“They watched them put Mom in the back of a squad car.”

“She tampered with Rosalie’s breathing machine, Melissa.”

“She was just stressed,” Melissa snapped, her voice climbing half an octave.

“She was trying to fix a wire because nobody was paying attention to her, and you turned it into a criminal investigation.”

She stepped closer to me, her gold hoop earrings swinging.

“The catering truck showed up five minutes later,” Melissa said.

“The lemon desserts are sitting in thirty plastic containers on the kitchen counter because nobody wants to eat now.”