Chapter 21 - Charles Goes to Trial
Charles entered court in a dark suit instead of a uniform.
He still carried himself like a commander.
His defense argued Amanda’s death was accidental.
The tape, they claimed, captured an argument near water—not murder.
The missing fabric was circumstantial.
Helen was unreliable.
Mark was cooperating to reduce his sentence.
Ella was motivated by resentment.
Then prosecutors played the patio footage.
Charles gripping Ella’s hair.
“You should have stayed quiet.”
The jury watched him react to the phone.
Watched fear replace anger.
Then they heard the older recording.
“Make sure she never talks.”
The same language.
The same method.
The prosecution did not argue that the assault proved Amanda’s murder.
They argued it showed how Charles responded when women threatened his control.
Amanda confronted him.
Helen questioned him.
Ella exposed him.
Each received intimidation.
Only Amanda never came home.
Grady eventually accepted a plea and testified.
He said Charles held Amanda while Grady searched for the audit copies.
Amanda broke free and ran toward the riverbank.
Charles grabbed her.
She struck her head against a retaining wall and fell into the water.
She was alive.
Charles could have pulled her out.
Instead, he held Grady back.
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“Make sure she never talks,” he said.
They watched her disappear beneath the surface.
