Chapter 17 - LORRAINE TAKES THE STAND
Lorraine testified against Daniel.
Her attorney believed blaming her son might save her from a life sentence.
She entered the witness box carrying the same Bible she held during the television interview.
The prosecutor asked whether she instructed Daniel to punish me.
Lorraine said no.
The recording played.
Hit lower this time.
Lorraine closed her eyes.
“That was taken out of context.”
“What context makes that statement acceptable?”
“He was supposed to frighten her.”
“Not injure her.”
“You sharpened a tool while he tied her.”
“It was a family ritual.”
Several jurors reacted.
The prosecutor stepped closer.
“A family ritual?”
“To correct disobedience.”
“Did Catherine Webb disobey you?”
Lorraine’s face changed.
“Did Naomi?”
“Rosa?”
“Tessa?”
Lorraine gripped the Bible.
“They threatened the family.”
“Did you kill them?”
“No.”
“Did Daniel?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“My husband.”
“Your husband died twelve years ago.”
Lorraine said nothing.
The prosecutor presented forensic evidence from Tessa’s remains.
Her death occurred six years earlier.
Lorraine could not blame a dead man.
Daniel’s attorney objected.
The judge overruled him.
The prosecutor showed the jury a photograph from the chamber.
Daniel’s wristwatch lay beside one victim’s clothing.
The watch had been reported stolen.
Daniel had filed the report one day after Tessa disappeared.
Lorraine looked toward her son.
He stared back.
For years, they had protected each other through silence.
Now each understood that only one might survive the trial.
Lorraine began speaking.
“Daniel hit Tessa.”
“She fell.”
“She was still breathing.”
“What did you do?”
“I told him to call for help.”
Daniel stood.
“She is lying.”
The judge ordered him to sit.
Lorraine continued.
“He said a hospital would expose everything.”
“So you buried her alive?”
The courtroom gasped.
Lorraine’s face collapsed.
“I thought she was dead by then.”
Daniel lunged toward the witness stand.
Deputies caught him.
He shouted at his mother.
“You told me to do it.”
“You said daughters never matter.”
Lorraine screamed back.
“You were the one who could not give us a son.”
The courtroom froze.
Daniel stared at her.
The truth he had refused to understand had finally been spoken.
He had blamed every woman.
Every daughter.
Every pregnancy.
But the sex of each child came from him.
His rage had always been aimed at the wrong body.
The judge removed the jury.
May you like
As deputies dragged Daniel away, he shouted one final sentence.
“The boy is not the last Mercer heir.”
