Chapter 8: What the Law Calls It
Evren's lawyer was a woman named Defne, and she arrived within two hours.
She sat at the kitchen table with the folder, the lab results, the forensics report, the notarized statement, and her own legal pad, and she went through everything methodically while Evren and Lena sat across from her.
She asked questions in a flat, professional voice, and she wrote down the answers without reacting to them, which Evren found steadying.
"The recording," Defne said.
"Walk me through how it was obtained."
Lena folded her hands on the table.
"I had already found the private lab results.
I confronted Selin the night before I left.
I started recording on my phone before I went into the room.
I didn't tell her."
"Was she aware she was being recorded?"
"No."
Defne made a note.
"Depending on jurisdiction, that may or may not be admissible in a criminal proceeding.
But combined with the lab documentation and a medical statement from Dr.
Harmon, it significantly strengthens a civil case and a police report." She looked up.
"Have you contacted the police yet?"
"I called them this morning," Evren said.
"They're sending someone this afternoon."
Defne nodded.
"Good.
Don't speak to Selin again without counsel present.
Don't respond to her messages.
If she contacts you, forward everything to me." She looked at the lab results again.
"The compound identified here — I've seen this before.
Once.
Two years ago, different case, different city." She paused.
"The other case went to criminal court.
The charge was child endangerment with intent to cause harm.
The sentence was four years."
The kitchen was quiet.
"What happens to Selin now?" Lena asked.
"That depends on how far you want to take this and how much the evidence holds up under scrutiny." Defne set her pen down.
"But I'll tell you what I told my other client.
The law is slow.
It will frustrate you.
There will be moments where it feels like nothing is happening.
But the evidence you have here is not nothing.
The recording alone — even if it can't be used in court — tells us what kind of person we're dealing with.
And the lab results tell us what she actually did." She looked at Evren.
"Your daughter's doctor is willing to testify?"
"He said yes."
"Then we have a foundation." She gathered the documents carefully and placed them in a folder she'd brought with her.
"I'm going to make certified copies of everything before I leave.
The originals stay with you in a safe place." She stood.
"The officers this afternoon — let them lead.
Answer what they ask.
Don't volunteer more than they need yet.
I'll be here when they arrive."
After Defne stepped out to make calls, Evren and Lena sat alone at the table for the first time.
"She's going to try to run," Lena said.
"I know."
"She sent me a message twenty minutes ago." Lena held up her phone.
The message read: *You made a mistake coming back.
I hope you know that.*
Evren took the phone and forwarded the message to Defne without a word.
"Are you scared?" he asked.
Lena thought about it.
"I was scared for four months.
I think I used it all up." She looked toward the hallway.
From Ilaria's room came the faint sound of a children's program playing on a tablet.
"She asked me this morning if I was going to sleep here tonight."
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her yes." She looked at him.
"Is that all right?"
He nodded.
"It's all right."
The doorbell rang at two fifteen.
Two police officers stood in the hallway with a case number already assigned and a recording device on the table within the first ten minutes.
Evren told them everything.
Lena told them everything.
Defne sat beside them and said very little.
When the officers left, one of them paused at the door.
"The child," she said.
"Is she here now?"
"Yes," Evren said.
"We may need a pediatric medical examiner to review the existing records.
For the file." She said it gently.
"It's standard.
It helps the case."
"Whatever she needs," Evren said.
"Whatever it takes."
The officer nodded.
She looked like she wanted to say something else.
Instead she just said, "We'll be in touch," and left.
Defne gathered her things.
At the door, she stopped.
"One more thing," she said.
"Selin's phone records.
We're going to subpoena them.
If she contacted anyone else during the time she had access to Ilaria — anyone who helped her obtain the compound, anyone she told — that becomes part of the case." She looked at Evren.
"You said she mentioned Lena called her three months ago."
"That's what she claimed."
"Did you believe her?"
He thought about it.
"No.
I think she was trying to destabilize me.
To make me doubt Lena before Lena could get to me."
Defne nodded slowly.
"That's consistent with the pattern." She opened the door.
"Get some rest tonight.
Both of you.
Tomorrow it starts in earnest."
She left.
The apartment was quiet.
May you like
From down the hallway, Ilaria's voice: "Mama.
Come see what I drew."
