Chapter 4 - “SHE’S CONFUSED”By morning, Evelyn had a new explanation.
She had not known Caitlyn was inside.
She had heard noises upstairs, yes, but the smoke alarm had begun sounding and everything had become chaotic.
Maybe she heard Caitlyn.
Maybe she heard the television.
Maybe she could not remember.
Megan listened without interrupting.
They were standing in an empty family waiting room at the hospital.
Evelyn dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
“I almost died too.”
Megan stared at her.
“You walked out the front door.”
“I could have been trapped.”
“But you weren’t.”
Evelyn lowered the tissue.
“What exactly are you accusing me of?”
“I haven’t accused you of anything.”
“Your face has.”
Megan looked through the window in the door.
Caitlyn was eating applesauce while a nurse adjusted her oxygen monitor.
“She says you stood outside her room.”
“She’s seven.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s stupid.”
“I didn’t say she was stupid.”
“You said she’s confused.”
“Because she inhaled smoke.”
Megan turned sharply.
“She remembered the passage.”
Evelyn said nothing.
“She remembered how to crawl out of a burning bedroom but somehow imagined you standing six inches from the other side of her door?”
“Megan.”
“Did you hear her?”
Evelyn’s eyes hardened.
It lasted less than a second.
Then the wounded grandmother returned.
“I love that child.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
A knock interrupted them.
Daniel Price entered with another woman.
“This is Detective Laura Bennett.”
Evelyn’s posture changed.
“Detective?”
Laura offered no smile.
“We’re assisting because of the circumstances around the locked door.”
Evelyn folded her arms.
“You’re treating a terrible accident like a crime.”
“We’re determining what happened.”
Laura turned toward Megan.
“May we speak with Caitlyn when her doctor feels it’s appropriate?”
Megan hesitated.
“I don’t want ten people questioning her.”
“We don’t either. We can arrange a child forensic interviewer.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“She does not need to be interrogated.”
Laura looked at her.
“Mrs. Monroe, the child’s mother makes that decision.”
The words landed hard.
Evelyn glanced at Megan.
For years, Evelyn had inserted herself into decisions.
Schools.
Pediatricians.
Vacations.
Birthday parties.
After Ethan died, she became even more involved.
Megan had allowed much of it because Caitlyn loved her grandmother and because grief had left Megan exhausted.
Now the same confidence felt different.
Controlling.
“Let them talk to her,” Megan said.
Evelyn’s mouth tightened.
“Megan.”
“She almost died.”
“And you think traumatizing her with police questions will help?”
Megan turned.
“No. I think finding out why she was locked in a burning room will help.”
Evelyn’s face went still.
Laura watched closely.
Later that afternoon, Caitlyn sat with a trained interviewer named Rachel in a child-friendly hospital room.
Megan watched from behind glass.
Rachel did not suggest answers.
She asked Caitlyn to tell her what happened.
Caitlyn talked about waking up.
Seeing orange light.
Trying the door.
Calling for Mommy.
Then Grandma.
“Did you see Grandma?” Rachel asked.
“No.”
“How did you know she was there?”
“Her shoes.”
“You saw her shoes?”
“Under the door.”
“What did the shoes do?”
“They stopped.”
“And then?”
Caitlyn’s mouth trembled.
“I said please.”
Rachel waited.
“What happened next?”
“She went away.”
Outside the room, Megan covered her mouth.
Laura stood beside her.
No one spoke.
When the interview ended, Megan returned to Caitlyn.
Her daughter climbed into her arms.
“Did I do it wrong?”
“No.”
“Grandma says I’m confused.”
Megan felt something inside her break.
She touched Caitlyn’s cheek.
“You are allowed to remember what you remember.”
“What if Grandma gets mad?”
Megan swallowed.
“She doesn’t get to make you afraid of telling the truth.”
Caitlyn nodded.
Then she whispered:
“She locked it.”
Megan stared at her.
“Did you see her lock it?”
Caitlyn shook her head.
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because before bed she said I had to stay in my room.”
Megan’s skin went cold.
“When?”
“After you left.”
“What exactly did she say?”
Caitlyn frowned, trying to remember.
“She said, ‘Tonight you stay where I put you.’”
Megan’s eyes filled with tears.
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At the doorway, Detective Bennett had heard everything.
And for the first time, what had begun as an investigation into a house fire was becoming something else.
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