Chapter 3 - Echoes from the Past
The black memory card sat on the stainless-steel tray like a tiny monolith of judgment. Dr. Reyes handed the evidence bag containing the rest of the doll to the lead police officer, who immediately slipped it into an official containment pouch.
"We need to get this to the cyber crimes unit and the lab right away," the officer said, his eyes shifting toward the holding area where Evelyn and Daniel were being detained. "If that card contains audio recordings, it could give us a complete timeline of what happened inside your home over the past few days."
"Do it," I said, my voice steady, though my hands had curled into tight fists. "And check the metadata. I want to know every time that card was accessed or written to."
The officer nodded and hurried down the corridor. I turned back to Dr. Reyes. "Can I go in to see Clara and Lily now?"
"They're still resting, but yes, you can sit with them," the doctor replied gently. "The worst of the acute poisoning phase has passed, thanks to the quick administration of the antidote and gastric lavage. But they are going to need monitoring for at least twenty-four hours. Your daughter is sleeping, but your wife is drifting in and out. She’ll likely be disoriented when she wakes up."
I walked into Lily’s room first. The small girl looked so fragile beneath the crisp white hospital sheets. The blue tint had left her lips, replaced by a pale, natural pink, but dark circles bruised the skin beneath her closed eyes. I pulled a chair close to her bed, took her small, cold hand in mine, and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
"Daddy’s here, bug," I whispered. "You're safe now. No one is ever going to hurt you again."
After making sure she was stable, I slipped into Clara’s room next door. She was awake, her hazy eyes fixed on the ceiling tiles. When the door clicked open, her head snapped toward me with a sudden, panicked jolt.
"Michael?" she gasped, her voice raspy and dry.
"I'm here, Clara. I'm right here." I rushed to her bedside, brushing a strand of damp hair from her forehead.
Tears welled in her eyes, spilling over her lashes and cutting tracks through the pale dust of exhaustion on her cheeks. "She tried... Evelyn tried to starve us, Michael. She locked the pantry. She said you authorized it. She said you wanted us to learn discipline. And when Lily cried, Evelyn brought out the soup... she put something in it. I tried to stop Lily from eating it, but..."
Clara choked on a sob, her fingers gripping my sleeve with desperate strength. "I fought her, but she was too strong. She pushed me against the counter. And then she made us clean it up while we were dizzy. She stood over us with that mop..."
"Shh, it's okay," I murmured, leaning down to press my face against her shoulder. "It's over. The police are here. Evelyn and Daniel are being held. And Dr. Reyes recovered the memory card from Miss Button."
Clara froze. A flicker of profound shock crossed her face. "The... the voice box? But it was broken. It stopped working months ago."
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"It didn't stop working," I said, a grim smile touching my lips. "It was recording. Every word, every threat, every vile thing my mother said while I was away is stored on that chip."
For the first time in days, the crushing weight on Clara’s chest seemed to lift. She let out a long, shuddering breath and closed her eyes, leaning into my touch. "Thank God," she whispered. "Thank God you came home."
