Chapter 24 - THE HIBISCUS GLASS
After all appeals ended, the police evidence unit notified us about remaining physical evidence.
The water glass.
The linen runner.
The warped medication packaging from another unrelated exhibit? No.
Only the glass and preserved residue sample mattered here.
Did we want the glass returned?
No.
Evidence could be destroyed under procedure.
Luke was an adult.
We asked him.
“Why would I want Grandma’s poison cup?”
Fair.
The certified laboratory records remained archived.
The glass was destroyed.
That surprised me emotionally.
I had imagined it existing forever in some evidence box.
Proof.
Then it was gone.
Truth remained.
No object required worship.
I kept one thing from the original party.
Not the broken cobbler plate.
That had been discarded during investigation.
I kept the recipe card.
Luke’s handwriting at five:
BARRYS
SUGR
BUTR
MOM HELP WITH OVEN
I found it years later inside an old cookbook.
Purple thumbprint at the corner.
Nothing from Madeline.
No legal note.
Just cooking.
I framed that.
Luke complained.
“That spelling is criminal.”
“You were five.”
“Destroy it.”
May you like
“Never.”
Some evidence deserved family preservation.
