Chapter 12 - My Mother Takes the Stand
Diane refused a plea agreement.
She believed a jury would understand that she had protected family property from an ungrateful daughter.
Her attorney presented her as a mother overwhelmed by inheritance conflict.
The prosecution played the messages.
Make sure the closet is gone.
She claimed she meant remove old clothing before renovation.
The accelerant container destroyed that explanation.
Mrs. Alvarez testified about seeing her enter my apartment.
Diane said she was checking on me.
The duplicate-key receipt showed the copy had been made the same day.
Then Laura testified.
She described the night Evelyn died.
Diane interrupted from the defense table.
“You gave her the medicine.”
The judge warned her.
Laura continued.
“She told us not to call emergency services.”
“She said Evelyn had already chosen Claire over the family.”
My mother took the stand against her attorney’s advice.
She looked directly at me.
“Your grandmother filled your head with stories.”
“She wanted to divide us.”
The prosecutor asked why she created a duplicate key.
“To help my daughter.”
“Why did you enter the apartment without permission?”
“To check the documents.”
“Why did you tell Miles the closet had to be gone?”
“I was angry.”
“Why did you file an insurance claim before firefighters left?”
“I was being responsible.”
“Why did the claim say Claire did not live there?”
My mother hesitated.
The prosecutor stepped closer.
“Because if Claire died, you wanted the fire recorded as damage to an empty unit.”
Diane’s face changed.
For one second, the jury saw the woman behind the maternal language.
She looked at me with the same cold silence she used on the phone.
Then she said:
“She should have stayed at the lawyer’s office.”
The courtroom became completely still.
May you like
Her attorney closed his eyes.
My mother had just admitted she knew the exact timing of the fire.
