Chapter 5 - The Punishment Room
The forensic child interview happened two days later.
I did not sit in.
Good.
Children should not perform trauma for relatives.
Rachel later gave me a limited summary relevant to placement.
The punishment room was a finished basement storage room.
Rug.
One small window.
A folding chair.
Plastic bins.
No bed.
No bathroom.
Reena called it:
“quiet room.”
Drew called it:
punishment room.
The door had an electronic keypad lock on the outside.
Why install lock?
The basement contained tools and cleaning supplies.
Reasonable to secure.
But the specific room had been lockable from outside.
Drew described being placed there for:
Talking back.
Taking food without asking.
Waking Lily.
Lying.
Wet bed.
Sometimes Lily went too because:
“She cries if alone.”
How long?
Variable.
Minutes.
Hours.
Drew did not understand clocks well.
Overnight?
He said:
“Sometimes dark to light.”
Could a six-year-old confuse one long evening?
Yes.
Investigators needed corroboration.
Food?
Reena said children always ate regular meals.
Drew said meals were withheld until apology.
Not always.
Sometimes.
He also described a water bottle kept downstairs.
No toilet.
He used a bucket once.
That detail devastated me.
Lily’s interview was limited due age.
She used dolls.
Said:
“Downstairs dark.”
“Mom close door.”
“Drew hurt.”
No elaborate story.
No need.
Then investigators searched the home under appropriate warrant/consent process.
They found the room.
Chair.
Blankets in plastic bin.
Children’s drawings.
A small plastic bucket.
Snack wrappers.
A door sensor.
A smart lock.
And one thing no one expected to matter much:
the home automation hub Aaron installed three years earlier.
The lock had logs.
Not forever.
Cloud backup retained months.
That would become important later.
May you like
But not yet.
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