Brenda opened her mouth to respond, but she could not seem to find the words.
Heavy footsteps suddenly echoed through the hallway outside, and Brandon appeared at the doorway carrying a long cardboard package containing a roll of white wallpaper decorated with tiny pink unicorns.
He stopped abruptly, staring at the police officers, the sealed evidence bag, and his fiancée. “What in the world is happening here?”
Brenda turned toward him with tears running down her cheeks. “Brandon, please listen to me because this entire situation is a terrible misunderstanding!”
Raymond opened an official folder. “Mr. Brandon, we need you to remain calm, but laboratory findings indicate that your daughter has been repeatedly exposed to dangerous levels of a toxic heavy-metal substance over several weeks.”
Brandon dropped the package immediately, and the heavy wallpaper roll landed loudly against the floor tiles. “Someone did this deliberately?”
No one answered immediately.
