Chapter 6 - The Statement
Jonathan did not sleep.
At dawn, he found the archived police report through a lawyer Emily had once trusted.
The report contained Victoria’s statement.
It was worse than the text.
My brother Jonathan arrived during an argument. Daniel tried to push past him. Jonathan shoved him away. Daniel fell from the dock into the lake.
Then:
I believe Jonathan was acting defensively.
Jonathan read the paragraph until the words blurred.
He remembered nothing clearly enough to deny it.
At breakfast Caleb barely spoke.
Jonathan tried to keep the investigation away from him.
But children noticed silence.
“Is Victoria coming back?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is she mad at me?”
“No.”
“She ripped my project because I found her secret.”
“She was afraid.”
“That’s not the same as not being mad.”
Jonathan looked at his son.
“You’re right.”
Caleb moved cereal around his bowl.
“Did Daniel know me?”
“For three days.”
“Did he love me?”
Jonathan swallowed.
“I think so.”
“How do you know?”
“The photograph.”
Caleb nodded slowly.
That answer seemed enough for now.
After school, Jonathan drove to Victoria’s apartment in Richmond.
She opened the door only after he threatened to call building security for a welfare check.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“You told police I pushed Daniel.”
She looked away.
“Dad made me.”
“Stop saying that.”
Victoria flinched.
“He pressured you. He controlled you. I believe all of it.”
Jonathan stepped inside.
“But you were an adult. You said the words.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Were they true?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were there.”
“I was screaming. You were fighting. Dad was fighting. Daniel was trying to leave.”
“With Caleb?”
“With me.”
Jonathan stared.
“We were going back to the hospital for Caleb. He wanted us gone before Dad could interfere.”
“What happened?”
Victoria pressed both hands to her temples.
“Dad blocked the dock gate.”
“Why?”
“He had Daniel’s backpack.”
Jonathan immediately thought of the paternity acknowledgment.
“What was inside?”
“Documents.”
“Daniel’s paternity form?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“Letters. Some photographs.”
“Dad took it?”
“Yes.”
Jonathan sat.
Victoria continued.
“Daniel demanded it back. Dad threw it into the boathouse.”
“Then?”
“Daniel went after it.”
“And I arrived.”
“You came because Emily called you.”
Jonathan frowned.
“Emily knew?”
“I called her from the hospital. I begged her to stop Dad.”
A new pain opened.
Emily had been part of the night from farther away than Jonathan realized.
“She sent me?”
“Yes.”
“You and Daniel were arguing with Dad.”
“Yes.”
“I stepped between them.”
Victoria’s breathing became uneven.
“You told Dad to leave us alone.”
A fragment returned.
His own voice:
She just had a baby. What are you doing?
Then Daniel:
Ask him where my papers are.
Jonathan closed his eyes.
“What next?”
“Dad grabbed Daniel.”
“Where?”
“His jacket.”
“And me?”
“You pulled Dad away.”
Jonathan saw rain.
Wet boards.
Daniel moving past him.
Then Charles reaching again.
“I remember Daniel falling.”
Victoria shook her head.
“That isn’t all.”
“What?”
“You fell too.”
Jonathan touched his scar.
“Dad shoved you.”
The room went silent.
“My father shoved me?”
“You hit the boathouse post.”
“Then how did Daniel go into the water?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I thought you grabbed him.”
“Thought?”
“I saw Daniel move toward you. Your arm came up.”
“You told police I pushed him.”
“Dad kept asking me what I saw.”
Her voice broke.
“He said, ‘Jonathan pushed him, didn’t he?’ over and over.”
“That is not the same thing as seeing it.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe I might have killed him.”
“I was terrified.”
“So was I.”
Victoria began sobbing.
Jonathan stood.
He wanted to comfort her.
He could not.
Not yet.
“What did you actually see?”
“Daniel moving.”
“My arm.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“He disappeared over the edge.”
“Did you see contact?”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
Jonathan stared.
Seven years.
A statement built from a movement she did not understand.
A father’s repetition.
A concussion.
A lawyer’s timeline.
“What happened after Daniel went into the water?”
“You got up.”
“With a concussion?”
“You were bleeding.”
“And?”
“You jumped in.”
Jonathan shut his eyes.
Cold water.
Darkness.
His hands reaching beneath the surface.
Someone screaming Daniel’s name.
“I tried to save him.”
“Yes.”
“Dad?”
“He stayed on the dock.”
“Did he call emergency services?”
“Not immediately.”
Jonathan opened his eyes.
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Victoria.”
“Maybe ten minutes.”
“Why?”
Her answer came quietly.
“Because he was looking for Daniel’s backpack.”
Jonathan felt physically sick.
A man was in the lake.
And Charles searched for documents.
“Did he find it?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do with it?”
“I don’t know.”
Jonathan turned toward the door.
Victoria grabbed his sleeve.
“There’s more.”
He stopped.
She looked terrified.
“Emily came to me before she died.”
“I know she investigated.”
“She found someone else who was at the lake.”
Jonathan turned.
“Who?”
“The groundskeeper’s son.”
“Name?”
“Marcus Bell.”
“Why isn’t he in the police report?”
“Because he never spoke to police.”
“Why?”
Victoria wiped her face.
“Because he was sixteen.”
Jonathan stared.
May you like
“And Dad paid for his college.”
---
