Chapter 26 - THE CAMERA GOES LIVE
Warren’s prison account had been opened using Gideon’s legal credentials.
The payment was another trap.
Gideon planned to argue that Warren remained the mastermind.
But the transfer occurred while both men were under surveillance.
A camera recorded Gideon giving instructions to his attorney.
Another recorded Warren asleep inside his cell.
For once, the evidence could not be rearranged.
The cameras agreed.
At trial, Gideon’s attorney claimed the ballroom footage violated privacy.
The judge rejected the argument.
Two hundred guests had witnessed the attack.
The camera had only preserved what happened in public.
Naomi testified first.
She described Lila falling beside the banquet table.
She described the blood crossing the menu’s gold lettering.
She described Warren’s certainty before the footage appeared.
“Did you know your daughter was innocent?” the prosecutor asked.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because she told me.”
The prosecutor paused.
“You did not need the camera?”
“No.”
Lila testified through a private video room.
She did not face Warren or Gideon.
Naomi remained beside her.
“Why did you point to the camera?” the prosecutor asked.
“Because Uncle Warren thought everyone would believe him.”
“Were you frightened?”
“Yes.”
“What made you speak?”
“My mother was there.”
In the courtroom, Warren lowered his head.
Gideon stared at the screen without emotion.
Then the prosecutor played the boardroom confession.
Millions watched through the live court broadcast.
Gideon’s calculated mask finally broke.
He shouted that Arthur owed him the Caldwell fortune.
He accused Ethan of destroying everything.
He called Lila an insignificant child.
The microphone captured every word.
Public confidence disappeared from his face.
The same panic Warren displayed beneath the hotel camera now appeared on Gideon.
Arthur took the stand last.
“For thirty years, I trusted documents more than people.”
He looked at Lila’s image.
“That failure gave this man power.”
Gideon attempted to interrupt.
The judge silenced him.
After twelve hours, the jury returned.
Guilty of kidnapping.
Guilty of fraud.
Guilty of conspiracy.
Guilty of attempted murder.
Gideon Price was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.
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As officers led him away, every courtroom camera followed.
There was nowhere left for him to hide.
