Chapter 3 - WHAT THE PHONE REMEMBERED
Detective Mara Quinn listened to the recordings before I did.
I could not.
Not yet.
The forensic team copied 143 audio files.
Some were ninety seconds.
Some more than an hour.
Dates.
February 2.
Daniel:
“You know why you’re here.”
Me:
“No.”
Margaret:
“Don’t lie.”
Daniel:
“Another girl in this house, and she still acts proud.”
February 9.
Rope tightening.
My breathing.
Margaret:
“Women used to understand duty.”
Daniel:
“She thinks America changed biology.”
Margaret:
“No. America just gave women excuses.”
February 17.
Me crying.
Daniel:
“Stop making noise. Emma wakes up.”
February 22.
Margaret:
“Lily almost came outside.”
Daniel:
“Lock their door until we’re done.”
My skin turned cold.
The girls’ bedroom door had a hook latch outside.
Daniel told me it was because Lily sleepwalked.
She had sleepwalked twice.
He used the truth to justify something else.
March 1.
My voice:
“Please stop.”
Daniel:
“Say you understand.”
Me:
“I understand.”
Margaret:
“She doesn’t mean it.”
Then impact.
I stopped Mara.
“I can’t.”
She paused playback.
“You don’t need to hear everything.”
“Will a jury?”
“If this becomes a trial, selected portions may be relevant.”
“Do I have to identify every sound?”
“Probably not every one.”
I held my arms.
“What else is there?”
Mara opened notes.
“One conversation occurred after they brought you back inside.”
“When?”
“March eighteenth.”
I remembered that morning only as pain.
Margaret:
“She nearly fainted.”
Daniel:
“Good.”
Margaret:
“What?”
Daniel:
“If she breaks down, we have what we need.”
Margaret:
“For what?”
Daniel:
“Court.”
The word landed harder than the lash.
Court.
I had never known we were preparing for one.
Mara continued.
Margaret:
“You said you were fixing the marriage.”
Daniel:
“I am fixing my life.”
Silence.
Then:
“The girls don’t stay with her if she loses it.”
I stared.
“He was planning divorce.”
“It appears he was exploring custody.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“I wasn’t leaving him.”
Mara did not answer.
That was the point.
He was leaving me.
May you like
Quietly.
While making sure the children stayed behind.
