Jake described arriving at his grandparents’ house after Christine picked him up from soccer practice. His grandmother, Elaine, had been upstairs resting. His uncles were in the kitchen with Grandpa Warren.
At first, everything had seemed normal.
Then Jake had gone into Warren’s study looking for colored pencils.
“What were you drawing?” the specialist asked.
“A map,” Jake whispered. “For a game.”
“What happened in the study?”
“I opened the bottom drawer.”
“Why?”
“The pencils used to be there.”
His gaze drifted toward me.
“There was a picture.”
Detective Ortiz leaned forward slightly. “What kind of picture?”
Jake’s fingers tightened around the blanket.
“A picture of Dad.”
My throat went dry.
“What was Dad doing in the picture?” the specialist asked.
“He was standing with another man. They were wearing suits. Grandpa came in and asked why I was touching his things. I said I didn’t know he knew Dad before Mom did.”
