Chapter 12 - THE TRIAL
Renata’s trial began eight months later.
The courthouse steps were packed with reporters.
They shouted questions as Grant and Lily entered through a side door.
Lily wore a blue coat and held her father’s hand.
I walked on her other side.
Renata’s attorneys claimed she had suffered a mental breakdown.
They argued that Claire’s death was an accident.
They said Renata’s confession on the mountain had been made under extreme emotional distress.
Then the prosecution played Detective Ellis’s body-camera recording.
The courtroom heard every word.
“She was still alive when I reached the car.”
“I could not let her expose me.”
Renata sat motionless at the defense table.
Her elegance was gone.
Her hair was dull.
Her face looked smaller without diamonds and carefully controlled lighting.
Rosa testified about the night Claire died.
Patrick testified about the erased cameras.
The hospital technician testified about the payment he received to sabotage my mother’s treatment.
I testified about the bathroom.
Renata’s attorney approached me slowly.
“You were under considerable financial pressure, correct?”
“Yes.”
“You needed money.”
“Yes.”
“You hated Miss Cole.”
“After I saw her burn a child, yes.”
A few people in the gallery murmured.
The attorney frowned.
“Did you assault her?”
“I removed her from a seven-year-old girl she was torturing.”
“That was not my question.”
“Yes.”
“I used force.”
“And I would make the same choice today.”
The prosecutor called Lily last.
A child psychologist sat beside her.
Grant watched from the front row.
Lily’s hands shook when Renata entered her line of sight.
I expected her to stop.
Instead, she looked directly at the jury.
“Renata told me nobody would believe me because I could not talk.”
Her voice was quiet.
Every person in the courtroom leaned forward.
“She said Daddy needed her more than he needed me.”
“She said Mommy died because she would not stay quiet.”
Renata suddenly stood.
“You little liar.”
The judge ordered her to sit down.
Lily flinched.
Then she straightened.
“I am not quiet anymore.”
The jury deliberated for six hours.
They found Renata guilty on every major charge.
When the verdict was read, she turned toward Grant.
“You would have had nothing without me.”
Grant looked at his daughter.
Then he answered.
“I almost had nothing because of you.”
Renata was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
As deputies led her away, Lily did not look at her.
May you like
She looked at me.
Then she smiled.
