Chapter 3 — Brenda doubles down on her accusations against Chloe — Then Elena points out the size discrepancy of the prints
Chloe stood by the living room sofa, wiping her damp eyes with the sleeve of her cat-print shirt.
She sniffled loudly, her small shoulders shaking as she stared at the floorboards between them.
“I didn’t go outside,” Chloe whispered, her voice cracking.
“I was drawing pictures at the kitchen table the whole time it was raining.”
Brenda shook her head, her expression hardening further.
“Don’t lie to us, Chloe,” Brenda said, pointing a rigid finger at the floor.
“Nobody else was out in the yard today. You opened that back door to let the cool air in and tracked this filth right back through the house.”
“She didn’t open the door,” Elena called out, walking back from the kitchen entrance.
Elena stopped right beside Brenda, holding the amber dog hair between her thumb and forefinger.
“Mom, look at the actual size of these prints.”
Elena pointed down at the muddy impression nearest Brenda’s shoes.
“This stamp is nearly eight inches wide across the front pad alone. Chloe’s sneakers are tiny.”
Elena lifted one of Chloe’s clean pink sneakers from the entryway shoe rack and placed it directly over the muddy mark.
The shoe barely covered half of the central pad impression.
“A shoe leaves a heel and a distinct sole tread,” Elena explained, keeping her voice steady.
“This is a wide, padded footprint with distinct claw marks gouged into the wood finish.”
Brenda crossed her arms, stubbornly refusing to look down at the comparison.
“Children wear all kinds of boots and oversized play shoes,” Brenda muttered.
“She probably borrowed something from the mudroom and took it off before you walked in.”
Elena shook her head slowly, standing up to her full height.
“There are no other boots in the mudroom, Mom. And look at the depth of the gouges.”
Brenda crossed her arms even tighter, demanding to know how a shoe could leave claw marks in the wood finish.