PART 12

The first time I saw Laura face-to-face after the discovery wasn’t at the cottage.

It was in a supervised setting arranged through the attorneys.

Miriam had advised that any conversation should happen without Emma present, and that I should not bargain about criminal allegations or family arrangements on my own.

I almost canceled.

For several nights I’d imagined confronting her, but imagination and reality were different things.

In my imagination I knew exactly what I would say.