The EMT squats down next to Violet and speaks to her in a soothing tone. “It’s okay, Violet. No one is going to hurt you. Take two deep breaths. Can you do that?” Violet gives a long, shuddering breath, then another, but her body is still tense. “Good job, Violet. Good job. Now, do you think you can sit up?” Violet nods and pushes herself into a sitting position. “Nice work, Violet,” the EMT says. “You let me know when you’re ready to stand up, okay?” Violet peeks up from beneath her veil of hair and looks relieved to find that the crowd is gone.

After Officer Grady has placed Clint in the back of one of the cop cars he walks toward us slowly, as if he’s approaching a frightened bird with a broken wing. “What happens now?” I ask him. “What are they going to do?”

“Protocol is they have to take her to the hospital.”

“But she’s fine now. See? Please don’t do this.” The EMTs have helped Violet to her feet and are guiding her toward the ambulance. She looks dazed, sleepy. “Did they give her something? A sedative?”

“I don’t think so. Sedating a patient is a last resort. Sometimes, after an outburst, they can be pretty tired.” This isn’t a surprise to me. When she was younger, after Violet had her tantrums, she would crash for a good hour or two. What is a surprise to me is that Officer Grady called Violet a patient.

“Violet isn’t hurt, look at her.” We both watch as the EMT helps Violet into the back of the ambulance.

“Listen, Beth. You have to admit, something isn’t right here. The three times I’ve encountered Violet, she’s had some kind of episode.”

“She’s terrified. Of course she’s not handling this well. Please, just let me take her home.”

Grady presses his lips together. “Can’t do it. We have to get her checked out by a doctor. Make sure she’s okay and then we’ll go from there.”

“Listen.” I lower my voice so no one else can hear. “Violet told me that Cora and Jordyn Petit had a fight at the train yard. Jordyn pushed Cora down. Have you questioned her? She made Violet promise not to say anything. Don’t you think it makes more sense that Jordyn and someone else are pretending to be Joseph Wither and lured the girls to the train yard? What about Clint?” I nod toward the police car where Clint is staring daggers at us. “He’s the crazy one. Who teases a little girl like that?”