Chapter 9 - Chloe Had Been Creating “Confusion” on Purpose
Rebecca found the medication organizer.
That changed another part of the story.
Mom took several routine prescriptions.
Nothing exotic.
Blood pressure medication.
Arthritis medication.
A mild sleep aid used occasionally.
After moving into our house, Chloe volunteered to organize the pillbox.
Mom said she began finding pills in the wrong sections.
Morning medication at night.
One tablet missing.
Another doubled.
Mom assumed she had made the mistakes herself.
Chloe encouraged that belief.
“You see? This is what I’m talking about.”
Eleanor became frightened enough to stop touching the organizer unless Chloe was present.
Fortunately, there was no evidence Chloe had intentionally overdosed or poisoned her.
And I refused to claim what we could not prove.
But pharmacy refill dates showed the pill counts didn’t match Chloe’s reports.
At minimum, medication management had been careless.
At worst, Chloe had been exploiting mistakes to make Mom question herself.
When Rebecca began managing the medications independently, the “confusion” episodes stopped.
That mattered.
So did something Lily remembered.
“Mom moves Grandma’s stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“Glasses. Cane. Phone.”
Why?
“Then she says Grandma forgot.”
I sat down.
The cruelty was almost embarrassingly simple.
Move an object.
Wait for an elderly woman to search.
Then announce:
“You’re forgetting again.”
Do that often enough and eventually everyone begins watching for decline.
May you like
Including the victim.
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