Julian and Victoria arrived separately.
Police officers were already waiting.
A detective named Rebecca Collins introduced herself and explained that investigators were examining the circumstances surrounding Chloe’s reported death and funeral arrangements.
She asked whether Chloe had recently been ill.
I told her about the family’s explanation involving a respiratory condition.
Then I described Chloe’s strange questions during our baking afternoon.
Detective Collins wrote everything down.
Several hours later, a physician came into the waiting room.
“Chloe is alive and receiving treatment,” he told us. “She’s severely dehydrated and experiencing complications consistent with exposure to a sedating substance.”
My knees weakened.
“A sedating substance?”
He explained that additional testing was necessary before determining what had entered her system or whether it had contributed to her condition.
He couldn’t tell us exactly what had happened.
But he confirmed something equally disturbing.
The hospital had no record of Chloe being admitted or pronounced dead during the period Julian had described.
