Our daughter studied her carefully.
“Grandma said I shouldn’t tell you.”
Laura’s face crumpled.
“What shouldn’t you tell me?”
Sophie hesitated.
“About the punishments.”
Laura covered her mouth.
“Why?”
“Because you’d get mad.”
Sophie looked confused.
“She said you’d be proud of me if I was strong.”
Laura sank into the chair beside the bed and started crying again.
“I’m so sorry.”
Sophie tilted her head.
“Why are you crying?”
Laura reached for her hand.
“Because I should have protected you.”
Sophie thought about that for a moment, then asked the question that broke my heart.
“Are we safe now?”
I squeezed her hand.
“Yes.”
She looked at Laura.
“Is grandma coming back?”
Laura shook her head firmly.
“No.”
Sophie relaxed a little.
“Okay.”
Within minutes, she drifted back to sleep.
Before leaving, Detective Bennett closed both folders and said, “We’ll keep these as evidence.”
“Do whatever you need,” I said.
He paused at the door.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
“There are no records in Laura’s folder after age fourteen.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
He looked back at us.
“It means something happened that made Evelyn stop documenting her corrections.”
Laura wiped her eyes.
“What kind of thing?”
The detective’s expression darkened.