Part 4
Before Jack could answer, before I could even process the sheer depth of the betrayal, the heavy double doors at the end of the hallway burst open.
Two uniformed police officers walked in, their heavy boots thudding against the floor. Beside them was a woman in a sharp grey pantsuit, her badge clipped to her belt. She had an aura of sharp, no-nonsense authority that immediately shifted the energy in the room.
"Dr. Evans?" the woman asked, stepping forward. "I'm Detective Miller. We received the mandatory notification from your triage unit regarding a suspected pediatric poisoning."
"Yes, Detective," Dr. Evans said, stepping back to include Jack and me in the circle. "This is Elena and Jack Vance, the parents of the patient, Eva Vance. I was just informing them of the toxicological findings."
Detective Miller turned her sharp, gray eyes onto us. She didn't look at us with pity; she looked at us with the calculating scrutiny of someone trying to read a crime scene. "Mr. and Mrs. Vance, I know this is an incredibly traumatic moment, but we need to move quickly. The hospital is legally required to report cases like this, and my department treats them with the highest priority. Who has had access to your daughter's food and drinks over the last forty-eight hours?"
"Her step-grandmother," I said instantly, my voice loud, cutting through Jack’s stunned silence. "Marlene Vance. She lives with us. She’s at our house right now."
"Elena, wait—" Jack stammered, reaching for my arm, but I pulled away from him, my maternal instinct entirely consumed by a cold, burning rage.
"No, Jack! No more protecting her!" I screamed, turning back to the detective. "Marlene has been making our daughter a cup of warm milk every single night. Tonight, Eva woke up screaming at two in the morning, trying to tell us a secret. Before she could speak, Marlene slapped her across the face to silence her. Minutes later, my daughter was seizing and foaming at the mouth. And the doctor just told us she's been poisoned for days!"
Detective Miller’s expression hardened. She took out a small notepad, scribbling rapidly. "And the medication the doctor mentioned—Digoxin. Does anyone in the house have a prescription for it?"
"My father did," Jack confessed, his voice barely a whisper, his shoulders slumping as if the weight of the world had just dropped onto him. "He died a year ago from congestive heart failure. Marlene was his primary caretaker. She managed all his medications. When he passed, she kept a lot of his personal belongings. I... I never thought to check if she kept his old prescriptions."
"Where is Marlene Vance right now?" Detective Miller asked, her tone clipping each word short.
"She’s at our home," I said, giving her our address. "When the ambulance left, she stayed behind. She was washing the mug Eva drank from. She was trying to destroy the evidence, Detective. You have to go there right now before she cleans everything."
Detective Miller tapped her earpiece, instantly radioing dispatch. "This is Miller. I need a unit dispatched immediately to the Vance residence. Secure the perimeter and detain a female occupant, Marlene Vance, for questioning regarding a felony child endangerment and poisoning investigation. Do not allow her to alter or dispose of any household items, specifically in the kitchen area."
She lowered her hand and looked back at us. "I am sending a forensic team to your house to collect samples. Mr. and Mrs. Vance, I need one of you to remain here with your daughter, and the other needs to accompany my officers back to the house to grant consent for a full search. We need to find the source of that toxin immediately."
"I'll go," I said without hesitation.
May you like
"No, Elena, let me go," Jack pleaded, his eyes red and pleading. "She’s my stepmother. If she did this... if she really did this, I need to look her in the eye."
"You couldn't even admit she was hurting her ten minutes ago, Jack!" I snapped, the anger boiling over. "You stay here and watch over our daughter. I am going back to that house, and I am going to make sure that monster never steps foot near my family again."
