Chapter 4 - Anna Had Not Been Missing for Eight Months—That Was the First Important Distinction
The police separated everyone immediately.
That prevented the story from turning into a mess of assumptions.
Anna had not been imprisoned behind the wall for eight months.
That would have made little logistical sense.
She had disappeared from the Langford household eight months earlier.
But she had only been trapped inside the concealed room for eleven days.
That timeline mattered.
Eight months earlier, Anna had left Tristan’s house under pressure.
She did not resign.
Selene forced her out.
Anna explained it from a hospital bed after receiving fluids and being medically cleared to speak.
“I found something involving Piper.”
Tristan sat rigidly beside an investigator.
“What?”
Anna looked exhausted.
“Medication records.”
Piper had suffered severe seasonal allergies when she was younger. The family maintained a small household medication log because different caregivers sometimes handled antihistamines and an inhaler.
Anna was meticulous.
She recorded doses.
Dates.
Symptoms.
Eight months earlier, she noticed Piper becoming unusually sleepy on afternoons spent alone with Selene.
Once could be coincidence.
Three times became a pattern.
Anna checked the medication cabinet.
Nothing obvious was missing from Piper’s prescriptions.
Then she noticed Selene’s own prescription sleep medication.
The count did not match the pharmacy refill date.
Anna did not accuse Selene.
She photographed the bottle.
Then began writing down dates when Piper became unusually drowsy.
Four incidents lined up.
Anna contacted Piper’s pediatrician privately.
She planned to tell Tristan after the doctor responded.
Selene discovered the call first.
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That was the moment Anna’s job ended.
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