Chapter 3
The child-protection investigator was named Andrea Mills.
She interviewed Ethan away from Miranda and Elias.
Mark remained nearby because of the police report.
The first question was simple.
“When did Miranda first hit you?”
Ethan stared at the carpet.
“I don’t know.”
“Recently?”
“No.”
“Months?”
He nodded.
“How?”
“At first grabbing.”
“Where?”
“Arms.”
“Then?”
“She shoved me.”
“Did she ever use an object?”
Ethan hesitated.
“Sometimes.”
“What?”
“A wooden spoon once.”
“Anything else?”
“Mostly hands.”
Andrea asked:
“What happens before she hurts you?”
That answer took longer.
“When I say I want Grandpa.”
Andrea did not react.
“Every time?”
“No.”
“When else?”
“When I say something wrong about court.”
“What court?”
“The guardian review.”
“What does ‘wrong’ mean?”
Ethan’s breathing changed.
“She asks me questions.”
“What questions?”
“Like where I want to live.”
“And what do you say?”
“With Grandpa.”
“What happens then?”
“She tells me I don’t mean it.”
Andrea paused.
“Has she told you what you should say to the judge?”
Ethan nodded.
“What?”
He spoke as though reciting homework.
“Home is stable. I want to finish school here. Grandpa is too old to raise a teenager. Miranda takes good care of me.”
Elias heard none of this yet.
He sat in the kitchen while Mark photographed the bruises with Ethan’s consent and medical staff arranged an examination.
Mark asked Elias:
“When was your last overnight visit before yesterday?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“Why so long?”
“Miranda said Ethan had school things.”
“Did you speak to Ethan directly?”
“Sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
Elias looked ashamed.
“She usually answered.”
Mark wrote something down.
Elias said:
“I should’ve pushed.”
Mark did not tell him he was right or wrong.
“Did you have any reason to think she was hurting him?”
“No.”
“Any reason to think she was restricting contact?”
“I thought she was overprotective.”
“Did you ask Ethan?”
“No.”
That answer hurt more than Elias expected.
Then Andrea emerged.
“Mr. Carter, Ethan has agreed to a medical exam and temporary safety placement.”
“With me?”
“If the court approves and your home clears.”
“I’ll do anything.”
Andrea nodded.
“We’re arranging emergency review today.”
Elias glanced toward the porch.
“Miranda?”
“She will have counsel and an opportunity to respond.”
“Is she being arrested?”
“That depends on the police investigation and charging decision.”
Elias nodded.
He had spent forty years around railroad men who believed anger was proof of love.
He understood now that anger did nothing useful by itself.
Then Andrea asked:
“Did you know Ethan had a private judicial interview Monday?”
“No.”
“Did you receive notice?”
“No.”
That was strange.
As successor guardian and documented grandfather with regular contact, Elias was not necessarily entitled to every filing.
But David’s estate lawyer had asked years earlier that Elias receive courtesy copies of major guardianship reviews.
Elias called the lawyer.
The answer came thirty minutes later.
“We sent notice.”
“To who?”
“Your email and home address.”
“I got nothing.”
The lawyer checked.
Then:
“That’s not possible.”
It was.
The email address in the guardianship system had been changed eight months earlier.
One letter in Elias’s surname removed.
The mailing address had also been changed.
His street number was wrong.
Request submitted by:
Miranda Carter.
Reason:
Updated contact information provided by family.
Elias had never given her updated information.
Clue number one.
May you like
Miranda had not merely reduced visits.
She had begun controlling what Elias received from the court.
