Chapter 6: What Serena Knew
The interview room was small and smelled of old coffee.
Serena was already seated when Madeline came in.
She looked nothing like the composed, quietly efficient woman who had moved through Madeline's house for eight months.
Her hair was pulled back unevenly.
There were shadows under her eyes.
She was wearing the same clothes she'd had on the day before.
She looked up when Madeline entered, and something in her face broke open.
"I didn't know he was going to use that much," she said immediately.
"I need you to know that."
Madeline sat down across from her.
Detective Ruiz was in the corner, silent.
"Start from the beginning," Madeline said.
Serena's hands were flat on the table.
She looked at them.
"I met Preston two years ago.
Not eight months ago.
Two years."
Madeline said nothing.
"He told me you were separated.
That you were staying together for Poppy but that the marriage was over.
That you were planning to divorce him and take everything — the house, the accounts, Poppy." Serena's voice was steady but thin.
"He said he needed help.
He said he just needed proof that you were unstable.
That if you had an episode — if there was a medical incident — it would support his case in court."
"An episode," Madeline repeated.
"He said you had a history.
Anxiety.
That you'd had a breakdown before Poppy was born." Serena finally looked up.
"I believed him.
I know how that sounds.
But I believed him."
"What exactly did he ask you to do?"
"To put something in your drink.
He said it was mild.
He said it would make you dizzy and confused and that it would be documented.
That it would help him in the custody hearing." Her voice dropped.
"He gave me the bottle three weeks ago.
He told me when to use it."
"And you did it."
"I did it." Serena didn't look away.
"And then you fell.
And you didn't just get dizzy.
You went down hard and you didn't wake up and Poppy was screaming and I—" She stopped.
"I called the ambulance.
He didn't want me to.
He said to wait, to let it pass.
I called anyway."
Madeline thought about that.
About Serena somewhere near the doorway.
About the fragments she remembered.
"You called the ambulance," she said.
"Yes."
"And then you ran."
"Yes." A long pause.
"He told me to.
He said if I stayed, I'd be the one they blamed.
He said he'd handle everything.
He said—" She stopped again.
"He said the same thing he always says.
That he'd take care of it."
Ruiz shifted slightly in the corner.
Madeline leaned forward.
"You said you know where the rest of it is.
What does that mean?"
Serena reached into the pocket of her jacket.
She set a small key on the table.
It was the kind used for a safety deposit box.
"He has a box at Meridian Bank on Calloway Street.
I know because he sent me there once to drop off an envelope.
He didn't know I saw which box it was." She pushed the key across the table.
"I made a copy six months ago.
I don't know why.
I just — I had a feeling."
Madeline looked at the key.
"What's in the box?"
"I don't know exactly.
But I know he's been putting things in it for at least a year.
Documents.
I saw him with folders once, the kind with the bank's logo on them.
He said it was investment paperwork." Serena's jaw tightened.
"He lied about everything else.
I don't think he was telling the truth about that either."
Ruiz stepped forward.
"Ms.
Serena, I'm going to need a full formal statement.
Everything you just said, on record."
Serena nodded.
She looked at Madeline.
"I'm sorry.
I know that's nothing.
I know it doesn't fix anything."
Madeline looked at the key on the table between them.
"It might," she said.
"Depending on what's in that box."
She stood up.
Ruiz walked her to the door.
In the corridor, Ruiz spoke quietly.
"We'll need a warrant for the box.
That takes time."
"How much time?"
"If I move fast — twenty-four hours.
Maybe less."
Madeline nodded.
She started to walk, then stopped.
"Detective.
Preston is going to figure out that Serena talked.
How long before he goes to that bank?"
Ruiz looked at her steadily.
May you like
"That's exactly what I'm thinking about right now."
She was already reaching for her phone before Madeline reached the end of the corridor.
