Chapter 6

“Good. Make yourself comfortable while I go wake him.”

I went down the hall to Jeff’s door and knocked softly before I entered the room. Jeff was sound asleep, so I shook him gently by the shoulder and said, “Jeff, it’s time to wake up.”

I waited for a minute or two while he pulled himself together, and he said, “What’s happening?”

“Steve is awake, for one thing, and there’s a detective here who would like to take a statement from you that will help us get Steve’s father behind bars, where he belongs.”

“Good. Give me a minute to splash some water on my face.”

“The bathroom is across the hall, and I’ll be just down the hall near the stairs,” I said, and I left him to pull himself together.

A few minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom, and we walked down to the study. I introduced him to Detective Howard, and he gave a complete statement of what had happened. I’d already given the detective copies of the photographs of Steve’s injuries, and he left to set things in motion.