Chapter 20 - The Last MoveReid’s attorneys made one final attempt to avoid trial.
They offered a plea to financial fraud while denying participation in the murder conspiracy.
Prosecutors refused.
The evidence was too strong.
Reid changed tactics.
He claimed Corinne invented the murder plan independently and used his financial scheme as motive afterward.
Then his defense team subpoenaed Grant.
Grant spent two days preparing.
His attorney warned him.
“They’ll attack your leadership.”
“They should.”
“They’ll attack your marriage.”
“They can.”
“They may suggest you benefited financially from Sadie’s death provision.”
Grant stared at him.
“I didn’t.”
“Truth is not the same as courtroom strategy.”
Grant’s expression hardened.
“My daughter’s trust would have paid me if she died. That fact exists.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not hiding it.”
When Grant testified months later, Reid’s lawyer asked exactly that.
“Mr. Mercer, if Sadie died, you stood to inherit approximately seventy percent of her trust?”
“Yes.”
“Approximately nine million dollars?”
“At the value then.”
“And twenty-eight percent of Mercer Ridge?”
“Yes.”
“You would have gained corporate control?”
“Yes.”
“So you benefited financially from the event the prosecution claims my client wanted?”
Grant stared at him.
“On paper.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means numbers would have moved into my name.”
“That is called a benefit.”
Grant’s voice became quiet.
“My daughter would have been dead.”
The courtroom went silent.
The attorney changed direction.
“Your late wife suspected Mr. Calder years earlier, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you ignored her.”
“Yes.”
“You trusted Mr. Calder.”
“Yes.”
“You also trusted Corinne.”
“Yes.”
“So your judgment regarding the people closest to you has not always been reliable.”
“No.”
The lawyer paused.
Grant had given him the answer he wanted.
But Grant continued.
“That’s why I don’t ask this jury to trust my judgment.”
The attorney looked up.
Grant pointed slightly toward the evidence table.
“Trust the messages. The money. The photographs of my daughter. The home-security records. The equipment logs. The recording.”
Reid’s lawyer objected.
The judge sustained.
But the jury had heard it.
Outside court, reporters shouted questions.
Grant ignored them.
His phone rang.
Sadie.
“How bad was it?”
He smiled.
“You’re ten. You shouldn’t be watching trial coverage.”
“Mara told me.”
Grant looked at Mara standing nearby.
She raised both hands innocently.
“I’m fine.”
“Did Reid look at you?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“Answered questions.”
“Were you scared?”
Grant considered lying.
“No.”
Then he corrected himself.
“A little.”
Sadie was quiet.
“Good.”
“What?”
“You always tell me scared doesn’t mean you can’t do something.”
Grant smiled.
“You’ve been listening.”
“Sometimes.”
The prosecution’s final major witness was Corinne.
She entered wearing jail clothing and shackles removed from the jury’s view.
Reid stared at her.
Corinne avoided his eyes.
She admitted lying.
Fraud.
Manipulation.
The attempted murder.
Then prosecutors asked:
“Did Reid Calder know you intended to kill Sadie Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we discussed what her death would do to the trust.”
“What did he tell you after you expressed concern about Sadie surviving?”
Corinne looked at Reid for the first time.
“He said there could not be a second chance.”
Reid’s attorney attacked.
“You are serving a long prison sentence, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And cooperation can affect your conditions?”
“Yes.”
“You hate Mr. Calder.”
Corinne paused.
“Yes.”
“You blame him.”
“Yes.”
“So you have every reason to lie.”
Corinne stared at him.
“I lied for years.”
The lawyer smiled slightly.
“Exactly.”
Then Corinne added:
“But I didn’t push Sadie because Reid controlled my mind.”
The smile disappeared.
“I pushed her because I chose money over her life.”
The courtroom went silent.
Corinne continued.
“And Reid chose money too.”
No dramatic outburst followed.
No shouting.
Just a truth stripped of excuses.
After closing arguments, the jury deliberated.
Six hours.
Then eight.
Then overnight.
Grant waited with Mara.
Sadie remained at home with Evelyn.
The next morning, everyone returned.
The jury entered.
Grant watched Reid’s face.
For the first time since his arrest, Reid looked afraid.
The clerk stood.
“On the count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder...”
May you like
Grant stopped breathing.
“...we find the defendant—”
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