Chapter 1 - The Crimson Gift
My daughter’s scream cut through Christmas morning before the wrapping paper touched the floor. Nine-year-old Lily clawed at her cheeks and cried, “Mommy… my face burns! It hurts!”
I dropped beside her.
A silver cosmetic case lay open beneath the tree. Inside were children’s makeup powders, glitter, and a handwritten card from my father-in-law, Arthur: For our little princess.
Lily’s skin was already turning red.
My husband, Daniel, grabbed her coat and carried her toward the door.
“Call the hospital,” he shouted. “I’ll drive.”
I reached for the gift box, but Arthur stepped between us.
“Leave it alone,” he said. “She probably has sensitive skin.”
His calm frightened me more than Lily’s screaming.
Daniel’s mother, Margaret, stood beside him, twisting her wedding ring.
“It came from an expensive boutique,” she said. “Don’t make this into an accusation.”
I looked at Arthur.
He had disliked me since the day Daniel married me. To him, I was the woman who had “trapped” his son and inserted herself into the family business. He mocked my work, dismissed my opinions, and called me emotional whenever I questioned him.
What he never mentioned was that I had spent eleven years as a forensic toxicologist before opening my own laboratory.
I knew a chemical burn when I saw one.
“Nobody touches this room,” I said.
Arthur laughed. “You think you’re conducting an investigation?”
“I think my child was injured.”
Daniel rushed Lily to the hospital. I sealed the makeup case inside two clean food-storage bags and photographed the tree, packaging, and card from every angle.
Arthur’s expression changed.
“You’re being dramatic.”
“Then you have nothing to fear.”
He reached for the bag.
I pulled it away.
For one second, the warmth left his face completely.
Three hours later, Daniel returned home.
Lily had been admitted for treatment, but the doctors believed her eyesight would be saved. Daniel’s coat was still dusted with snow.
Behind him stood two police officers and a woman from the hospital’s hazardous-materials response team.
Arthur rose from the sofa.
“What is this?”
Daniel looked at his father as if he no longer recognized him.
“The powder contained industrial alkaline cleaner.”
Margaret gasped.
One officer held up a search warrant.
“We need everyone to step away from the presents.”
May you like
Then the second officer opened the coat closet.
Behind the holiday decorations sat four identical silver gift boxes.
