Chapter 8: The Arraignment
I didn't go to the arraignment.
Hargrove had told me I didn't need to be there.
The charges would be read, a plea would be entered, and bond would be set.
It was procedural.
It was not the moment.
I went to work instead.
Dale handed me coffee without being asked and pointed me toward the Elmwood site, where a foundation inspection had been pushed back twice and needed to happen before the concrete pour on Thursday.
I spent four hours in the dirt with a tape measure and a level, which was exactly what I needed.
At eleven-fifteen, Hargrove called.
I stepped away from the crew.
"She pled not guilty," he said.
"Her attorney entered the plea before the judge finished reading the charges."
"What are the charges?"
"Forgery of a legal instrument.
Fraudulent transfer of real property.
Financial exploitation of a family member.
Conspiracy — that one covers Raymond and Mason both, though Mason's cooperation will likely reduce his exposure significantly."
"Bond?"
"Set at forty thousand.
Her attorney argued for personal recognizance.
The judge declined." A pause.
"She made a statement before she was taken out."
I waited.
"She said, and I'm reading directly — 'My son will understand when he's older.
He's been manipulated by that woman since the day they met.
Everything I did was for him.'"
The job site was loud around me.
Someone was running a compactor fifty yards away.
I barely heard it.
"She still believes it," I said.
"It appears so."
I thanked him and hung up.
I stood there for a moment with my phone in my hand.
Dale appeared at my elbow.
Not asking.
Just present.
"Foundation looks solid," I said.
"Yeah," he said.
"It does."
We walked back to the site together.
That afternoon, I called my aunt Betsy.
She picked up on the third ring, and the first thing she said was, "Connor, I owe you an apology."
I hadn't expected that.
"I didn't know about the documents," she said.
"I want you to know that.
I knew Teresa didn't like Amy.
I knew she was — difficult.
But I thought the party was just Teresa being Teresa.
I didn't know what was in that folder.
I didn't know about the account."
"But you told Amy to prepare everything," I said.
"You laughed about it."
Silence.
"Yes," she said.
"I did.
And I'm ashamed of that.
Amy was holding that baby and I made a joke." Her voice was tight.
"I've been thinking about it since Friday.
I keep seeing her face when you walked in."
"Betsy," I said.
"I need to know who else knew.
Not about the documents.
About the way Teresa had been treating Amy.
Who knew and said nothing?"
A long pause.
"Most of us knew she was hard on Amy," Betsy said finally.
"We thought it was just — mother-in-law stuff.
We didn't ask questions.
We didn't want to get involved."
"That's not good enough," I said.
"I know."
"Amy was isolated in her own home for months.
She was afraid to speak.
And every person who came to that party and said nothing made it easier for Teresa to keep going."
Betsy didn't argue.
"What do you need from me?" she said.
"A written statement.
About what you witnessed at the party.
The detective will contact you."
"I'll do it," she said immediately.
"Whatever you need."
I hung up.
Amy was in the kitchen when I got home, Frederick in his high chair eating something orange and making a considerable mess of it.
She looked up when I came in.
"How was the arraignment?" she said.
"Not guilty plea.
Forty thousand bond."
She nodded.
She had been expecting something like that.
"Betsy called me this afternoon," Amy said.
I stopped.
"What did she say?"
"She apologized." Amy looked down at Frederick, then back at me.
"She cried, actually.
For a while." A pause.
"I didn't know what to say to her.
I'm not ready to forgive her yet.
But I didn't hang up."
"That's enough for now," I said.
Frederick smacked his tray and said something that was not quite a word but was clearly meant to be one.
Amy laughed.
It was the first time I had heard her laugh in days.
I sat down at the table.
And then my phone rang.
It was a number I recognized this time.
Mason.
I looked at Amy.
She looked at the phone.
"Answer it," she said.
I picked up.
"Connor." Mason's voice was rough.
May you like
Like he hadn't slept.
"She made bail."
