LILAH MARSH: 1942—1960

SUFFOCATED IN A CLOSET WHEN NOBODY WAS HOME.

Lilah Marsh was murdered when her stepfather decided she had seen too much. He had been skimming from the household accounts for years; she found the second set of books and made the mistake of telling her mother. Her mother did not believe her. He waited until the house was empty, forced Lilah into the large wardrobe in the spare bedroom, and braced a chair under the handles. He told her she could come out when she was ready to forget what she had read.

She was not ready. She screamed until her voice went. She kicked until her heels split. The air grew thin and hot. Hours later, when the house was still empty, she stopped making noise. By the time her mother returned the next evening and finally opened the wardrobe, Lilah was curled at the bottom, knees drawn up, long hair stuck to her face with sweat. She had suffocated sometime in the night. The stepfather claimed she must have climbed in herself during a nightmare and the door had stuck. No one looked closely at the chair. The wardrobe was emptied, cleaned, and eventually moved to another room. The books disappeared.

Lilah did not.

Lilah never did.