Chapter 21 - Guilty
The jury returned after two days.
Anna stood as the foreperson read the verdicts.
Dererick was found guilty of felony murder, conspiracy, financial exploitation, unlawful surveillance, evidence tampering, forgery, and attempted unlawful confinement.
Vale was found guilty of felony murder, medical fraud, conspiracy, unlawful distribution of controlled medication, and falsification of psychiatric records.
Dererick showed no reaction until the clerk read the attempted-confinement verdict.
Then he looked toward Anna.
She understood why.
That charge came from the bedroom.
From the night she refused to drink the tea.
Vale lowered his head.
The judge ordered both men into custody pending sentencing.
As deputies approached, Dererick finally spoke.
“Anna.”
She did not respond.
“You know I loved you.”
Anna looked at him.
“No. You loved access.”
He stared.
“To my trust. My signature. My mother. My body when I couldn’t say no.”
Dererick’s face hardened.
Anna continued.
“Love does not require someone to be unconscious.”
Deputies led him away.
Vale received forty-seven years.
Dererick received life with the possibility of parole only after forty years.
The judge described Evelyn’s death as a deliberate consequence of greed disguised as caregiving.
Melissa received six years, with credit for cooperation and mandatory restitution.
Her sentence was far shorter than Dererick’s.
It was not freedom.
Anna did not ask for leniency.
She also did not ask for the maximum.
She submitted a statement saying only:
“My sister must live with the choices she made. I will not make the court carry my need for revenge.”
The judge considered Melissa’s cooperation but emphasized the delay in seeking help.
After sentencing, reporters surrounded Anna.
She gave no interview.
She returned home with Rebecca and two investigators.
The bedroom remained sealed until the case ended.
Now the tape was removed.
Anna stood in the doorway.
The bed.
The dresser.
The nightstand.
Everything looked ordinary.
That was the most disturbing part.
The room had contained a crime long before it looked like one.
May you like
Anna stepped inside.
Then she opened every window.
