Chapter 1 - The Echo of the Gavel
The heavy oak doors of the Manhattan criminal courtroom clicked shut behind me, sealing out the flashing cameras of the local news media.
For three days, the media had fed on the fall of Evelyn Vance and Michael Thorne.
Lily sat softly beside me in the quiet room, her small hands clutching a worn velvet teddy bear that had once belonged to my late wife, Anna.
Detective Sarah Collins walked in, setting a thick leather-bound dossier on the table with a dull thud.
"Michael’s attorney just tried to post bail," Sarah said, pulling out a chair and sitting opposite us.
"And?" I asked, my fingers tightening around Lily's shoulder.
"Denied," Sarah replied, a faint, razor-sharp smile touching her lips.
"The judge saw the smartwatch audio logs and the forensic trail on the Delaware shell company. They aren't letting him walk."
Yet, despite the victory, a strange knot tightened in my gut.
Michael had been a shadow in my home for two years, and shadows rarely vanish completely after a single blow.
"What about Evelyn?" I asked, keeping my voice low so Lily wouldn't catch the edge of my anxiety.
Sarah leaned in, her sharp eyes searching mine with intense professional gravity.
"Evelyn isn't talking, Daniel. But her offshore bank records just flagged an automated transfer initiated twenty minutes ago."
"From where?"
"From a private server registered to your late wife’s estate," Sarah whispered.
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My heart plummeted into a cold, dark abyss.
Anna had been dead for two years, but her name was still being used as a weapon against us.
