Chapter 2 - The Marks on the WallDaniel did not put Lily down.
He carried her out of the dining room, past the crystal chandelier and the expensive paintings, toward the quiet sitting room near the front entrance.
Behind him, Vanessa followed.
"Daniel, this is ridiculous."
He turned.
"Stay away from her."
Vanessa stopped.
Her cheeks flushed.
"You cannot come home after nearly two weeks and suddenly act like you understand everything that happens in this house."
Daniel looked down at Lily.
Her fingers were tangled tightly in his shirt.
"I understand enough."
He closed the sitting-room door.
Lily jumped at the sound.
Daniel immediately softened his voice.
"Hey. It's just the door."
She nodded without releasing him.
He sat on the couch, keeping her on his lap.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
He simply held her.
Lily's breathing gradually slowed.
Then Daniel asked, "Are you hurt anywhere else?"
She looked down at her knees.
There were small scratches there too.
"I fell."
"Where?"
"Near the pantry."
"Was someone with you?"
Lily hesitated.
"Mrs. Vanessa was mad."
Daniel felt anger rising again.
He forced himself to remain calm.
"You don't have to explain everything right now, sweetheart."
She studied his face.
"Are you mad at me?"
The question almost broke him.
"No."
"Even because of the rice?"
"Especially not because of the rice."
Lily's lower lip trembled.
"I tried to eat all of it."
Daniel pressed his lips against her hair.
"You didn't do anything wrong."
A knock sounded at the door.
Daniel looked up.
"Who is it?"
"Graham Pike, sir."
Graham had managed the Mercer household for eleven years.
He was fifty-six, gray-haired, impeccably dressed, and usually as reliable as the grandfather clock in the entrance hall.
"Come in."
Graham entered with his customary reserved expression.
"Mrs. Mercer said there was some confusion."
Daniel stared at him.
"How long has Lily been eating underneath the dining table?"
Graham's face tightened.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."
Lily went completely still.
Daniel noticed.
He lowered his voice.
"Look at my daughter."
Graham glanced at her.
"Of course, sir."
"Look at her face."
A muscle moved in Graham's jaw.
"Children sometimes have accidents."
Daniel stood, still holding Lily.
"That wasn't my question."
Graham said nothing.
Lily buried her face against Daniel's shoulder.
Then, very softly, she whispered, "He knows."
Daniel looked at Graham.
"Get out."
"Mr. Mercer—"
"Now."
Graham left.
Daniel waited until the footsteps faded.
Then he asked Lily whether she wanted to see her own bedroom.
She shook her head.
"The little room."
"What little room?"
"The one near the laundry."
Daniel knew the mansion well.
At least he had believed he did.
Beside the upstairs laundry room was a narrow storage space previously used for spare linens.
It had no reason to concern his daughter.
"Can you show me?"
Lily nodded reluctantly.
Daniel carried her upstairs.
At the end of the hallway, he found the storage-room door.
A small brass key hung from a hook beside it.
Daniel opened the door.
Inside was a thin mattress on the floor.
A gray blanket.
A plastic cup.
A cardboard box containing Lily's older clothes.
The room smelled faintly of detergent and stale air.
Daniel's throat tightened.
Lily pointed toward the wall.
"There."
He followed her finger.
Near the doorframe was a white sheet of paper.
It had been fastened to the wall with tape.
Across the top, in careful handwriting, were the words:
LILY'S BEHAVIOR RECORD.
Beneath the heading were dates and columns.
Talking without permission.
Crying too loudly.
Asking for extra food.
Leaving assigned place.
Each category contained marks.
Some days had four.
Others had six.
A few had more.
Daniel stared at the page.
"Who made this?"
"Mrs. Vanessa."
"What happens when you get marks?"
Lily swallowed.
"If I get three, I don't get dessert."
Daniel looked toward the mattress.
"And if you get five?"
"I have to sleep here."
His grip tightened.
"What if you get more?"
Lily looked away.
"Then I don't get to call you."
Daniel closed his eyes.
He remembered evenings in hotel rooms when Vanessa told him Lily was already asleep.
He remembered unanswered video calls.
He remembered the photographs Vanessa sent showing Lily smiling in clean dresses.
Every photograph had looked reassuring.
Now he wondered what happened just before and after the camera clicked.
He took out his phone and photographed the paper, the mattress, and the room without disturbing anything.
Then he called his daughter's pediatrician's after-hours service.
He described her condition and was advised to bring her in for a medical evaluation that evening.
Lily listened quietly.
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"Will they send me back here?"
"No, sweetheart. You're staying with me tonight."
Her eyes filled again.
"Promise?"
Daniel looked directly at her.
"Promise."
As he turned to leave, Lily pointed toward the cardboard box.
"There's something else."
Daniel stopped.
"What?"
She pointed beneath the folded gray clothes.
"That's where I hid the paper she didn't know I kept."
He knelt and lifted the top dress.
Underneath lay a small folded sheet covered in shaky pencil marks.
Daniel opened it.
It was a drawing of the dining table.
Four chairs.
One little girl beneath them.
And beside the table stood another figure, holding what appeared to be a phone.
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Under the drawing, Lily had written:
SHE TAKES THE PICTURES AFTER I CRY.
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