“Would you have laughed if your mother were alive?”
That shut him up.
For one brief second, I saw the boy he used to be. The boy who cried when Max died. The boy Helen rocked through fevers. The boy who once made me a Father’s Day card in crooked letters that said, “Dad, you are my hero.”
Then he looked away, and the man he had become returned.
Melissa tried again.
“Mr. Bennett gets confused. Last month he accused me of stealing from his wallet.”
“Because you did,” I said.
She smiled sadly at the officers. “See?”
Samuel slid a printed bank statement across the table.
“Actually, Ms. Parker, ATM footage confirms the card was used two blocks away while Mr. Bennett was at a cardiology appointment. You were not.”
Melissa’s smile died.
Brian stared at her.
“You said he gave you the card.”
She hissed, “Shut up.”
