Chapter 12 - The Trial of Glass
The hearing began three weeks later.
By then, every major news network had shown the footage of Daniel locking the rescue door. Hart Meridian’s board had suspended him and removed Celeste as chairwoman.
Prosecutors charged Daniel with unlawful confinement, coercion, reckless endangerment and conspiracy.
Celeste faced those charges as well as financial fraud, evidence tampering and directing the installation of the altered roof panel.
She pleaded not guilty.
Daniel initially did the same.
The courtroom was full on the morning Rosa testified.
She walked to the witness stand without looking at Celeste.
Mira sat beside Evelyn behind the prosecution table. Evelyn’s baby was due in nine days, and a doctor waited in the corridor in case the stress triggered labor.
Rosa described the roof, the locked door and the scarf.
Then the prosecutor asked about the recording from thirty years earlier.
“Did you recognize the voices?”
“Yes.”
“Whose voices did you hear?”
“Nathan Vale, William Hart, Celeste Hart and Adrian Cole.”
Celeste’s attorney stood.
“Objection. The recording has not been authenticated.”
The judge allowed the prosecutor to continue after a technical expert confirmed the cassette’s age and lack of digital alteration.
The tape played.
Nathan’s voice filled the courtroom.
“If anything happens to me, my daughter inherits the evidence system and the controlling shares.”
Celeste watched Evelyn rather than the jury.
When the recording ended, Rosa continued.
“Celeste took Evelyn from her home before Nathan could return.”
“Did Nathan return?”
“I never saw him again.”
The defense attorney approached.
“Mrs. Alvarez, you have resented my client for thirty years, correct?”
“I have remembered her for thirty years.”
“You cannot prove she caused Nathan Vale’s death.”
“No.”
“You cannot prove she activated the panel during the gala.”
“No.”
“You cannot even prove Nathan Vale is dead.”
A murmur passed through the courtroom.
The attorney smiled.
“Nothing further.”
Adrian testified next.
He admitted locking the rescue door on William Hart’s order decades earlier. He also admitted failing to report the incident after Nathan disappeared.
“Why did you remain with the company?” the prosecutor asked.
“Because I believed staying near the system was the only way to protect the evidence.”
“Did you receive money for your silence?”
“Yes.”
The courtroom reacted.
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand dollars over thirty years.”
Evelyn looked at Rosa.
This was why she had warned her not to trust him.
Adrian continued before the prosecutor could ask another question.
“I transferred every dollar into an account for the families of construction workers harmed by Hart Meridian’s safety violations. The records are in evidence.”
“Why did you not go to the police?”
“Cowardice.”
The answer was simple.
It was also believable.
Then the mirrored roof footage played.
It included the missing eighteen seconds.
Adrian had preserved a second copy on an external analog recorder, one not connected to Aegis.
The footage showed Celeste pressing a control beneath the dinner table.
The table moved toward the panel.
Her voice was clear.
“Make her believe the roof will open.”
Daniel responded.
“You said the panel was safe.”
Celeste answered.
“Safe enough.”
The footage then showed Daniel lock the rescue door twice.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Celeste remained expressionless.
After the video ended, Daniel asked to speak with his attorney.
Twenty minutes later, he changed his plea.
Guilty.
He also agreed to testify against his mother.
The courtroom exploded with whispers.
Celeste finally lost her composure.
“You weak, useless child,” she shouted. “Everything I did was to protect your name.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“No. Everything you did was to protect your control.”
The judge ordered Celeste removed.
As officers led her away, she stopped beside Evelyn.
“You think this ends with me?”
Evelyn met her eyes.
“It ends your control over my family.”
Celeste smiled.
“Then ask yourself why Nathan’s access opened the system last night.”
She leaned closer.
“The person who activated that panel wanted you alive.”
Evelyn’s hand moved protectively over her stomach.
May you like
Celeste’s final words were barely audible.
“But I do not believe they want your daughter safe.”
