Chapter 15 - The VerdictThe jury deliberated for less than four hours.
At three o'clock on Friday afternoon, the buzzer sounded inside the courtroom, signaling that a verdict had been reached. The gallery filled to capacity within minutes; reporters leaned forward in their seats, pens poised over notebooks.
"All rise," the bailiff called out as Judge Eleanor Vance returned to the bench.
Daniel stood at the defense table, his hands clasped tightly in front of his jumpsuit. His knuckles were white. For all his pretense of calm control, his chest was heaving with rapid, shallow breaths.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" Judge Vance asked.
"We have, Your Honor," the jury foreperson—a middle-aged school teacher from North Baltimore—announced, standing and unfolding a piece of paper.
"On count one, Aggravated Domestic Assault, how do you find the defendant?"
"Guilty."
A collective whisper rippled through the gallery.
"On count two, Witness Intimidation, how do you find the defendant?"
"Guilty."
"On count three, Grand Larceny and Fraud..."
"Guilty."
The foreperson read down the remaining seven counts of financial fraud and conspiracy. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.
Daniel’s knees buckled slightly, and his public defender caught his arm to steady him. Daniel turned his head slowly, looking back toward the gallery, searching for any ally, any familiar face among the city's elite who might offer a gesture of support.
There was no one. The men who had shared his dinners and accepted his cover-ups had spent the week cutting deal offers with federal prosecutors to save themselves.
Judge Vance slammed her gavel. "The defendant is remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections without bail pending sentencing. Court is adjourned."
As the bailiffs stepped forward to fit the heavy iron wrist-shackles onto Daniel’s wrists, he caught my eye one final time. I didn't look at him with hatred, nor with triumph. I looked at him with the simple, detachment of someone who had finally stepped out of a long shadow and into the light.
Rachel wrapped her arms around me as the courtroom erupted into noise and movement.
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"It's over, Clara," she whispered into my hair. "It's finally over."
I smiled softly, feeling the deep, steady rise and fall of my own breath. "No," I said, looking over at Victoria and Lena, who were smiling through tears near the aisle. "It's just beginning."
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