Part 133 (1/2)

”Maybe that's all you did.” Lou frowned into his gla.s.s. Like Emma, he'd

been able to put the case aside for long stretches. But it always came

back. He knew the face of that little boy would always haunt him.

”Emma, we were never sure you went into the room, or saw anything. At

the time, you thought you did, but you were very confused. It was just

as likely that you heard something that frightened you, ran to the

stairs to call your father, and fell. You were only six, and afraid of

the dark.”

Was, and am, she thought. ”I've never been able to sort it out, you

see. And I hate not knowing, not being sure I couldn't have stopped it.

Saved him.”

”I can put your mind at rest there.” He put the gla.s.s aside. He wanted

her to see him as a cop now, an official. ”There were two men in your

brother's room that night. The nanny claimed that she heard two people

whispering as she was being bound. The forensic evidence corroborated

it. The syringe found on the floor of your brother's room contained a

sedative, a child's dose. From what we were able to piece together, the

time that elapsed between the nanny being bound and your fall was less

than twenty minutes. It was a bungled attempt, Emma, with tragic

results, but it was well thought out. Something happened to confuse

their plans, to confuse them. We may never know what it was. But if

you had gone into that room, had tried to fight them off yourself, you

wouldn't have been able to save Darren, and in all likelihood would have

been killed as well.”

She hoped he was right. She prayed he was right. But it did little to

soothe her. When she left an hour later she promised herself she would