Chapter 8 - Cullen Opened the Handbag Before He Asked Tove Another Question
After Mireya was medically assessed and confirmed stable, Cullen sat with Margaret in a private room at the estate.
He opened her handbag.
The notebook came first.
Then printed pharmacy records.
Photographs of medication labels.
A copy of the pulmonologist’s letter.
Cullen read slowly.
His expression changed page by page.
On six occasions, Tove had recorded preventive treatment that Margaret’s independent notes suggested had not occurred.
On three of those days, Mireya later developed respiratory symptoms.
Tove then described those episodes to Cullen as emotional outbursts.
That was the important sequence.
Treatment apparently omitted.
Symptoms appeared.
Symptoms reframed as behavior.
Behavior used as proof Mireya needed distance from Cullen.
Cullen looked up.
“You think she was making Mireya sick?”
Margaret answered carefully.
“I think she may have been withholding treatment and then using the resulting symptoms against her.”
That distinction mattered.
They would not claim more than the evidence proved.
Cullen asked:
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Margaret’s face tightened.
“I was trying to make sure I was right.”
He looked at the pages again.
“And meanwhile she kept talking me into doubting my own daughter.”
Margaret said nothing.
May you like
She didn’t need to.
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