Chapter 8 - The Child Advocacy Center
Lily’s forensic interview happened five days after slap.
Child advocacy center in DuPage County.
Bright walls.
No police uniforms inside interview room.
One trained interviewer.
I waited elsewhere.
I was told not to rehearse.
Not to ask what she would say.
So that morning I made waffles.
She ate half.
Asked:
“Will Claire be there?”
“No.”
“Will you hear?”
“No.”
“Can I stop?”
“Yes.”
“Can I say I don’t know?”
“Yes.”
Her shoulders relaxed.
The interview lasted just over an hour.
I did not receive recording.
Later prosecutors summarized disclosures.
Claire began becoming “mean” after tumor diagnosis.
Before that, “sometimes mean but mostly normal.”
Important.
No invented childhood history.
After Daniel increased work hours on a large project, Claire managed daytime care.
She mocked Lily for needing help.
Told her Daniel was tired of her.
Said if Lily complained, Daniel would choose wife because “wives stay after kids grow up.”
Lily believed that.
That sentence changed how I understood her silence.
She was not simply afraid of Claire.
She feared losing me.
The interviewer asked:
“What did Claire say brain school was?”
“A place Daddy sends kids when they make families hard.”
“Did Daddy say that?”
“No.”
“How did you know?”
“Claire showed pictures.”
“Did she say when?”
“When Daddy signs.”
May you like
There.
The forged application fit.
