Chapter 6 - The Clinical Strategy
The next day, I didn't go to an electrician. I went to Sarah, the pediatric social worker at the hospital.
"I need a way to get her out," I told her, my voice low as we stood in the breakroom. "The mother is grooming her to be the scapegoat for arson. I have the digital evidence of the verbal threats, but it's not enough to strip custody yet."
Sarah looked at the files I’d printed—the history of the fires, the patterns of the moves. "Logan, if you push too hard, Meredith will bolt. She’s a drifter. If she feels cornered, she’ll take Lily and disappear before we can get a protective order."
"Then we don't corner her," I said. "We make her believe she's the one in control."
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We hatched a plan. I would present a 'medical emergency'—a fabricated work-related exposure to a hazardous substance that required immediate, mandatory decontamination and observation at the hospital. It was a lie, but it was a trap. It would force Meredith to come to the hospital under the guise of 'support,' where we could isolate Lily with a child protective services specialist.
"She’ll come," I reasoned. "She loves playing the devoted wife in public. She can't resist the audience."
