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Authors: Matt Ingwalson
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“Just wait.”
Chap. 64
Owl walked in and sat across from David Grey. He looked at the man for a moment and saw that Grey looked nervous this time. And then Owl put a photo on the table.
It wasn’t the clearest photo, taken in haste by a state trooper from a moving car. But it very clearly showed a cabin by a lake.
A small cabin, secluded in a far— away woods . The eastern sky brightening with emerging stars, the trees covered with shadows in the setting sun.
A cabin with a little patio on which sat two elderly people, at least 60, maybe 70 years old. A man and a woman. A husband and a wife. And in the woman’s arms, there was a blanket, a bundle, a baby.
Sophia Grey.
And Owl said, “This photo was taken at your parent’s cabin in Indiana. Thirty minutes ago.”
David sighed a little sigh. The wheels in his head were turning. Finally he said, “You found the cabin.”
“You’d have been here an hour ago if your parents hadn’t taken her there. The Indiana troopers went to your parents’ house first. When they found out from the neighbors that they’d taken off that afternoon, after you texted them about the press conference, the officers tracked them down to their property by the lake. Where your parents currently have your daughter. Alive.”
David Grey breathed. What could he say? Only, “Yes.”
“What did you do with Daphne ’s phone, David?”
David laughed to himself. He looked at Owl and nodded. “I trashed it. Pulled the battery and tossed it into a dumpster that evening. Before… Before.”
“Before you bombed your wife with her own roofies, the ones she normally took to get high and dance and have sex. Because you couldn’t take the chance we’d find Daphne ’s phone and find what you found on it.”
“Yes.”
“Because then we would have had probable cause to arrest you both. And your whole plan would have fallen apart.”
“Yes.”
“I mean, what? What all did you find on her phone, I mean? Chloroform? Drugs? SIDS?”
“All of it.”
“All of it? ”
“Yes, all of it. SIDS. Suffocation. M urder statutes.”
“All of it.”
“ I tried to search ‘How long does it take to get to New York’ and her browser filled in ‘How long does it take a body to decompose.’” David Grey looked at the wall, looked down at the table, and spilled his guts. “I… didn’t think, I didn’t think she was serious at first, when she started talking about how much she, she hated Sophia. But when I found that… Do you have any idea what it’s like to find out your wife is planning to murder your daughter?”
“No.”
“You can’t imagine.”
“Explain it to me.”
“I had no choice.”
“You had all sorts of choices. Starting with divorce and custody. A legal right that thousands of people exercise every day.”
“I tried that.”
“David A. Davidson, attorney-at-law.”
David Grey la ughed again, grimly, softly. He nodded his head.
“I thought I had it planned out so well . Yes, Davidson. He told me how hard it would be to get custody, how hard it is for a father to get sole custody of a child i f the mother doesn’t give it up . So then I talked to Daphne . I said to her, ‘Maybe you’d be happier on your own.’ I told her she wasn’t ready to be a mom, she was too young and I was sorry I’d pressured her into marriage when she was still so young, and I wanted her to get back that time to be young and have fun. I tried to blame myself.”
“And?”
“ And she started talking about how happy we would be without the baby. How happy we used to be, before she was born. Going out to the clubs, spending money, falling in love. She wasn’t going to let me go, let us go. It’s this, this fantasy she has.”
“Plus she would have lost all that money.”
“Yeah. I guess. There’s that .”
“You could have gone to the cops.”
“With what?”
“With what you just said.”
“And what would happen to Daphne ? Nothing. Because it’s not
Chap. 64
Owl walked in and sat across from David Grey. He looked at the man for a moment and saw that Grey looked nervous this time. And then Owl put a photo on the table.
It wasn’t the clearest photo, taken in haste by a state trooper from a moving car. But it very clearly showed a cabin by a lake.
A small cabin, secluded in a far— away woods . The eastern sky brightening with emerging stars, the trees covered with shadows in the setting sun.
A cabin with a little patio on which sat two elderly people, at least 60, maybe 70 years old. A man and a woman. A husband and a wife. And in the woman’s arms, there was a blanket, a bundle, a baby.
Sophia Grey.
And Owl said, “This photo was taken at your parent’s cabin in Indiana. Thirty minutes ago.”
David sighed a little sigh. The wheels in his head were turning. Finally he said, “You found the cabin.”
“You’d have been here an hour ago if your parents hadn’t taken her there. The Indiana troopers went to your parents’ house first. When they found out from the neighbors that they’d taken off that afternoon, after you texted them about the press conference, the officers tracked them down to their property by the lake. Where your parents currently have your daughter. Alive.”
David Grey breathed. What could he say? Only, “Yes.”
“What did you do with Daphne ’s phone, David?”
David laughed to himself. He looked at Owl and nodded. “I trashed it. Pulled the battery and tossed it into a dumpster that evening. Before… Before.”
“Before you bombed your wife with her own roofies, the ones she normally took to get high and dance and have sex. Because you couldn’t take the chance we’d find Daphne ’s phone and find what you found on it.”
“Yes.”
“Because then we would have had probable cause to arrest you both. And your whole plan would have fallen apart.”
“Yes.”
“I mean, what? What all did you find on her phone, I mean? Chloroform? Drugs? SIDS?”
“All of it.”
“All of it? ”
“Yes, all of it. SIDS. Suffocation. M urder statutes.”
“All of it.”
“ I tried to search ‘How long does it take to get to New York’ and her browser filled in ‘How long does it take a body to decompose.’” David Grey looked at the wall, looked down at the table, and spilled his guts. “I… didn’t think, I didn’t think she was serious at first, when she started talking about how much she, she hated Sophia. But when I found that… Do you have any idea what it’s like to find out your wife is planning to murder your daughter?”
“No.”
“You can’t imagine.”
“Explain it to me.”
“I had no choice.”
“You had all sorts of choices. Starting with divorce and custody. A legal right that thousands of people exercise every day.”
“I tried that.”
“David A. Davidson, attorney-at-law.”
David Grey la ughed again, grimly, softly. He nodded his head.
“I thought I had it planned out so well . Yes, Davidson. He told me how hard it would be to get custody, how hard it is for a father to get sole custody of a child i f the mother doesn’t give it up . So then I talked to Daphne . I said to her, ‘Maybe you’d be happier on your own.’ I told her she wasn’t ready to be a mom, she was too young and I was sorry I’d pressured her into marriage when she was still so young, and I wanted her to get back that time to be young and have fun. I tried to blame myself.”
“And?”
“ And she started talking about how happy we would be without the baby. How happy we used to be, before she was born. Going out to the clubs, spending money, falling in love. She wasn’t going to let me go, let us go. It’s this, this fantasy she has.”
“Plus she would have lost all that money.”
“Yeah. I guess. There’s that .”
“You could have gone to the cops.”
“With what?”
“With what you just said.”
“And what would happen to Daphne ? Nothing. Because it’s not
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