Chapter 8 - The Hearing
The courtroom on the fourth floor of the Cook County Courthouse was cold, bright, and smelled of floor wax and old wool.
Arthur and Evelyn sat at the defense table beside two high-priced criminal attorneys. Arthur wore a gray suit that looked slightly too large for his shoulders; his hands were folded neatly on the oak table in front of him. Evelyn sat upright, her chin tilted up, wearing a dark navy dress with a high collar.
Marcus sat two rows behind them in the gallery, dressed in a clean white shirt and dark trousers. He looked smaller without his hoodie, his posture hunched, his eyes fixed firmly on the polished wood between his shoes.
I sat on the prosecution side beside Detective Lin and Rachel.
The judge—a sharp-eyed woman in her late fifties named Hon. Margaret Walsh—reviewed the documents in front of her for seven long minutes without speaking. The only sound in the room was the crisp flick of paper turning.
"Regarding the defendants Arthur Vance and Evelyn Vance," Judge Walsh began, her voice echoing off the high plaster ceiling. "The state has presented photographic evidence, sworn depositions from two family members, and medical records detailing significant physical trauma inflicted upon a vulnerable, pregnant individual."
Arthur's lawyer stood up immediately. "Your Honor, if I may—this is a deeply unfortunate family misunderstanding regarding the care of newborn twins during a medical crisis—"
"Sit down, Mr. Vance," Judge Walsh snapped without looking up from her file. "Your clients strapped a woman six months pregnant with a spinal injury to a piece of furniture for nine hours, withheld her medical apparatus, and locked her in a room."
She looked over her glasses at Arthur.
"That is not a family misunderstanding, sir. That is a medieval detention."
She struck her gavel once with a loud, sharp CRACK.
"Bail is set at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars each. Conditions of release include mandatory electronic monitoring, immediate surrender of all firearms, and a permanent, five-hundred-foot order of protection covering the victim, her sister, and the minor children."
She turned her gaze to Marcus.
"As for Marcus Vance," Judge Walsh continued, "the state has filed additional charges of third-degree domestic battery and accomplice to unlawful imprisonment. Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday at nine o'clock."
Marcus didn't look up. His shoulders dropped half an inch.
Evelyn turned around in her chair, her eyes searching the gallery until they landed on me.
Her lips moved. She didn't say a word out loud, but I read the shape of her mouth as clear as print:
You destroyed this family.
May you like
I didn't blink. I didn't hide behind Rachel.
I looked at her, then reached down and slowly adjusted the wide, gray canvas strap of my medical corset, pulling it tight against my ribs until I was standing completely straight.
