I returned home from deployment three weeks ahead of schedule to surprise my husband and our four-year-old daughter

The recording’s audio was faint, but one sentence could be heard clearly.

“Stop crying, Lily. Your father will come back when you learn to behave.”

Patricia then walked away from the house.

By herself.

I grabbed the edge of the table.

“Where was Derek?”

Detective Shaw paused the footage.

“We believe he had already left for Florida.”

I slowly shook my head.

“So Patricia knew Lily was alone?”

“The evidence suggests she knew Lily was without a caregiver. We’re still establishing the full sequence.”

I thought back to Derek’s explanation during our phone call.

Mom said Evelyn would keep an eye on things.

No such arrangement had ever existed.

There had never been any babysitter.

They had simply assumed that somebody else would step in before Lily starved to death.

And when nobody came to care for her, they went on enjoying their vacation anyway.
Chapter 5: THE EVIDENCE IN NORFOLK