He Called Every Truth a Lie novel · Chapter 15 of 24

Chapter 15: Gold Ink

The interview room at the county station had a table, three chairs and a camera in the corner with a green light.

Tristram sat on the far side with a paper cup of water he hadn't touched.

His cheek had gone purple where his mother's hand had landed.

I sat down across from him with my tote bag in my lap.

The detective stood by the door and said, "Everything's recorded. Mrs. Nordin, you don't have to answer him."

"I know."

Tristram looked at the table.

"I'll say it all to the camera after," he said. "I wanted to say it to you first."

"Then say it."

He took a breath, and it shook.

"The stairs. I was in the study with a spreadsheet open, and I heard a noise, and I came out. My mother was at the top with her hand on the rail. You were at the bottom, and your eyes were half open."

"And?"

"And she looked at me and said, 'Call it in as a fall.' I did."

"You called Ethan out to the house and told him I drank."

"Yes."

"You told him that with me lying right there."

"You were barely awake. You didn't hear me." He pressed his fingers against his eyes. "I told myself you'd forget. I told myself it would be the last time."

I didn't say anything.

"The pills were my mother's. She had the family doctor write the new prescription. She decanted the sedative into your thyroid bottles herself, at her kitchen table, once a month. She had Toby pick them up so you'd never see the pharmacy."

"And you read her schedule."

"Every Sunday." His voice dropped. "I signed the corner. I told myself I was monitoring the dose. I wasn't. I was watching."

"What about the soup?"

"She asked the cook for a shrimp base. The cook said no twice. My mother said the girl's tuition was due."

I thought of the cook's hands around the jar, and how they had trembled.

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