Chapter 7: What Was in the Medicine
“What did you put in her medicine?””
Naomi's voice was barely recognizable.
Marcus stood beside the dining table, staring at the sealed phone as though it might suddenly begin speaking. Detective Ross had ordered everyone to remain where they were, and Detective Ellis was already writing down his exact words.
Marcus shook his head.
“I didn't put anything dangerous in her medicine.””
Naomi stepped toward him.
“Then why did our daughter ask you what you put in it?””
“I don't know!””
“You said you heard her ask you that.””
“I remember the recording. I remember her asking me a question. I didn't say I had done anything.””
Naomi looked at Detective Ross.
“Can he be telling the truth?””
Ross answered carefully.
“We don't know yet. We need to establish what the recording contains, whether it can be recovered, and what the medical records show.””
Marcus seized on the uncertainty.
“Exactly. You don't know anything yet.””
Naomi turned toward him.
“I know you weren't there when she needed you.””
His expression collapsed.
“I know I failed her.””
“You keep admitting to things that sound terrible, but you never tell me what actually happened.””
Marcus opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Vanessa stood near the doorway, clutching her phone in both hands.
Detective Ellis noticed.
“Ms. Cole, you mentioned Danielle earlier. Why?””
Vanessa looked at Marcus.
He shook his head once.
Ellis's expression hardened.
“I'm asking you a question.””
Vanessa swallowed.
“Danielle worked with Marcus before I met him. She was involved in the same business project he mentioned. She also knew about Lily's medical situation.””
“How?””
“I don't know exactly.””
“Did she communicate with Lily?””
Vanessa looked at the sealed evidence container.
“I think so.””
Naomi gripped the back of a chair.
“You think so?””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“Marcus told me Danielle had helped him arrange something for Lily. He said it was a private matter between him and the doctors.””
“What did she arrange?””
“I don't know.””
Marcus interrupted.
“She helped with paperwork. That's all.””
Ross turned toward him.
“Then why did Ms. Cole react so strongly when she heard Danielle's name?””
Marcus didn't answer.
Naomi stared at her husband.
“Was Danielle involved in Lily's treatment?””
He rubbed his hands over his face.
“She helped me contact a specialist.””
“Which specialist?””
“I don't remember the name.””
“You don't remember the name of the person you trusted with your daughter's care?””
“I was trying to help Lily!””
The words burst from him.
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
Marcus looked toward the photograph on the memorial table.
“She wasn't getting better. Naomi, you remember how sick she was. We went to appointments, we tried medications, we listened to everything the doctors told us. I couldn't stand watching her suffer.””
Naomi's eyes narrowed.
“What did Danielle tell you?””
Marcus shook his head.
“Nothing.””
“Marcus.””
“She said she knew someone who might be able to help us understand the treatment.””
“And you never told me?””
“I thought you would say no.””
“Because you knew it wasn't safe?””
“Because you didn't trust anything outside the hospital!””
Naomi stared at him in disbelief.
“You hid something involving our daughter's medicine because you thought I would ask questions?””
Marcus's shoulders sagged.
“I thought I was helping.””
Ross stepped closer.
“Mr. Reed, did you administer any medication to Lily that had not been prescribed by her treating physician?””
Marcus looked at him.
“I need a lawyer.””
Ross nodded.
“Understood. We won't continue questioning you about that without counsel.””
He turned toward Ellis and quietly instructed her to document the statement and coordinate with the appropriate investigators.
Naomi felt her legs weakening. She sat beside the memorial table, keeping one hand close to Lily's photograph.
The white flowers smelled faintly sweet.
She remembered Lily wrinkling her nose whenever Naomi brought home lilies because she insisted the flowers smelled like an old lady's perfume. Her favorite had been daisies. She had once filled a paper cup with them from the garden and presented them to Naomi as a royal bouquet.
Naomi had laughed until Lily laughed, too.
Now she couldn't remember the last time she had heard her daughter's laugh without feeling pain.
