The courtroom was quieter than it had been all week. Not because fewer people were present but because everyone understood what silence meant at this stage. Arguments had been made. Documents had been filled. Emotions had been stripped from language and converted into facts. All that remained was judgment.

Lynda sat up, spine rigid against the wooden bench, her hands resting in her lap, fingers gently tangled together. She had picked up this way of holding herself over the last months, calm, ...