Chapter 3 - Under the Light
The interrogation room at the police precinct was cold and sterile. I sat on one side of the metal table, across from Detective Vance. Because of my military rank and the severity of the allegations, a judge advocate general (JAG) officer, Major David Miller, sat beside me as my legal representative.
"Colonel Hart," Vance began, opening a manila folder. "The preliminary forensics team just finished sweeping your residence. They located a container of industrial-grade pesticide hidden in the crawlspace beneath your home. Traces of a white powder matching that substance were found around the rim of the baby bottles recovered from the nursery sink."
My heart hammered against my ribs, but my face remained an unreadable mask. "Pesticide."
"Yes," Vance confirmed. "It’s a compound banned for residential use five years ago. It causes rapid cardiac arrest in small children, often mimicking sudden infant death syndrome if a detailed toxicology screen isn't specifically ordered."
"Margaret had access to that crawlspace," I stated clearly. "She stayed at our home two weeks ago while I was completing battalion evaluations at Fort Smith."
"And your husband?" Vance asked, leaning forward. "Did he have access?"
"Trevor kept the key to the crawlspace lock on his personal key ring," I said. "He was also the only one besides me who knew the combination to the child-proof cabinet where the bottles were prepared."
Major Miller chimed in smoothly. "Detective, my client’s daughter explicitly stated that Trevor unlocked the cabinet containing the preparation materials shortly before Margaret touched the bottles. We are formally requesting that Trevor Hart be treated as a primary co-conspirator."
Vance nodded. "We are interrogating Mr. Hart in the adjacent room right now. He claims his mother asked him for the key to look for old holiday decorations, and that he had no idea she brought any chemical compounds into the house."
"He's lying," I said flatly. "Trevor was deeply in debt. Three weeks ago, I discovered he had secretly taken out a life insurance policy on both boys without my knowledge or consent."
Detective Vance paused, his eyes widening slightly. "Life insurance? For what amount?"
"Five hundred thousand dollars per child," I revealed, placing a printed bank notification on the table. "He set the payouts to go directly to a private account registered under his name alone. I found the confirmation emails in his deleted folder yesterday morning, right before the service."
Vance picked up the document, his expression turning sharp. "That changes the motive entirely. That turns a domestic homicide into a premeditated financial conspiracy."
"He thought my deployment schedule would cover his tracks," I said, my voice trembling slightly before I brought it back under control. "He thought I would be too broken to notice the details."
"We're going to hold him," Vance said, standing up from the table. "With this financial trail and your daughter's eyewitness account, neither Trevor nor his mother are getting bail."
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As Vance left the room, Major Miller turned to me. "Victoria, if Trevor realized the insurance policy was discovered, he may try to shift the blame entirely onto Margaret."
"Let him try," I said softly, looking out the narrow window of the interrogation door. "They're both going to tear each other apart."
