Chapter 11 - Lily's Picture
For the next two days, Ethan lived inside police interviews, legal calls, and security briefings.
Lily lived with crayons.
Her guardian ad litem, Rebecca Sloan, met her in the safe apartment with a child psychologist present.
No uniforms.
No cameras in her face.
No leading questions.
Rebecca asked Lily to draw her house.
Lily drew Ethan first.
Tall stick figure.
Blue tie.
Then herself beside him.
Then a black square at the end of the hallway.
"What's that?" Rebecca asked.
Lily pressed hard enough to break the crayon.
"Dark closet."
Ethan felt his stomach drop.
There was no dark closet in the evidence so far.
"Where?" Rebecca asked gently.
Lily pointed to a rough drawing of the east wing.
"Near Mommy picture."
Anna's portrait hung outside the old music room.
Police searched.
Behind a built-in linen cabinet they found a narrow service closet.
Inside: a small chair.
A battery lantern.
A white-noise machine.
Nothing illegal by itself.
Together, horrifying.
On the inside of the door were tiny scratches at child height.
Ethan had to leave the room.
He made it to the hall before he broke.
Marcus stood nearby but said nothing.
Ethan pressed both hands over his face.
"I was here," he whispered. "I was in this house."
"You were deceived."
"I was her father."
Marcus did not argue.
That was why Ethan trusted him.
Rebecca later told Ethan something he needed to hear.
"Guilt can make parents rush. Don't make Lily responsible for making you feel forgiven."
He nodded.
That evening, Lily showed him another drawing.
Three people.
Daddy.
Lily.
A woman with yellow hair.
"Who's that?"
Lily whispered, "Nice lady."
"What nice lady?"
"She came at night. Vivian got mad."
Ethan frowned.
"Do you know her name?"
Lily thought hard.
"Claire."
Ethan's heart stopped.
Claire was Anna's younger sister.
She had supposedly moved to Oregon two years ago and cut off contact.
Ethan had not heard from her since.
He called her old number.
Disconnected.
Dana searched public records.
Claire had never moved to Oregon.
She was living forty minutes away.
May you like
Under her married name.
And according to property records, Daniel Pike had bought her house.
