Chapter 8
The trial began six months later.
By then, Noah called me Mom only once.
It happened by accident.
He fell down the stairs rushing after Oliver.
Not badly.
A twisted ankle.
Fear more than injury.
I ran to him.
He grabbed my sleeve and gasped, “Mom.”
Then froze.
Like he had broken a rule.
I held still.
Did not make it big.
Did not cry.
Did not grab him.
“I’m here,” I said.
He looked at me.
Then let me hold his foot while the doctor checked it.
Later, he went back to Charlotte.
That was fine.
I kept the word safe.
At trial, Richard’s defense tried to blame Evelyn.
Evelyn’s defense blamed Richard.
Haven Gate blamed “outdated practices.”
The prosecutor called it trafficking in children with money as anesthesia.
I testified.
Arthur testified.
Detective Harris testified.
Noah did not have to.
His recorded statement was enough.
In it, he said, “I kept the locket because it was the only thing that said I was two of something.”
Several jurors cried.
Richard did not.
Evelyn did not.
That told the jury plenty.
Both were convicted.
Fraud.
Child trafficking conspiracy.
Falsification of death records.
Child abandonment.
Multiple charges tied to other children followed.
Haven Gate collapsed under federal investigation.
Families were reopened.
Children were searched for.
Some were found.
May you like
Some were not.
Justice came with joy and grief holding hands.
