Chapter 17 - The Trial
The prosecutor began with timing.
Not emotion.
5:27 p.m.
Fall.
5:31.
Victor leaves.
6:14.
Insurance claim.
6:39.
Anonymous rescue call.
7:24.
First message claiming Elena missing.
Chronology did what adjectives could not.
Then the claim recording.
Victor’s voice:
“She went walking alone.”
False.
Wildlife camera showed all three.
Then:
“Was there a live birth?”
“Yes.
False.
Then hotel microphone:
“They both froze to death. That worthless woman got what she deserved.”
Victor stared at table.
Serena testified.
Her hands shook.
Defense attacked her plea deal.
“You benefit from blaming Victor.”
“Yes.”
Good answer.
“You lied initially.”
“Yes.”
“You loved him.”
“I thought I did.”
“You wanted Elena gone.”
Serena cried.
“Yes.”
That honesty helped.
Then:
“Did you see Victor push her?”
“Yes.”
“Could Elena have slipped?”
“No.”
Then defense:
“You called rescue.”
“Yes.”
“So you did not want her dead.”
“I wanted her gone until I heard her scream.”
Silence.
Messy truth.
Then Martin Vale.
He admitted bribe.
Policy override.
Baby binder.
Defense:
“Victor never told you he intended murder.”
“No.”
“You believed these were financial planning instruments.”
“At first.”
“When did that change?”
“When he sent me a fake birth declaration after Elena disappeared.”
Then Adrian.
He explained claim escalation.
Why he boarded search helicopter.
Defense tried:
“You wanted Victor destroyed because Elena is your daughter.”
Adrian answered:
“I did not know she was my daughter when the fraud alert first reached me. I suspected because of her mother’s name.”
Then:
“Did you attack Victor in hospital?”
“Yes.”
The courtroom shifted.
Prosecutor looked annoyed.
Adrian continued:
“I grabbed him and put him against a wall. Security stopped me. I regret losing control.”
No hero exemption.
Defense liked it.
But it did not change Victor.
Then me.
I walked with slight limp.
No cane.
Victor watched.
Prosecutor:
“What happened at the overlook?”
I told.
No dramatic reenactment.
Serena.
Documents.
Affair.
Refusal.
Victor’s hands.
Fall.
His words.
Then rescue.
Then hospital.
Then policy.
Defense stood.
“Mrs. Hale, you hated your husband by the time you were on that mountain, didn’t you?”
“I did after he pushed me.”
Before?
“I was furious.”
“Because of Serena.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened divorce.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened to take everything.”
“I said I would call a lawyer.”
Then they showed text:
If he cheats, I’m taking him for everything.
I smiled faintly.
“I wrote that to a friend months earlier.”
“So you wanted his money.”
“No.”
“Those are your words.”
“They are.”
Then:
“You stepped backward during an argument.”
“No.”
“You were wearing snow boots.”
“Yes.”
“The ground was icy.”
“Yes.”
“You could have slipped.”
“I could have.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why are you so certain?”
I looked at Victor.
“Because I felt both of his hands push me.”
Then defense asked:
“You lost consciousness.”
“Later.”
“Trauma can affect memory.”
“Yes.”
“Is it possible…”
“No.”
The judge looked at me.
“Let counsel finish.”
I nodded.
Correction.
Then the defense finished.
I answered.
“No.”
Then the prosecutor played Victor’s hospital words:
May you like
“You were supposed to freeze to death out there.”
No more questions.
