Page 96 of Long Lost Winter

“Because I was right.My father didn’t kill Marie.So who did?I think the answer is obvious.”

“She’s a liar!”

The judge immediately hit his gavel.Because it was Ben yelling.

Sam didn’t grin.She didn’t pump her fist in satisfaction.But she did look at Cal, gave him a littlegood-jobnod.This entire line of questioning had been his idea.

And it was going to break Benjamin Bennet.Once and for all.

“Mr.Bennet, this is your one and only warning,” the judge said, dead serious.“Not another word, or you will be back in your cell.”

Ben fumed.But he shut up.

Now it was Glenda’s turn to twist the final knife.

*

Jill was beyondnervous.She had never felt so… so… so… she didn’t even have words for it, and she had an excellent vocabulary.But nothing in her life had prepared her for this.

Mr.Vanderbilt, Mr.Wheeler, and the judge were currently discussing whether the judge would allow Jill to be sworn in to translate for Grandma, who would sign her answers if allowed.If they didn’t let it happen, they would ask if Jill could read Grandma’s statements, and ifthatdidn’t happen, they would introduce Grandma’s typed statements.

Sam’s testimony already supported the information about Bo.Jill could also be called to testify to support what Grandma had said or done if Mr.Vanderbilt thought it was necessary.

But after a long, drawn-out wait, the judge announced they would both be sworn in.Glenda as witness, Jill as translator.

“This is ludicrous!”Ben was talking to his lawyer, but he was getting loud enough his complaints echoed through the courtroom.

“Mr.Wheeler,” the judge said cooly.“Control your client.Mr.Vanderbilt, call your witness.”

It was time.Jill looked at her grandmother, who sat looking… frail.Nearly as frail as she’d looked when Jill had first moved to Montana and Grandma had been recovering from her stroke.

But Grandma got to her feet with her own strength, so Jill did the same.She moved behind Grandma’s slow but steady progress to the front of the courtroom.

They were both sworn in.Jill kept looking at Grandma for signs of distress, but all she saw was grim determination.

“Mrs.Harrington,” Mr.Vanderbilt began.“When did you first meet Marie Bennet?”

Jill watched as Grandma signed.They’d gone over a lot of the questions, though Cal and Vanderbilt had both warned them that they might need to go off script depending on Ben’s reactions.But Jill knew what to look for.

She had been instructed to translate directly, so essentially in first person.“I met Marie at her wedding to Benjamin Bennet,” Jill answered after interpreting Grandma’s signs.

“Were you friendly?”

“Yes.I was Marie’s closest neighbor.Marie often came to me for help.The first few times she came to me with an injury, I believed her story behind them.She fell.Had a run-in with a temperamental horse.Ranch work is hard.It made sense, at first.”

“When did you stop believing that?”

“After Cal was born.Sometimes she’d ask me to watch him overnight, and she would come for him in the morning looking stiff and injured.”

Grandma hadn’t shared that detail before.It hit Jill right in the heart.

“And you believe Mr.Bennet was the one who—”

“Objection!”Mr.Wheeler yelled, some of his lawyer polish fraying.

“I’ll rephrase,” Mr.Vanderbilt immediately said before the judge could reply to Mr.Wheeler.

Jill thought he’d had some reservations about Cal’s advice, but he was leaning into it now.