Chapter 3 - THE TOOTH IN THE EVIDENCE BAG
Lucy was taken to a private children’s hospital.
Nora rode beside her in the ambulance.
Charles followed in another vehicle.
Daniel tried to enter the ambulance.
Officer Cole stopped him.
“You will be questioned here.”
“My daughter is injured.”
“You watched her bleed while restraining the person trying to help her.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“You do not understand my family.”
Officer Cole looked toward the shattered ballroom.
“I understand enough.”
At the hospital, a pediatric dentist examined Lucy.
The lost tooth had been a baby tooth.
The root had begun loosening naturally, which reduced the permanent damage.
Her lip required three small stitches.
She also had bruising along her cheek and jaw.
Nora’s hip was deeply bruised.
Her shoulder had been partially dislocated.
A doctor placed her arm in a sling.
Lucy sat on the examination bed holding Nora’s free hand.
“Is my smile broken?”
Nora’s throat tightened.
“No, sweetheart.”
“It is changing.”
Lucy touched the gap carefully.
“Will people laugh?”
“Good people won’t.”
Charles stood near the door.
He had recovered the tooth from the ballroom.
It now rested inside a hospital evidence bag.
Lucy looked at him.
“Can the tooth fairy find a police bag?”
Charles almost smiled.
“The tooth fairy has excellent connections.”
For the first time that night, Lucy gave a small laugh.
Then her expression changed.
“Daddy is mad at me.”
Nora sat closer.
“No.”
“Daddy made a bad choice.”
“He said I deserved it.”
“He was wrong.”
“Does he still love me?”
Nora closed her eyes for half a second.
She refused to build another comforting lie.
“I do not know what your father understands about love right now.”
“But I know you did nothing wrong.”
Charles turned away to hide his anger.
A child therapist entered and asked to speak with Lucy gently.
The hospital had reported the assault automatically.
Lucy described the orange juice.
She described Celeste stepping into her.
Then she said something Nora had not heard before.
“Miss Celeste told me Mommy would leave after tonight.”
Nora became still.
“When did she say that?”
“Before the party.”
“She came into my room.”
Celeste had arrived at the Hale home that afternoon.
Daniel told Nora she was helping with the gala.
Lucy continued.
“She said Daddy was getting a new family.”
Nora felt the room tilt.
“What else did she say?”
“She said I had to be good at Grandma’s house.”
“Because Daddy and Mommy were going away.”
Charles and Nora exchanged a look.
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Daniel and Celeste had not merely planned a public confrontation.
They had already discussed removing Lucy from her home.
