“Put the bottle down now, Brenda,” Raymond ordered firmly.
Brenda froze where she stood, still holding the dropper in midair. “What is the meaning of this?”
“We need you to step away from Chloe,” Rosalyn said clearly.
“These are only harmless vitamins!” Brenda shouted, her voice suddenly rising.
One of the officers carefully secured the glass bottle inside an evidence bag while another documented the scene with photographs.
Raymond stepped forward calmly. “The bottle that was previously found in this room has already undergone a complete analysis at our state laboratory.”
For the first time, the color seemed to disappear from Brenda’s face. “What bottle are you talking about?”
“The dark container Chloe says you gave her repeatedly during the past several weeks,” Raymond clarified.
“I never left anything d@ngerous here, and someone is clearly trying to bl@me me!” Brenda cried.
Rosalyn moved closer to shield the frigh.ten.ed child. “I never told you that the previous bottle had been removed from the drawer, yet you immediately understood exactly which container we meant.”
