Chapter 5 - THE NAME ON THE SCARF
The park was closed within thirty minutes.
Police tape surrounded the ravine, the oak grove, and the maintenance road. News vans arrived before the parents had even finished giving statements. By sunset, social media was filled with a blurry video of Titan standing over Lily.
The headline was already spreading:
POLICE DOG ATTACKS CHILD IN CROWDED PARK.
Nobody had uploaded the moment Titan pushed Lily away from the snake.
Nobody had uploaded the empty container.
The public saw only a frightened girl, a barking dog, and a uniformed officer struggling with a leash.
I sat in the station’s interview room while Lieutenant Harris watched the video on a tablet.
“You understand the department will need a full review?” he asked.
“I understand.”
“Titan may be placed on temporary restriction.”
“He saved that girl.”
“I know.”
“Then why are we discussing whether he did something wrong?”
“Because the public doesn’t know what happened yet.”
I looked at the screen. The video paused on Titan’s teeth.
“He wasn’t attacking her.”
“I believe you,” Harris said. “But belief isn’t evidence.”
I placed the red scarf inside an evidence bag on the table.
“This is evidence.”
Harris examined the initials.
“A.W.”
“We’re checking missing-person reports and research records.”
“Any connection to Rainier Biological Institute?”
“Possibly. The institute had a former technician named Abigail Ward.”
I stared at him.
“Abigail Ward?”
“She worked in the reptile division. Left shortly before the facility closed.”
“Was she connected to the accident?”
“Her name appeared in the original report, but she was never charged.”
“What happened to her?”
Harris tapped the tablet.
“Disappeared from the area two years ago.”
The door opened.
Detective Mara Ellis entered carrying a file.
Mara had worked major crimes for twelve years and rarely looked surprised by anything. That evening, however, her expression was grim.
“We found the van,” she said.
My chair scraped backward.
“Where?”
“Abandoned behind a storage facility three miles from the park. The plates were stolen.”
“Any driver?”
“No. But there was a GPS tracker inside, and the vehicle was rented under a false name.”
She placed photographs on the table.
The van’s cargo area contained a folding table, several plastic transport bins, a battery-powered lamp, and a stack of printed maps.
One map had Centennial Park circled in red.
Another showed three other parks across the city.
Mara continued.
“There were also photographs.”
She slid them toward me.
The first showed the north ravine.
The second showed the oak grove.
The third showed Lily and Mason.
The children had been photographed before the incident.
My stomach tightened.
“How long had they been watching them?”
“We don’t know.”
“Who took the pictures?”
“We found fingerprints, but they’re damaged.”
The door opened again. A hospital nurse called from the hallway.
“Officer Brooks? The boy’s awake. He keeps asking for you.”
I looked at Mara.
“I’ll come with you.”
At the hospital, Mason sat in bed with his leg in a cast. Lily sat beside him, still wearing the same purple jacket, her hands wrapped around a paper cup.
When she saw me, she stood.
“Is Titan in trouble?”
“No,” I said. “He’s safe.”
“People said he attacked me.”
“He didn’t.”
Lily lowered her eyes.
“He pushed me because I was standing on the leaves.”
“Yes.”
She hesitated.
“Before we saw the box, someone was following us.”
Mara leaned forward.
“Can you describe that person?”
Lily nodded slowly.
“She had a red scarf.”
I exchanged a look with Mara.
“What did she look like?” I asked.
“Tall. Dark hair. She wore a green jacket.”
“Did you see her face?”
“Not clearly.”
Mason suddenly spoke from the bed.
“She wasn’t following us at first.”
Everyone turned toward him.
“She was looking for something,” he said.
“What?”
“The snakes.”
His fingers tightened around the blanket.
“She said, ‘Where did they go?’ Then she saw us.”
The room became very still.
Mason looked at me.
“She told us not to tell anyone.”
“Did she threaten you?”
He nodded.
“She said if we told, she would put something in our house.”
Mara’s face hardened.
“Did she say her name?”
May you like
Mason looked toward Lily.
Lily whispered, “Abigail.”
