.
"I know Patricia hit me."
"Yes."
"But I do not know why she was moving evidence before she hit me."
Claire frowned.
"Maybe the evidence had nothing to do with the slap."
"Then why did she remove the camera card less than an hour before it happened?"
Claire did not answer.
I stared at Lily.
"What if she expected a confrontation?"
"Emily."
"What if she planned to push me out that night?"
"Do not build the answer before the police have facts."
I looked at my sister.
She sounded like Detective Reed.
That annoyed me because they were both right.
At 8:05, Reed called me back into the consultation room.
He had a small evidence photograph on his phone.
It showed the contents removed from Patricia's black case.
The USB drive was there.
The camera memory card was there.
So were two envelopes, a small notebook, a set of keys, and a narrow black object I had mistaken for a power bank.
"That is the recorder?"
"Yes."
"Did you listen to it?"
"A technician is copying the contents first."
"How long?"
Reed gave me a look that said he was not going to promise a time.
I nodded.
"What are the keys?"
"One appears to belong to a safe-deposit box."
"And the notebook?"
"Mostly dates and short notes."
"About what?"
"You."
The room seemed to tilt.
"Me?"
He showed me another photograph.
Patricia's handwriting covered several pages.
Emily cried after feeding.
Emily called Claire at 2:13 a.m.
Emily argued with Daniel about visitors.
Emily said she wanted Patricia out.
Emily slept until 10:05 after Daniel took first feeding.
Emily left house with Lily without telling Patricia.
The notes were not a diary.
They were surveillance.
"She was documenting me."
"It appears so."
"Why?"
Reed pointed to a later page.
One line had been underlined twice.
If Emily leaves, establish pattern before custody issue.
I stared at the words.
"Custody."
"That is what it says."
"She is not Lily's parent."
"No."
"Why would she write that?"
"We do not know yet."
I thought of Patricia's constant questions about feedings and sleep.
I had believed she was being controlling.
She had been building a record.
Every bad night was a mark against me.
Every tired sentence was a future weapon.
"Did Daniel know about this notebook?"
"He says no."
"Do you believe him?"
Detective Reed closed the image.
"My job is not to believe people quickly."
I almost smiled despite everything.
"I should learn that."
He did not disagree.
An hour later, hospital security told us Patricia had been released from the station pending a charging review but was under an emergency no-contact order.
She could not come to the hospital.
She could not contact me directly.
She could not return to the house while the temporary order was active.
Daniel read the order twice.
"Where is she going to stay?"
Rachel stared at him.
"That is your question?"
"I am asking practically."
"She owns three rental properties."
"Two are occupied."
"Then she can discover hotels like the rest of civilization."
Daniel stopped talking.
At 9:18, Steven Miller arrived at the police station with an attorney.
Detective Reed told us only that he was being interviewed.
Then, just before ten, Reed returned with a printed transcript page.
His face was unreadable.
"We copied the recorder."
My hands went cold.
"What is on it?"
"Several files."
"From last night?"
"Yes."
He looked at Daniel.
"One begins at 11:31 p.m."
Daniel swallowed.
"Why would Mom record then?"
Reed answered carefully.
"It sounds like she placed the device in the hallway."
I stopped breathing.
"Does it have the slap?"
"It has audio."
"Play it."
He hesitated.
"Emily, you may want someone with you."
"Play it."
Claire moved beside me.
Daniel took one step closer.
I held up my hand.
"Stay there."
He stopped.
Detective Reed played the copied file from his phone.
At first, there was only faint household noise.
A television somewhere downstairs.
A cabinet closing.
Then Patricia's voice.
Clear.
Close.
"How long are you going to let that continue?"
My voice answered from farther away.
"She is three weeks old, Patricia."
I remembered the moment.
I had been walking from the kitchen back toward the bedroom.
Lily had been crying against my shoulder.
Patricia spoke again.
"Daniel has work in the morning."
"I know."
"Then make her stop."
"I am trying."
There was a pause.
My recorded voice sounded exhausted but controlled.
"Please go back to bed."
Patricia laughed softly.
"You do not tell me where to go in my own house."
My stomach turned.
The recording continued.
"This is our house too."
"That depends on how long Daniel tolerates this."
Daniel closed his eyes.
I had forgotten she said that.
Maybe I had been too tired.
Maybe the slap had erased everything around it.
Then came my voice again.
"Do not threaten me tonight."
Patricia answered immediately.
"I am not threatening you."
"You keep telling me to leave."
"I keep telling you to act like a mother."
Lily cried loudly on the recording.
The sound tore through me.
I gripped Claire's hand.
Patricia spoke over the crying.
"Shut her up."
My voice sharpened.
"Do not speak about my daughter like that."
There was movement.
A rustle of fabric.
Then Patricia spoke much closer.
"Then get out of my house."
The next sound was unmistakable.
A sharp crack.
My gasp.
A heavy impact.
Then silence.
For less than a second, no one on the recording spoke.
Then I screamed Lily's name.
The sound I made in that hallway did not sound human to me now.
Claire began to cry beside me.
Daniel turned away.
The recording continued.
My voice begged Lily to wake up.
Footsteps approached quickly from the bedroom.
Daniel's voice appeared.
"What happened?"
I heard myself yell for him to call 911.
Then Patricia spoke.
Calm.
Immediate.
"She dropped the baby."
The room around us disappeared.
There it was.
The lie was less than five seconds old when Patricia first said it.
She had not panicked into it later.
She had not become confused at the hospital.
She had built it instantly.
Detective Reed stopped the recording.
I stared at his phone.
"Keep playing."
"There is more."
"Keep playing."
He did.
My recorded voice said, "You hit me."
Patricia answered, "I barely touched you."
Daniel said, "Mom?"
Then came something I had not remembered.
Patricia lowered her voice.
"Daniel, look at her."
A pause.
"She is not safe with that baby."
My skin crawled.
I heard myself say, "Do not do this."
Patricia continued.
"She is exhausted."
"She does not know what she is saying."
Then Daniel spoke.
His voice was low.
Uncertain.
"Emily, give me Lily."
I turned toward him in the consultation room.
"You tried to take her from me."
His face crumpled.
"I thought you were in shock."
"Your mother had just hit me."
"I did not know that yet."
I pointed at the phone.
"You heard the slap."
He had no answer.
Detective Reed raised one hand.
"There is another part you both need to hear."
He moved the recording ahead.
The sound of a door opening came through.
My footsteps moved away.
I had picked Lily up and run for the car.
Then the front door slammed.
For the first time, only Daniel and Patricia remained on the recording.
I stopped breathing.
Patricia spoke first.
"Do not call anyone yet."
Daniel's voice was sharp.
"Mom, what did you do?"
"She lost her balance."
"I heard you hit her."
My heart seemed to stop.
Daniel closed his eyes.
The recording went on.
May you like
Patricia whispered.
"Then forget what you heard."
