Part 2
Brooke Sanders had entered the courtroom wearing diamonds.
She left it covering her wrist with her other hand.
For one brief, exquisite moment, no one moved. Even the courthouse clock seemed to hesitate between ticks. Thomas stood beside his attorney, mouth slightly open, the color drained from his face in uneven patches. Brooke looked first at him, then at Diane, then at the judge, as if the room had rearranged itself while she was blinking.
“I didn’t know,” Brooke repeated.
Her voice had lost all its gloss.
Diane pressed a button on the remote in her hand.
A message appeared on the screen.
Thomas: Once Eleanor is declared medically dependent, we can move the liquid accounts before her attorney sees anything.
Beneath it was Brooke’s reply.
Brooke: And the jewelry? I don’t want to wear anything she can claim later.
Another message.
Thomas: I’ll say she gifted it. She won’t be in a condition to argue.
The courtroom went so quiet I could hear Brooke’s breathing turn shallow.
The judge removed his glasses and placed them carefully on the bench.
“Miss Sanders,” he said, “you may wish to sit down.”
Brooke did not sit.
She turned on Thomas.
“You told me she was confused.”
Thomas stared at the screen as though he could will the words to disappear.
“You told me she didn’t understand money anymore,” Brooke said, louder now. “You told me everything was already arranged.”
Thomas finally looked at her.
“Not here,” he hissed.
That was when I understood something important.
Brooke was not frightened because she had hurt me.
She was frightened because the plan had failed.
Diane looked toward me.
I gave the smallest nod.
She advanced to the next document.
“Your Honor, we are also submitting medical evaluations from Mrs. Grant’s physicians, confirming that she has never been declared mentally incompetent, financially incapacitated, or legally dependent.”
Thomas’s attorney rose quickly.
“Your Honor, we request a recess.”
“You may request many things,” the judge said. “Right now, you may sit.”
The attorney sat.