She understood that her own household might contain information relevant to an ongoing inquiry.
She also knew there were legal and privacy limits to what she could access or provide.
Her lawyer explained how to cooperate without improperly obtaining records that weren't hers.
She gave investigators information about conversations she'd personally witnessed and messages lawfully available to her.
One message was particularly troubling.
It had been sent from Gavin's phone to a shared household tablet several days before the cookout.
Caroline noticed it because the tablet displayed a notification while she was preparing dinner.
The message contained a photograph.
Our backyard.
Our dining table.
And the separate white plate.
Beneath the image was a short instruction.
Make sure the special guest gets the reserved serving.
Caroline remembered asking Gavin what it meant.
He told her it concerned a catering job.
She accepted the explanation at the time.
Now she wasn't so sure.
The investigator asked whether she had seen any other relevant communication.
Caroline described another conversation.
It occurred the night before the cookout.
Gavin was angry.
Vivian had called him repeatedly.
Caroline heard her mother's voice through the phone.
"She cannot speak on Monday."
Then Gavin replied, "We're handling it."
Caroline told the investigator she hadn't understood who they were discussing.
She couldn't prove what either person intended from those words alone.
But in the context of the later food tampering, the conversation was significant enough to document and examine alongside the other evidence.
The investigator thanked her.
Caroline began crying.
For a moment, she covered her face.
"I don't want to destroy my family."
The investigator waited.
She continued.
"But if they put something dangerous in someone's food, I can't pretend I didn't hear what I heard."
Her lawyer placed a hand near her arm.
Caroline took a slow breath.
Then whispered, "I have a daughter. I keep thinking about those children who were supposed to be at the cookout."
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then the investigator explained the next steps.
And Caroline made a decision that would change her relationship with her mother and husband permanently.
She chose to tell the truth.
The investigators also interviewed a Stonebridge employee who had driven the white utility van through Cedar Grove that Saturday.
He was twenty-seven and had worked for the company for nearly four years.
His normal duties involved landscaping maintenance and delivering materials to job sites.
On the morning of the cookout, Gavin instructed him to drive through the neighborhood and stop near our street.
He was told to wait for a telephone call.