Chapter 2 - The Basement Had a Locked Room Filled With Children's Drawings—And One of Them Had My Brother's Face on ItRebecca's house looked different at night.
During the day, it had seemed ordinary.
A suburban home.
White siding.
Green lawn.
Children's toys near the porch.
Now every window looked like an accusation.
Dante met me at the door.
Two officers stood nearby.
“What did you find?”
He led me downstairs.
The basement smelled damp.
There were scratches on the door.
Deep ones.
At child's height.
I stared.
“Open it.”
The police officer unlocked the door.
The room beyond was small.
A thin mattress.
A bucket.
A metal bowl.
Chains attached to the wall.
And drawings.
Hundreds of them.
I walked closer.
Most were made with crayons.
Houses.
Trees.
People.
Families.
One drawing showed four figures.
A little boy.
A little girl.
A man.
And a woman with black scribbles over her face.
The man had a heart drawn over his chest.
Underneath was one word.
DADDY.
I swallowed.
“Who drew this?”
Dante pointed toward a pile.
“Most appear to be Leo's.”
I picked up another.
It showed a door.
Behind the door was a little girl.
Above her head were words written in uneven letters.
MAYA IS SLEEPING.
Another drawing showed Leo carrying Maya.
His leg was drawn crooked.
I stared at it.
He had been telling the truth.
He had been documenting everything the only way a six-year-old knew how.
Then I noticed something.
One drawing was different.
It wasn't made by a child.
It was a photograph.
My brother Ethan.
Standing beside a man I didn't recognize.
On the back was a note.
HE KNOWS ABOUT THE MONEY.
I turned toward Dante.
“What money?”
“I don't know.”
My phone rang.
The hospital.
Maya had woken up.
She was asking for me.
I left immediately.
But before I reached the stairs, I noticed something else.
A small red handprint.
Beside it was a date.
Three days after Ethan's funeral.
I knew what that meant.
Rebecca hadn't started hurting them recently.
May you like
She had started after my brother died.
And she had done it while I was standing outside believing her lies.
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