“It means an officer will interview every adult who was in that house this morning,” Detective Mitchell said.

“It also means a child forensic specialist will do a recorded interview with your niece, Olivia.”

“My mother will try to keep anyone from talking to Olivia,” I said.

“She can’t block a court-ordered child interview, Mrs.

Bennett,” Detective Mitchell said.

“When emergency staff document a physical injury to a four-year-old, the legal process moves fast.”

She reached down to the desk, clicked her blue ballpoint three times, and wrote my phone number on the official case file.

At a quarter to eight the next morning I pulled my white Buick LeSabre into the faculty lot behind Oak Creek Elementary.