Chapter 18
The trial started six months later.
I was nervous. So nervous I could barely eat in the days leading up to it.
Lena was due any day now. The doctor said she might have the baby during the trial.
David had prepared us well. He had gone over our testimony a hundred times. He had lined up expert witnesses. Accountants who would testify about the embezzlement. Accident reconstruction experts who would testify that Grant's brakes had been tampered with.
And then there was the confession. The recording the police had made on my front lawn.
David said that was the nail in the coffin.
The first day of trial, Margaret was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs. She looked smaller somehow. Frailer. Her gray hair was unkempt. Her expensive clothes replaced with a jail jumpsuit.
She looked at me as she was led to the defense table. Her eyes were cold. Full of hate.
But I didn't look away.
I was done being afraid of her.
The trial lasted two weeks.
The prosecution presented their case first. The embezzlement evidence. The bank records. The emails. Grant's letter.
Then they called Lena to the stand.
She testified about Margaret threatening her. About the recording she had made. About Margaret saying she would take the baby and then get rid of her.
Then they called me.
I testified about Margaret showing up at my house. About her threatening to take Poppy away. About her attacking me on the front lawn. About her confession.
And then they played the recording.
Margaret's voice filled the courtroom. Clear as day. Admitting to cutting Grant's brakes. Admitting to murder.
The jury watched Margaret's face as the recording played. She showed no emotion. No remorse.
The defense tried to argue that the recording was taken out of context. That Margaret was distraught and had said things she didn't mean. That the embezzlement was just a misunderstanding. That Grant's death really was an accident.
But no one believed them.
The jury deliberated for four hours.
When they came back, the courtroom was silent.
The foreman stood up.
"On the charge of embezzlement in the first degree, we find the defendant guilty."
A murmur went through the courtroom.
"On the charge of murder in the first degree, we find the defendant guilty."
I squeezed Lena's hand. She was crying.
"On the charge of attempted kidnapping, we find the defendant guilty."
"On the charge of assault in the third degree, we find the defendant guilty."
The judge banged his gavel.
Margaret showed no emotion. She just sat there, staring straight ahead.
The judge sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
As the guards led her away, she looked at me one last time.
May you like
But this time, there was no hate in her eyes. Just emptiness.
It was over.
