Chapter 9 - A Small Voice at the Door
The hearing had nearly reached its afternoon break when voices suddenly rose outside the courtroom.
The door opened.
A nanny rushed inside.
Behind her came Owen.
“Owen!” Everett said, standing immediately.
The boy ignored him.
He ran toward the front.
The court officer gently asked him to stop.
Owen pointed toward his grandmother.
“She knows where it is.”
The room went silent.
Lenora’s face changed.
Everett stared at his son.
“Owen, what are you talking about?”
The boy reached into his backpack and pulled out a photograph.
“I found this on Grandma’s tablet.”
The supervising attorney asked for the photograph.
It showed Owen several weeks earlier inside Lenora’s dressing room.
Behind him, partly reflected in a mirror, Lenora could be seen standing near a green jewelry box.
The picture itself proved nothing.
Then Owen said the sentence that changed everything.
“Grandma put the shiny pin in that green box after everybody left.”
Lenora stood.
“He is a child. He is confused.”
Owen shook his head fiercely.
“No, I’m not.”
Everett approached him slowly.
“Buddy, tell me exactly what you saw.”
Owen swallowed.
“Grandma took the pin upstairs after lunch. I went looking for my tablet. She put it in the green box in the closet.”
He hesitated.
Then he looked toward Maribel.
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“Later I heard Grandma tell Aunt Beth she was tired of Maribel acting like she belonged in our family.”
Lenora went pale.