Detective Ellis approached her.
“Mrs. Reed, do you have any information about Lily's medication schedule?””
Naomi wiped her face.
“Yes. Everything was documented. The doctors gave us instructions, and I kept the medication in a labeled container in the kitchen.””
“Did Marcus ever administer her medicine?””
“Of course. He was her father.””
“Did you notice any changes in the medication?””
Naomi thought carefully.
“There was one bottle I didn't recognize.””
Marcus looked up sharply.
Naomi continued.
“It appeared shortly before Lily was admitted to the hospital the second time. Marcus told me the doctor had changed the prescription.””
“Did you verify that with the doctor?””
“I meant to. Lily became sick that night, and we rushed her to the hospital.””
Ellis wrote it down.
“Do you remember the bottle's name?””
“No. I remember the label was white, with a blue stripe near the bottom.””
Vanessa suddenly sat down.
Naomi looked at her.
“What?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Nothing.””
“Don't do that.””
“Do what?””
“Look as though you know something and then pretend you don't.””
Vanessa began twisting one of her bracelets.
“I saw a bottle like that in Marcus's apartment.””
Marcus turned toward her.
“What apartment?””
Vanessa flinched.
“The place we stayed before Jamaica. You told me you needed to collect some work documents there.””
Naomi stared at Marcus.
“You have another apartment?””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“It's a property I own.””
“Since when?””
“Almost a year.””
Naomi's mouth fell open.
“You've been living another life for a year, and you expect me to believe this was all about trying to help Lily?””
“I never said that.””
“You didn't have to.””
Ross raised his hand.
“Let's keep the focus on the investigation. Ms. Cole, can you identify the apartment's location?””
Vanessa nodded and provided the address.
Ellis recorded it.
Ross then explained that the investigators would need to establish whether any medication had been altered and whether the property contained relevant evidence. He made no claim about what the bottle had contained or whether it had played any role in Lily's death.
Naomi listened, but her thoughts had returned to the note on the old phone.
If anything happens to me, look at the last recording.
She turned to Detective Ross.
“How long will it take to recover the recording?””
“I can't promise a timeframe.””
“Could it still be there?””
“Yes. It's possible.””
Naomi nodded, holding herself together by force.
“Then find it.””
Ross gave her a solemn nod.
“We will follow the evidence.””
A few minutes later, Detective Ellis's phone rang.
She listened, asked two brief questions, and walked toward Ross.
Naomi watched their expressions change.
“What happened?”” she asked.
Ellis ended the call.
“The preliminary review of the medical records has identified an inconsistency in the medication history.””
Marcus stood.
“What inconsistency?””
Ellis looked directly at him.
“The records list a medication change that the treating physician does not currently recognize as having been authorized.””
Naomi covered her mouth.
Ross added, “That does not establish what happened or who was responsible. We need further verification.””
Marcus backed into a chair.
“I didn't hurt my daughter.””
Nobody answered.
Then Vanessa whispered, “You told me the doctor had approved it.””
Marcus turned toward her.
“You told me it would be safe.””
The words escaped before he could stop them.
Ross immediately looked at him.
Ellis stopped writing.
Naomi rose so abruptly that her chair scraped across the marble floor.
“What did you just say?””
Marcus's eyes widened.
“I didn't mean—”
“You said she told you it would be safe.””
He shook his head frantically.
“I was talking about the business arrangement.””
“No, you weren't.””
Vanessa began crying harder.
Marcus looked at the detectives, then at Naomi.
Finally, he whispered, “Danielle said she could get us something that might help Lily.””
Ross opened his notebook again.
“What exactly did Danielle offer?””
Marcus stared at Lily's photograph.
“I don't know what was in it.””
“Where did you obtain it?””
Marcus's voice broke.
“From Danielle.””
“And where is Danielle now?””
Marcus looked toward Vanessa.
May you like
She slowly lowered her phone.
Then she said, “She's on her way here.””
