Social workers found nothing wrong? “You said Gabi had mental issues, wouldn’t Adam have been better off with his grandparents, well at least until his mother got herself into a healthier place,” Gavin pressed hard.

Perry shrugged. “I think this battle was a power struggle between them. Mr. Morgan wanted to control Gabi and she couldn’t be controlled. But I do want to reiterate that even though Gabi and I had our differences, she loved her son.”

Loved her son. Gavin repeated the words to himself. Part of this case hinged on the possibility of abuse, that Gabrielle was an abusive mother. “Outwardly loving parents can sometimes hide signs of mistreatment. Did she ever do anything with him that made you feel uncomfortable?” Gavin asked.

Perry opened his mouth to speak but then closed it, pursing his lips together.

“Did she ever do anything that made you uncomfortable?” Gavin repeated, harder this time.

“People all have different parenting strategies.” Perry said nothing more.

“That’s not what I asked you.”

“There was one time…” Perry hesitated and shifted in his chair. “Detective, kids can sometimes push your buttons…”

“What did Gabrielle do?”

Perry took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. On the exhale he spoke. “I came home from work one day to find Gabrielle passed out on the couch. I heard screaming coming from Adam’s room. I went in. He was locked in the closet. He’d been in there for hours. He was so upset he’d actually vomited in there. When I confronted Gabi she said she couldn’t take it anymore. He was crying and carrying on. She just needed him to shut up.”

“Did you do something about this?” Gavin challenged. “She crossed a line here.”

“I tried.” Perry sat back on the chair. He took a second before he answered. “She said she’d never do this again…” Perry took a deep breath. “One thing about Gabi that you have to understand… she was vindictive. She didn’t like being challenged…”

Gavin was about to ask his next question but stopped, something about Perry’s hesitant demeanor caught his attention. “Were you afraid of Gabrielle?”

“No.” Perry diverted his eye contact for a brief second.

Gavin wasn’t convinced. “Perry, let me ask this next question—and it is total speculation but I want you to think about it. Would Gabrielle have killed Adam to make sure the Morgans could never have him?” Gavin held Perry’s gaze. “Was she vindictive enough to get revenge on her parents by killing Adam?”