Captain Vale stood beside me.
And I felt my heartbeat in my throat.
PART 5: THE VERDICT MY FATHER LEFT BEHIND
The nine jurors returned in a single line.
I watched their faces as they entered.
Mrs. Pike looked tired.
Walter Briggs held his VFW cap against his chest.
Mr. Hensley, who had been selected as foreperson, carried a folded verdict form.
He did not look at my mother.
He looked at me.
And for the first time that day, I saw something in his expression that I recognized from years earlier.
Respect.
I wanted to believe it.
But I had learned not to trust a room until I knew what had happened inside it.
Judge Mercer took his seat.
“Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?”
Mr. Hensley stood.
“We have, Your Honor.”
“Is it unanimous?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
My mother’s fingers tightened around Liora’s hand.
I could see the pressure in the whitening of her knuckles.
The judge accepted the verdict form from the bailiff.
He examined it.
Then he looked up.
“On the first question, whether Evelyn Marie Voss has established at least ten years of lawful, continuous employment as required by the trust, how do you find?”
Mr. Hensley took a breath.
“We find that she has.”
My mother’s hand slipped from Liora’s.
I barely moved.
The words seemed to reach me from the far end of a long hallway.
Judge Mercer continued.
“On the second question, whether Liora Voss has established at least ten years of lawful, continuous employment as required by the trust, how do you find?”
Mr. Hensley glanced down.
“We find that she has not.”
Liora covered her mouth.
My mother made a small, strangled sound.
Judge Mercer looked at the verdict form once more.
“Thank you.”
He addressed the attorneys.
“The court will enter an order consistent with these factual findings and the trust’s distribution provisions.”
Arvett stood.
“Your Honor, we would ask the court to consider—”
“The court will consider any proper post-trial motions, counsel. But the jury has resolved the factual questions presented to it.”
The judge turned toward my mother.
“Mrs. Voss, I understand that these proceedings have involved a difficult family dispute. But the trust is a legal instrument. The court cannot replace its clear terms with a different distribution simply because a family member considers that distribution more desirable.”
My mother stared at him.
