Hours went by.
The toxicology results didn’t show some exotic poison. That would’ve made a better movie.
Real life was uglier. Because it was so ordinary.
An over-the-counter antihistamine. The kind you can buy at any drugstore. At a level much higher than it should’ve been for a kid Tommy’s size.
Probably not fatal. But enough to explain why he could barely sit up. Enough to keep him overnight for monitoring. Enough that the doctor wrote down her concern about inappropriate dosing.
The police collected the red cup. They found the medicine bottle in the kitchen trash.
Jennifer said she’d misread the dosing cup.
Robert said he thought she’d given a normal amount.
Tommy said they made him drink it after he refused.
Those versions would all have to be investigated. I learned fast that knowing what you believe and proving every detail are two very different things.
Around one in the morning, a detective came to talk to me. Detective Laura Chen. Financial crimes.
“Mr. Carter, are you the trustee of a trust for Thomas Carter?”
“Yes.”
“Has your son ever had authority to withdraw funds?”
“No.”
“Could he have access to the accounts?”
“No,” I said.
Then I stopped. And corrected myself.
“He shouldn’t.”
That was different. And we both knew it.
She asked for the names. Bank. Trust attorney. Property management company. I gave her all of it.
At 2:13 a.m. on Christmas morning, I called my lawyer, Frank Delgado. He’s handled Mary’s and my wills for twenty years.
He answered groggy but alert.
“Joe?”
I told him everything.
There was a long silence.
“Do not call Robert about the trust,” Frank said.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good. I’ll be at the bank the minute it opens on the twenty-sixth.”
Sophia Rivers is an experienced News Content Editor with a sharp eye for detail and a passion for delivering accurate and engaging news stories. At TheArchivists, she specializes in curating, editing, and presenting news content that informs and resonates with a global audience.
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