She had been an active participant, helping research methods and provide alibis. The spreadsheet on her computer was titled after N is gone and being the initial of my name. The arrest happened 5 days after Meline woke up. I was in Meline’s hospital room when Detective Hong called to inform me.
My daughter had graduated from the ICU to a regular pediatric ward and she was sitting up in bed working on a puzzle that Caroline had brought. The normaly of the scene, my child doing a puzzle, sunlight streaming through the window, the quiet beep of monitors, contrasted so sharply with the words coming through my phone that I had to step into the hallway.
We’ve made arrests, Detective Hong said. Your mother and sister are in custody. They were taken into custody about an hour ago. Both of them? Both? Your mother was at home. Your sister was at work. The charges include conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder of a minor, and child endangerment. There may be additional charges depending on what the grand jury decides.
I leaned against the hallway wall, watching nurses passed by with medication carts and clipboards. The ordinary machinery of hospital life continued around me while my family imploded. What happens now? Arraignment tomorrow morning. They’ll enter, please. Bail will be set. Given the severity of the charges and the evidence we’ve accumulated, I’d expect the judge to set bail high.
Your mother is a flight risk, she has the resources to disappear. That evening, the story broke on the local news. I watched the coverage from Meline’s hospital room. The volume turned low so she wouldn’t hear. There was footage of my mother being led from her house in handcuffs, her face a mask of outraged dignity. My father stood in the doorway behind her, looking like a man whose entire world had crumbled.
