Chapter 7
Diane was arrested that night.
The police tracked her to a motel on the edge of town.
She didn't resist.
She didn't even seem surprised.
When they put the handcuffs on her, she smiled.
"I was just trying to help," she told the officers. "They need to be purged. Fire purifies."
Her bail was revoked.
She was held without bond.
The trial began as scheduled.
But now there were new charges.
Attempted arson.
Attempted murder.
Diane's lawyer tried to have the letters thrown out.
He said they were obtained illegally.
But the judge allowed them.
The trial lasted two weeks.
Two weeks of Diane's lies.
Two weeks of her playing the victim.
Two weeks of watching her try to destroy us from the witness stand.
Our lawyer presented the letters.
She presented the testimony from Diane's previous victims.
She presented the security camera footage from the night of the fire.
She presented Noah's testimony.
And Lily's.
And the paramedics'.
And the doctors'.
And the police officers'.
Piece by piece, she built a portrait of a woman who was not a loving grandmother.
But a dangerous predator.
A woman who would do anything to get what she wanted.
Including kill.
Diane took the stand in her own defense.
She was calm.
Collected.
She denied everything.
She said the letters were forgeries.
She said the security camera footage was fake.
She said her own son had planted the gasoline can.
She said we had brainwashed the children.
She said we were trying to steal her money.
Her house.
Her life.
"Sarah wants everything I have," Diane told the jury. "She's been planning this for years. She married my son for his money. She had his children to tie him down. And now she's trying to get rid of me so she can have it all."
I looked at the jury.
Some of them were nodding.
Some of them looked at me with suspicion.
My heart sank.
Diane was good.
Too good.
I wondered if she would actually get away with it.
Then our lawyer called her final witness.
Ryan's father.
He walked to the stand.
He looked at Diane.
There was no anger in his eyes.
Just sadness.
"Harold," Diane's lawyer said. "You've been married to the defendant for forty-two years. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"In all those years, have you ever known your wife to be violent?"
Ryan's father was quiet.
Then he said, "Yes."
The courtroom went silent.
Diane's face turned red.
"Objection!" her lawyer shouted. "This is hearsay!"
"Let him speak," the judge said.
Ryan's father looked at the jury.
"Thirty years ago, our neighbor's dog kept coming into our yard. Diane told me she would take care of it. A week later, the dog was found dead in the street. Poisoned. She told me it was probably a coyote. But I saw her buying rat poison at the hardware store the day before."
He paused.
"Twenty years ago, Ryan's girlfriend… the one she accused of stealing… I found the necklace. In Diane's jewelry box. She had hidden it. She never lost it. She just wanted to get rid of that girl."
He looked at Diane.
"Five years ago, my sister got sick. She was in the hospital. Diane told me not to visit her. Said she was being dramatic. But I went anyway. My sister told me Diane had been to see her. That she had told her the doctors were wrong. That she should stop taking her medicine. My sister died two weeks later."
Tears were streaming down his face now.
"I've spent forty-two years making excuses for her. Telling myself she was just passionate. Just protective. Just… Diane. But she's not. She's a monster. And I let her be one. I stood by and watched her destroy people. And now she almost destroyed my granddaughter. And I will never forgive myself for that."
The courtroom was quiet.
You could hear a pin drop.
Diane was staring at her husband.
Her face was twisted with rage.
"You liar!" she screamed. "You spineless liar! I should have killed you years ago!"
The bailiffs had to restrain her.
She was screaming.
Cursing.
Threatening everyone in the courtroom.
The mask had finally fallen.
The jury saw the real Diane.
And they were terrified.
The jury deliberated for six hours.
When they came back, their forewoman stood up.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked.
"We have, Your Honor."
"On the charge of child endangerment, how do you find?"
"Guilty."
"On the charge of attempted arson?"
"Guilty."
"On the charge of attempted murder?"
"Guilty."
Diane collapsed in her chair.
Ryan squeezed my hand.
I looked at our children.
They were sitting in the front row with Ryan's father.
Lily smiled at me.
Noah waved.
May you like
It was over.
Or so I thought.
