Chapter 7 - The Missing Forty Minutes
The timeline broke open after that.
Taylor's SUV had a navigation app that automatically logged trips.
Officer Keller called me that afternoon.
"She arrived at the house at 9:12 PM."
I had arrived at 9:57.
Forty-five minutes.
Forty-five minutes during which my daughter said Taylor knew she was inside the freezer.
I drove straight to the police station.
Taylor was already there with an attorney.
She looked exhausted.
Keller asked me to wait outside the interview room, but I could see her through the glass.
She cried.
She shook her head.
She covered her face.
Two hours later, her attorney left first.
Taylor came out alone.
"Ben."
I stood.
"Did you hear her?"
She looked at the floor.
"Yes."
I couldn't move.
"You heard our daughter inside a freezer."
"I didn't know she was in the freezer at first."
"How long did it take you to figure it out?"
"A few minutes."
"And then?"
Taylor started crying.
"Mom told me Lily had climbed in there to scare us."
"And you believed her?"
"I didn't know what to believe."
"Open the lid. That's what you believe. You open the damn lid."
A detective stepped closer, ready to intervene.
I lowered my voice.
"Why didn't you open it?"
Taylor whispered, "Because Mom said if police got involved, she'd tell the court I was unstable."
I stared at her.
"So you chose your custody case over Lily."
"No."
"That's exactly what you did."
She reached toward me.
I stepped away.
"There is something else," she said.
I almost laughed.
"Of course there is."
"My mother has been giving me money."
"What?"
"Since the separation. For the mortgage. Lawyer. Groceries."
"And?"
"She said if I stopped letting her help with Lily, she'd stop paying."
Suddenly pieces started connecting in the ugliest possible way.
Evelyn hadn't just inserted herself into our home.
She had purchased influence.
"How much?"
Taylor whispered, "$38,000."
I felt physically ill.
Then Keller came into the hallway holding a printed report.
"Ben, we recovered data from the phone."
"The video?"
"Several videos."
He paused.
"One of them was recorded the night before your divorce hearing."
Taylor closed her eyes.
May you like
Keller looked directly at me.
"It appears your mother-in-law was in your home office. She photographed documents from your custody file."
