Chapter 9 - The Trial and the Ledger
Three months later, the Federal District Court in downtown Chicago was packed to absolute capacity.
Sitting at the defense table, wearing orange prison jumpsuits and heavy leg shackles, were Dr. Arthur Sloan and Vivienne Sloan.
Their high-priced defense team had attempted for ninety days to claim that the chemical logs were forged, that the notary seal was an administrative error, and that Amani Rhodes was an unreliable witness.
Standing on the witness stand in a sharp, elegant dark blue dress was Amani Rhodes.
For four hours, Amani delivered her testimony with absolute, crystal-clear precision. She presented the photographic evidence from her phone, the tractor-fed chemical audit trail, the notarized affidavit advance date, and the corporate check from Sloan Medical Consulting.
When the defense attorney attempted to cross-examine her, trying to question her background as a house attendant, Amani answered with such overwhelming legal knowledge and logical clarity that the attorney sat down after ten minutes, red-faced and utterly defeated.
The jury deliberated for less than forty-five minutes.
When they returned to the courtroom, the foreman read the verdict:
Guilty on all counts.
Dr. Arthur Sloan was sentenced to twenty-five years in a federal maximum-security penitentiary for attempted murder, bio-terrorism, and corporate fraud.
Vivienne Sloan was sentenced to eighteen years without the possibility of parole for conspiracy, assault, and grand extortion.
As Vivienne was led away in handcuffs by two federal marshals, she looked back one last time at the gallery.
Sitting in the front row of the spectator gallery, holding hands, were Rowan Hale and Amani Rhodes.
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Vivienne saw the diamond ring sparkling brightly on Amani’s finger—a flawless, six-carat blue diamond set in platinum, given to her by Rowan three weeks earlier when he asked her to become his wife.
Vivienne closed her eyes, tears of utter ruin streaming down her face, as the heavy steel doors of the court holding area slammed shut behind her forever.
