The journalist's name was Sandra Wealth. I had not known her name before Henry mentioned it but Henry had given me a full summary by the time the meeting was arranged. Sandra Wealth was forty three years old and she had been writing for seventeen years. She worked for a publication called The Crestwood Review which was not a tabloid or a gossip platform. It was the kind of serious publication that did long careful pieces about complicated subjects and took its time getting them right.She had won two awards for a piece she wrote about a woman who spent fifteen years in prison for a crime she did not commit. The piece had been part of what eventually got that woman's conviction overturned.She wrote about the truth. That was what she did. She found it and she told it and she did not dress it up or tear it down. She just put it on the page exactly as it was.She didn't care about anyone's sentiment. I guess that was the reason Victoria had chosen her. The plan was to meet her first e

Chapter 93"Victoria's document will be introduced as prosecution evidence regardless," Patricia said. "Her sister has been asked to cooperate with the prosecutor's office and has agreed to hand it over. She did not entirely understand what she had been asked to carry." Patricia said. I nodded.“Margaret Vane wanted to be on her sister's side so when Victoria contacted her for the first time in years for something she thought was a favour, she agreed without much question.” I thought about Margaret Vane in her hotel room. Thirty years abroad. Barely knowing her sister. Getting a phone call and agreeing to help because she was family and family asked."Leave her alone," I said. "She was used the same way everyone in Victoria's life was used. She did not know what she was carrying."Patricia looked at me. "The prosecutor may want to speak with her.""She can speak with the prosecutor," I said. "I just mean do not make her a target. She is not the story."Patricia nodded. "Agreed."Sh

He stood up when he saw me."Sorry for coming without calling," he said. "Henry said it was fine.""It is fine," I said. "Sit down."Lily came past me into the room and looked at Brandon."Hello Brandon," she said."Hey Lily," he said. He had learned over the past months exactly how to talk to Lily directly and without talking down to her. Lily responded well to that. She had no patience for people who used the voice adults sometimes used on children like they were slightly hard of hearing."I got a flower at the market," she said and showed him the single stem."Nice," he said. Genuinely.She accepted this and went to find Mrs Park. She always knew the right time to do something and she must have sensed that it was time for me to go back to work even on a Saturday. Brandon sat back down.Henry excused himself quietly the way he did when he had read the room and decided his presence was not required.I sat across from Brandon."What is it?" I asked.He put his cup down on the table.

I woke up on Monday morning at five thirty without an alarm. Before I could step out, I took a deep sigh. The room was still dark so it allowed me some time to do some reflection. I had slept better than I thought I would even though I had woken up two times in the night but apart from that, I do feel relieved. I got up and went to the bathroom, I didn't want to overthink this morning so I decided to replace intruding thoughts with actions. I got up and went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror while the water ran cold over my hands.I looked older than nineteen.Not in a bad way. It just meant that for a while, I've had a lot in my head and I was still unsettled about a lot of things. I got dressed carefully.Not the way I had dressed for the Sunday coffee dates where I changed my shirt three times because I was nervous in a way I did not want to admit. Just carefully. I wasn't dressing because I wanted to look good but because I wanted to be confident. The dark s

I looked at the purple ribbon on my wrist.I looked at the courtroom. At Patricia's team with their papers organised. At Henry sitting very still beside me. At Yemi on my other side.I looked at Victoria's back.She had not turned around once, not even slightly. Maybe she was feeling the guilt now or maybe not. She sat facing forward in her dark clothes with her perfect posture and her careful composure and she faced the front of the room and gave nothing away.The defence finished.Judge Adeyemi said the first witness would be called tomorrow morning, then she adjourned the court. The people stood up and the noise returned. Then people began to leave the courtroom. I stayed seated for a moment.Henry stayed beside me without saying anything and Yemi stayed on my other side. It just seemed like they were waiting on me. Like they didn't want to do anything but wait on me.I took my time not because I wanted to keep them.waiting but because I really had to gather my thoughts. After a