the handcuffs bit

er eyes still fixed on the spot where Li

ble, lost in the sterile

her rights, the words

ands. When he finally looked up, his eyes were red-rimmed, but fill

e thick with grief and condemnation. "Our Lily.

a dark period, one she thought she had overcome, one she rarely spok

y footage, carefully edited, played on a loop on every news channel. Her face, contorted in the initia

cation was sw

elderly janitor from the community cent

quiet man who always seemed to b

was a nail i

t firm, his gaze downcast. "Mrs. Miller. She came in wi

if gathering

she was harsh with Lily. I heard her snap at the child,

forward. "Did you see any

ve a whisper, "I thought I saw Mrs. Miller... near Lily... and then Ms. Eva

a large bag. She hadn't been aggressive. She h

imony painted a damning picture. An unstable mo

crushing her. The evidence, David's condem

ped. Isolate

an to eat a