Chapter 16 - THE TRIAL BEGINS
The first morning of Victor's trial began without thunder, sirens, or any of the drama people expected from a story about the Moretti family.
There was only rain on the courthouse steps, a line of security officers checking bags, and a room full of people waiting for the judge to enter. Victor wore a dark suit and sat beside his attorneys. Lucas took a seat behind the prosecutor's table, not as a participant in the case but as a witness who had been told when he might be called.
The judge reminded the courtroom that allegations were not verdicts. The jury would have to evaluate the evidence, listen to the witnesses, and decide what the prosecution had proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Lucas appreciated the reminder even as part of him wanted the case settled that morning.
The prosecutor's opening statement described a plan to draw Lucas away from the estate, disable the alarm, and create an opportunity for Victor to gain control of family companies. She said the state would show that Victor had coordinated the false warehouse call, arranged access to a contractor, and concealed relevant records after the fire. She also acknowledged that some technical questions remained and that the evidence would be examined through witnesses and documents.
Victor's attorney offered another explanation. He argued that the alarm interruption had been a maintenance error, that the warehouse call concerned a genuine business problem, and that the financial transfers had legitimate purposes. The attorney warned jurors not to assume that family conflict proved a crime.
Both sides had stated their cases. Neither had won.
The first witness was the forensic engineer. He explained the alarm logs in plain language, using diagrams to show where the system had been disabled and when it was restored. The defense questioned whether a malfunction could mimic a manual override. The engineer said the specific credential entries and commands were inconsistent with an accidental outage, while acknowledging that the logs did not identify the person at the keyboard.
The second witness was Rosa Alvarez. She walked to the stand with her shoulders squared, carrying no folder this time. The prosecutor asked about her role in the foundation, the ledger copy, and Isabella's questions. Rosa described the payment she had seen and the instruction to stop asking about it.
Victor's attorney challenged her memory. He asked why she had waited years to come forward and whether news reports had influenced her recollection. Rosa admitted that fear and time had affected her. She did not pretend to remember every word of the old conversation.
"Then why should the jury believe you?" the attorney asked.
"Because the ledger page can be checked," she said. "You don't have to believe every sentence I remember. Look at what the account says and who changed the description."
The judge instructed the jury to evaluate the testimony and evidence under the rules. Rosa stepped down without looking toward Lucas.
When the court recessed, Lucas sat beside his attorney. He wanted to thank Rosa, but he followed the advice not to contact witnesses during trial. He drank water and looked at the rain running down the windows.
Grace was at the community office, where the evening clinic schedule had become a daily problem of matching families with staff who were qualified to help. She did not watch the trial coverage. She had asked Nadine to send only any development that directly affected Lily's safety or the foundation's funding. The rest could wait until her workday ended.
At lunch, Lily's school called. A child had shown other students a picture of Lucas outside the courthouse and told them he was going to prison. Lily had become upset and asked to leave the classroom. Grace went to the school and met with the counselor.
"Did I do something bad by playing piano with him?" Lily asked.
"No," Grace said. "You can enjoy music with someone and still let the adults decide whether that person broke the law. This is not your responsibility."
"But Daniel died," Lily whispered.
"Yes. That is very sad. And the court is trying to understand what happened."
The counselor helped Lily identify a simple response for classmates: "I don't want to talk about a court case at school." She also told Lily that a teacher could step in if the questions continued.
Grace took her home for the afternoon. They baked muffins and practiced the piano on a small keyboard. Lily's breathing remained comfortable, and Grace kept her usual medication routine. The trial did not get to take every ordinary hour from them.
Back in court, the prosecution introduced the false warehouse call. A former supervisor testified that Victor's office had said there was an urgent problem requiring Lucas's presence. The supervisor had questioned the urgency but followed the instruction. Phone records placed Victor in contact with Peter Vale shortly before the alarm interruption.
The defense argued that the calls related to legitimate maintenance. The prosecutor produced the invoice labeled temporary alarm isolation. The engineer explained that such an invoice did not prove arson but did raise a question about why the alarm had been deliberately suppressed at that time.
On the third day, Lucas testified. He swore to tell the truth and described the family businesses, his relationship with Victor, the warehouse call, and the missed call from Isabella. He also acknowledged that Isabella had asked about Victor's handling of money and that he had dismissed her concerns.
Victor's attorney pressed him. "You were the head of the Moretti organization, correct?"
"I controlled many of its decisions."
"And now you want the jury to believe you knew nothing about your own brother's activities?"
"No. I want the jury to hear what I knew and what I failed to check. I am not asking anyone to treat that failure as innocence."
"You benefited from the companies."
"Yes."
"You ignored warnings."
"Some of them, yes."
The attorney paused, perhaps expecting Lucas to become angry. Lucas kept his hands still on the witness stand.
"Isn't it convenient to blame Victor now that your businesses are under investigation?"
"The investigators should examine my decisions as well," Lucas said. "But I did not authorize an alarm to be disabled or ask anyone to set a fire."
The prosecutor later clarified the distinction between his admitted failures of oversight and the specific charges against Victor. The court did not decide Lucas's separate legal responsibilities that day.
When his testimony ended, Lucas walked outside with his attorney. Reporters called questions about his family, his companies, and the little girl who had saved his life. He gave no interview. His attorney confirmed that the trial was ongoing and asked the media not to identify a child who was not part of the case.
That evening, Lucas sent Grace a message through their agreed contact channel. He said the day's testimony had been difficult and that he understood if she wanted to postpone Lily's next visit.
Grace thought before replying. She did not want Lily's choices controlled by every headline, but she also needed to consider whether Lucas would be emotionally available for a child's visit.
She wrote: We can decide after the next court day. Lily wants to play music. Please don't agree to a visit if you need rest or counseling instead.
He replied: I understand. Thank you for saying it plainly.
The next morning, court resumed with the former contractor accountant. She testified about the request to bill the alarm work under general facilities. The defense questioned the meaning of the phrase and suggested the account codes had been used inconsistently. The accountant acknowledged that the codes were imperfect. She also confirmed that the request had come from Peter Vale and that she had questioned it at the time.
The jury listened. The prosecutor did not ask the witness to guess who had set the fire.
By Friday, the courtroom had heard enough documents to make the old accident story difficult to sustain, but not enough to erase every uncertainty. Victor continued to deny wrongdoing. Peter Vale's own legal position remained under review. Lucas's responsibilities within the former businesses had not disappeared.
Grace read a summary that evening, then put the phone away. Lily was on the floor arranging toy animals into an orchestra. She had assigned the duck to the piano and the elephant to a drum.
"The duck is the conductor," Lily explained.
"Does the duck know how to conduct?" Grace asked.
"Not yet. That's why we're practicing."
Grace smiled. She thought of Lucas standing in court, learning that power did not exempt him from questions. She thought of Rosa, who had kept a ledger page because someone needed to remember what it said. And she looked at her daughter, who was making music because she wanted to, not because any adult needed saving.
May you like
The trial would continue on Monday. The adults would answer for their choices. That was how it should be.
Before leaving the courthouse, Lucas reviewed the written instructions for witnesses. He would not discuss the substance of testimony with people who had not yet appeared, and he would preserve any new information for counsel rather than trying to fill gaps himself. He had once treated access to information as a privilege of his position. Following the same rules as everyone else felt unfamiliar, and necessary.
