Chapter 16
The Child in the Room
Elise remembered a red raincoat.
Not the one from her father’s hallway. An older one, too large at the shoulders, hanging from a peg beneath a sign that read QUIET FOR RECORDING.
She remembered being nineteen. She remembered Mara beside her, younger and furious. She remembered Simon Hart opening a metal door.
Inside the room, a child sat beneath a microphone.
The child had a paper cup and a blue crayon.
“Her name is Nia,” Elise said.
June’s expression went still. “You remember.”
“She was drawing a house.”
“What else?”
“She said her mother was asleep.”
“What else?”
Elise pressed her fingers against her temple. The room filled with a low hum. The speakers were recording her breathing.
“She asked me if I was the judge’s daughter.”
June nodded. “And what did you say?”
“I said yes.”
“Then?”
“She asked me to open the door.”
The white door in the memory stood shut. A small hand reached toward the handle. Elise had placed her palm over it.
“I opened it,” Elise whispered.
“You did.”
“There was no room behind it.”
June’s voice softened. “There was a room. You were told not to see it.”
The seventh speaker activated.
Nia’s child voice counted from one to seven.
At four, she began crying.
At seven, another voice said, “The witness is compliant.”
Elise recoiled. “That was me?”
“No. It was your father.”
The clock showed eight minutes.
The door handle turned from the corridor side.
Bell shouted again. “Elise, step away from June!”
June did not move. “He will break the lock. He will take the card. Then he will tell you the room was empty.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
The answer frightened Elise more than a plea would have.
June placed a second card on the table. “This is the recording of Nia’s mother. The first witness. Listen.”
Elise pressed play.
An adult woman said, “I consent to an interview. I do not consent to my child being placed in another room.”
Simon’s younger voice answered, “Your consent is not required for every part of the investigation.”
The woman began to cry.
Then Mara spoke, much younger than Elise had ever heard her.
“Stop the recording.”
Simon’s voice said, “You are not authorized.”
Mara answered, “Neither are you.”
The file ended.
Elise looked at June. “Mara tried to stop it.”
“Mara tried to save the record.”
“Those are different things.”
“That is why she needed you.”
The door burst open.
Bell entered with his weapon raised. June vanished through a seam in the wall before he could reach her.
On the table, the brass key remained.
Bell grabbed Elise’s arm. “Are you hurt?”
She pulled free. “You knew about Nia.”
His silence was immediate.
The speakers all activated at once.
Mara said, “Ask Bell where Nia went.”
Bell closed his eyes.
From the corridor came the sound of a child laughing.