Chapter 18 - THE ARRAIGNMENT
The first plea offer required Corinne to admit that her reckless driving contributed to Laura’s death, that she left the scene, removed Laura’s phone, participated in Northcrest fraud, and accept a separate resolution involving Maisie.
Corinne rejected it.
Her reason?
She would not admit responsibility for Laura’s death.
Her attorney argued Laura’s speed and the rain were contributing causes.
I read that sentence until my hands shook.
“So this is what she’s going to do?”
Rachel looked up.
“Do what?”
“Blame Laura.”
“The defense is entitled to discuss contributing conditions.”
“She chased her.”
“Yes.”
“She hit her.”
“The vehicles made contact.”
“She left her alive.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are we discussing the rain?”
Rachel waited until I stopped.
“Because the rain existed.”
I hated her for that answer for about three seconds.
Then I hated myself because she was right.
The rain existed.
The dangerous curve existed.
Laura’s speed mattered.
Corinne’s pursuit mattered.
Her vehicle contact mattered.
Her choice to leave mattered.
The law had to hold all of those things at once.
Trial preparation began.
The witness list grew.
Karen from St. Matthew’s.
Daniel.
Malcolm Reed.
George Menken.
Crash experts.
Forensic technicians.
Rachel.
Me.
Laura’s email would likely become evidence.
So would her compromised handling of Northcrest.
Every private mistake Laura had been too ashamed to tell me would be exposed publicly.
For the first time I understood why some families accept plea agreements even when they want a courtroom to burn.
Trials do not only expose defendants.
They open everyone.
Weeks later, Corinne’s attorney approached prosecutors with a revised proposal.
A serious reckless vehicular offense causing Laura’s death.
Leaving the scene.
Evidence tampering.
Fraud.
A separate guilty plea concerning unlawful physical force against Maisie.
No unsupervised contact.
Restitution.
Prison.
No admission that she intended to kill Laura.
The prosecutor called me.
“I want your view.”
“Do I decide?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He waited.
I couldn’t answer.
Not that day.
I drove to Bellmere alone.
Sat in Laura’s old study.
For a while I said nothing.
Then I looked at the empty chair across from me.
“I don’t know what you’d want.”
Silence.
“I keep wishing you could tell me.”
Nothing.
Then I realized that was the point.
Laura did not get to make this choice.
I did.
And using a dead woman as permission for whatever I wanted would only be another kind of lie.
Would trial produce a bigger sentence?
Maybe.
Could it produce less?
Yes.
Would “intentional” ever be proved?
Probably not.
Was I chasing accountability or a word dramatic enough to match how much this hurt?
That question stayed with me all night.
The next morning I called the prosecutor.
“If the plea says what the evidence actually proves, I won’t oppose it.”
Two days later, Corinne accepted.
Then Rachel received a call from Mark Reynolds, the old escrow attorney.
He had found one final handwritten instruction from Laura.
It was dated shortly after she discovered the Northcrest problem.
Only one sentence.
Do not protect my reputation at the expense of the employees.
I touched the paper.
Laura had made a bad choice by delaying disclosure.
Then, before she died, she had chosen to correct it even if the truth damaged her too.
That was the woman I wished she had let me know while she was alive.
Imperfect.
Ashamed.
Trying.
I closed the file.
May you like
The mystery was almost over.
Now Corinne had to stand in court and say the words herself.
