Chapter 12 - The Trial of Shadows
Two months later.
The State Supreme Courthouse sat in the center of the city, its massive granite steps covered in a light layer of winter snow.
Inside Courtroom 4B, the air was heavy, quiet, and tense.
Julian Vance sat at the defense table wearing an expensive grey wool suit, his blonde hair neatly styled, though his face was thin and hollow, dark circles framing his cold blue eyes. Beside him, his high-priced defense attorney was frantically organizing stacks of legal motions.
Across the room, sitting in the front row of the gallery, was Richard Sterling. He wore a dark black suit, his spine straight, his hands folded neatly on his lap. Beside him sat Detective Miller.
Victoria Sterling was brought in through the side door, wearing a plain orange correctional jumpsuit, her wrists bound in steel chains. Her short brown hair was unkempt, her face pale and sunken. She didn't look at Julian. She didn't look at the judge. She kept her eyes fixed entirely on the polished wooden floor.
The judge, a stern woman in her sixties with sharp gray hair, banged her heavy wooden gavel three times against the bench.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
"The court is in session," the judge announced. "In the matter of State versus Julian Vance and Victoria Sterling, the grand jury has returned its final verdicts."
The jury foreman, a tall man in his fifties wearing a dark sweater, stood up, holding a piece of white paper.
"On count one, first-degree murder in the death of Sarah Sterling," the foreman read, his voice clear and resonant, "we find the defendant, Julian Vance, guilty."
A sharp gasp echoed through the crowded courtroom. Julian Vance slumped back in his chair as if he had been struck by a bullet, his high-priced attorney closing his eyes in defeat.
"On count two, conspiracy to commit murder," the foreman continued, "we find the defendant, Victoria Sterling, guilty."
Victoria didn't flinch. She simply closed her eyes, letting out a long, silent sigh of resignation.
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"Sentencing will take place on the fifteenth of next month," the judge ruled, banging her gavel down. "Defendants are remanded to state custody without bail."
Richard stood up slowly from his seat in the gallery. He didn't cheer. He didn't smile. He simply watched as the bailiffs led Julian Vance and Victoria Sterling out through the heavy iron doors at the rear of the courtroom, vanishing into the shadows of the correctional facility.
