Chapter 7 - The Interrogation
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office was located in a gray stone building downtown, sterile and smelling faintly of industrial floor cleaner and stale coffee.
I sat beside Marcus in a private conference room, reviewing the formal deposition statements with Assistant State’s Attorney Karen Vance—ironically another non-relative, though she possessed a lethal, sharp professional demeanor that I instantly respected.
"The evidence you provided is exceptionally clean, Ms. Vance," Attorney Karen said, leafing through my color-coded audit binders. "Rarely do we get financial exploitation cases with this level of detailed documentation. The memo lines on the bank transfers alone establish conditional intent beyond a reasonable doubt."
"What are their defense arguments?" Marcus asked.
Karen leaned back in her leather chair, a cold, professional smirk on her lips. "They're pointing fingers at each other. Classic collapse. Evelyn claims Austin coerced her into granting him access to the secondary credit cards and managing the grocery account. Austin claims Evelyn willingly gave him the funds as gifts, and that he had no knowledge the money was originating from your accounts or that Penelope's lunch fund was involved."
"Does the paper trail support Austin's claim?" I asked.
Karen pulled a single page from a red folder. "Not even close. We subpoenaed Austin’s personal Venmo and CashApp records. We found multiple direct transfers from your mother to him with memo lines written by Evelyn that explicitly say: Rachel's grocery money and Penelope lunch money for gas."
My heart hardened even further. Austin knew. He knew every single time he took that cash that it was meant to feed my child. He had taken it anyway, laughing all the way to his gym.
"We are filing formal charges tomorrow morning," Karen announced, closing the file with a definitive thud. "Grand larceny for the $141,900 corporate and personal conversion, and misdemeanor child financial endangerment against Evelyn for the diversion of minor welfare funds."
"Will they serve time?" I asked directly.
"Evelyn has no prior record," Karen explained logically. "Given her age, she will likely be offered a plea deal: five years of formal probation, full restitution orders, and a permanent criminal record. Austin, however..." She paused, picking up another sheet. "...Austin has two prior undisclosed misdemeanor convictions for bad checks in Indiana from 2019 that your mother paid off quietly. Because of his pattern of behavior, we are pushing for a mandatory two-year prison sentence."
I sat in silence for a long moment, processing her words.
Two years in state prison for my brother. A criminal record and probation for my mother. Complete financial ruin for the people who had brought me into the world.
"Do you have any objections to these terms, Ms. Vance?" Karen asked, observing my reaction closely.
May you like
I looked at the framed photograph of Penelope sitting on my phone lock screen—her bright, happy eyes, her innocent smile, free from the burden of her grandmother's cruelty.
"No objections," I said, my voice clear and firm. "Let the law take its course."
