One officer called out.
“Mr. Walter? Police. Please open the door.”
There was silence.
Then something fell inside.
A chair scraped across the floor.
My father shouted:
“Wait! Please, don’t come in!”
The officer tried the handle.
Locked.
“Open the door now!”
“I can’t! Not yet!”
At that moment, I was certain I was about to discover something horrifying.
The officer forced the door open.
And what we saw made all three of us freeze.
My father was sitting beside a small wooden table.
A pair of soft fabric wristbands lay across it, attached to a homemade wooden frame.
Beside him stood a child-sized chair.
But it was the wall behind him that left me speechless.
Dozens of drawings covered it.
Every drawing showed the same little boy.
Oliver.
Some showed him holding a spoon.
Others showed him buttoning his shirt, holding a pencil, or writing his name.