a single-level family home in a quiet neighborhood in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. They walked to the door, Ransom pressing on the doorbell. They heard the chime ring within, and a minute later, footsteps could be heard approaching the door. When it opened, a forty-something woman with blonde hair streaked with gray and pulled up in a bun opened the door, her expression morphing into confusion when she saw them.
“Ma’am, I’m Detective Ransom Carlyle, and this is my partner Detective Reed Davies. We’re here to ask Sophia Miller a few questions.”
The woman blinked at them, bringing her hand to her chest as she swallowed. “I’m Sophia’s mother, detectives.” She looked back and forth between them. “But my daughter, she’s deceased. What is this about?”
“Deceased? Oh, I’m sorry.” Ransom glanced at Reed. “Ma’am, may we come inside?”
The woman stepped back. “Uh, sure. Yes. Please.” She closed the door after they’d entered and then led them to a living room right off the small front foyer. The furniture looked new, but the room was obviously lived-in, made homey with throw pillows, knickknacks, and photographs adorning the cabinet that held the television. A high school graduation photo of a smiling girl with long blonde hair caught Reed’s eye, and he wondered if it was Sophia, but didn’t ask, not yet.
“I’m Arleen Miller, by the way,” she said as she sat in a chair across from the small couch where they each took a seat.
“I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us,” Ransom said. “And I’m sorry I was unaware of your daughter’s passing.”
“Thank you. Yes, Sophia passed a little over eight months ago.” She looked back over her shoulder at the photo of the girl in the cap and gown, confirming for Reed that it was in fact her daughter. “An overdose,” Arleen Miller said softly. She sighed, glancing at her nails for a moment, a frown lining her brow. “She’d had problems with drugs in the past, but she was getting her life back on track. She had a good job, seemed happy about the new man she was dating. And then, I came home from work one day and found her unconscious in her room. She’d overdosed.” She looked between Reed and Ransom. “I’ll never know if she meant to do it, or if it was an accident. Maybe in the end, it doesn’t matter.”
“Either way, it’s a terrible loss,” Reed said. She nodded sadly and he gave her a moment before asking, “Ma’am, your daughter had lodged a complaint against a staff member at Valley Children’s Hospital?”
Ms. Miller looked surprised for a moment. “Yes. That was years ago, though.” She looked behind them for a moment, her brow creasing again. “Sophia had . . . issues, detectives. She’d been sexually assaulted by a coach when she was in middle school. She’d never told anyone because he told her no one would believe her. A few other girls ended up reporting him and Sophia admitted she’d been one of his victims too. He got jail time, but Sophia was never the same after that. We tried counseling, even some medications to help her anxiety. Some of it worked, but only for a while. When she was seventeen, she almost overdosed and I checked her into Valley Hospital.” Sadness took over her expression. “I did it to help her, and I came to regret that decision deeply.”
“Did she tell you about this staff member?” Ransom asked, his tone gentle.
Ms. Miller nodded. “She told me she’d caught him in the women’s showers snapping pictures with his phone. She told me she was going to turn him in.” She shook her head. “She wasn’t taken seriously by the hospital. I’m ashamed to say that even I questioned whether she was lying or just being paranoid. Sophia had whittled my trust down by that point, detectives. She lied when it suited her needs, she . . . twisted things. She was ill.” Ms. Miller’s shoulders dropped. “Anyway, my suspicions were confirmed when she later dropped the charges.”
“We don’t think she was lying, Ms. Miller.”
Her eyes widened as she tilted her head. “What?”
“One of the victims of a recent homicide was the man your daughter accused. There was a collection of photos found on his computer.”
Ms. Miller stared at them for several beats before she sank back into her chair. “Oh my God.” She appeared to digest that information before looking up. “Then why did she recant it?”