Chapter 19 - DOREEN MERCER VERSUS THE TRUTH
The trial began five months later.
The prosecution needed nine days.
The defense needed four.
Doreen testified on the thirteenth day.
Everyone had warned her attorney not to put her on the stand.
Doreen insisted.
Control again.
She wore gray.
Her hair was neat.
Her posture perfect.
The defense attorney began gently.
“Mrs. Mercer, did you love your husband?”
“Yes.”
“Did you intend to kill him?”
“No.”
“Did you love your sons?”
“More than anything.”
“Did you intend to harm Celia?”
“No.”
“Then why was she locked in the shed?”
Doreen looked toward the jury.
“I was frightened.”
“Of what?”
“My family falling apart.”
Doreen told the story she wanted.
Elias was sick.
Margaret was unstable.
Felix was reckless.
Abram was impulsive.
Celia was manipulative.
Martin was dishonest.
Kessler was corrupt.
Rourke was dangerous.
Everyone had flaws.
Everyone except Doreen.
Then the prosecutor stood.
“Mrs. Mercer, did you lock Margaret Mercer in the shed?”
Doreen hesitated.
“One evening.”
“Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“Did you later support paperwork declaring her mentally unstable?”
“Yes.”
“Was she?”
“I believed so.”
“Did you take money from Ruth Mercer?”
“I managed funds.”
“Without authorization?”
“I disagree with that characterization.”
“Did Elias accuse you of drugging him?”
“Yes.”
“Was lorazepam found in the tea sample he preserved?”
Doreen paused.
“Yes.”
“Did you put it there?”
“I was helping him sleep.”
“Without telling him?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
“Did you strike Elias with a fireplace poker?”
Doreen looked toward her attorney.
“Mrs. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“Did you call an ambulance?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I panicked.”
“Forty minutes?”
Doreen’s face tightened.
The prosecutor walked toward the screen.
“Did you inject medication into Elias’s IV?”
Doreen whispered.
“Yes.”
“Did he die afterward?”
“Yes.”
“Did you then help create a false death certificate?”
“Yes.”
The jury stared at her.
The prosecutor changed subjects.
“Did you forge Abram’s signature on a power of attorney?”
Doreen hesitated.
“Martin prepared it.”
“That was not my question.”
“Yes.”
“Did you pay Dr. Kessler for a false medical opinion?”
“Yes.”
“Did you plan to use that opinion to seek guardianship over Abram?”
“I was protecting his assets.”
“Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“Did you arrange to sell land belonging to Abram and Felix?”
“It belonged to the family.”
“Did the legal title belong to you?”
“No.”
“Were you scheduled to receive a secret three-point-one-million-dollar payment?”
Doreen’s expression tightened.
“It was a consulting fee.”
Laughter almost moved through the courtroom.
The judge silenced it.
The prosecutor approached slowly.
“Now Celia.”
Doreen looked toward her.
Celia sat beside Abram.
June was with Dana outside.
“Did you take Celia’s phone?”
“Yes.”
“Did you send messages pretending to be her?”
“Yes.”
“Did you drug her?”
“I used a calming spray.”
“Did she consent?”
“No.”
“Did you lock her in the shed?”
“Yes.”
“For six days?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ask you to?”
Doreen hesitated.
The dashcam video had already answered.
“No.”
“Did you intend to move her?”
Doreen remained silent.
“Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“The farmhouse.”
“Why?”
“To keep her away until the land sale closed.”
The courtroom went completely still.
The prosecutor let the answer sit.
Then he asked the simplest question of the entire trial.
“Mrs. Mercer, who gave you the right to do any of this?”
Doreen looked toward Abram.
Her son met her eyes.
For once, he did not look angry.
That seemed to disturb her more.
Doreen answered.
“I was their mother.”
The prosecutor nodded.
“No further questions.”
The verdict took less than six hours.
Guilty.
Again.
Guilty.
Again.
Guilty.
The most serious count connected to Elias’s death carried the weight Doreen had spent years avoiding.
Celia cried quietly.
Felix covered his face.
Margaret closed her eyes.
Abram felt almost nothing.
He had expected satisfaction.
Victory.
Relief.
Instead, he felt tired.
Doreen turned before deputies took her away.
“Abram.”
The judge had not invited conversation.
Abram did not respond.
Doreen raised her voice.
“I did everything for you.”
Abram finally looked at her.
“No.”
Doreen froze.
“You did everything so nobody could leave you.”
Her face changed.
Abram continued.
“Dad tried.”
“Margaret did.”
“Rachel did.”
“Celia did.”
“You punished every person who proved they could survive without your permission.”
Doreen stared.
Abram’s voice remained calm.
“I’m leaving too.”
For the first time, fear entered Doreen’s face.
Not fear of prison.
Fear of irrelevance.
“Abram.”
He turned away.
She called again.
“Abram!”
He kept walking.
Outside court, reporters shouted questions.
Abram ignored them.
Celia waited on the steps with June in her arms.
Luke stood beside her.
Felix and Dana followed.
Margaret came last.
Abram stopped.
Celia looked at him.
“Finished?”
He nodded.
“Finished.”
Not everything was repaired.
Felix still carried guilt.
Margaret still woke from nightmares.
Rachel still lived a thousand miles away.
Luke and Abram were still learning how to speak without trying too hard.
Elias was still dead.
Six days could never be returned to Celia.
Twenty years could never be returned to Abram and Luke.
But Doreen no longer controlled what came next.
That evening, Abram drove to the old Mercer house.
He stood in the backyard.
The shed remained behind police tape.
Rain had stained the wood.
Abram walked toward it.
Felix followed.
“What are you doing?”
Abram looked at the door.
“Taking it down.”
They returned the next morning with tools.
They dismantled the shed board by board.
Abram removed the door himself.
He carried it toward the dumpster.
Then he stopped.
Celia stood near the porch holding June.
“Keep one piece.”
Abram frowned.
“Why?”
“Not as a memorial.”
She looked toward the boards.
“As proof.”
“Of what?”
“That locked doors open.”
Abram looked at the broken wood.
Then at his wife.
He kept one small piece.
Nothing more.
May you like
The rest disappeared.
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