Chapter 18 - SARAH ON THE STAND
I testified for forty-three minutes.
My role was narrow.
Doll.
Note.
USB.
Victoria at door.
Harrison’s disappearance.
No speculation.
The prosecutor asked:
“What did Victoria say?”
“I know Harrison sent you the doll.”
“Did she force entry?”
“No.”
“Did she threaten to hurt you?”
“No.”
“Did you feel afraid?”
“Yes.”
Defense:
“Victoria told you Harrison took company property?”
“Yes.”
“Was that true?”
“He had company records without permission.”
“Did she demand you destroy the USB?”
“No.”
“Did she ask you to lie?”
“No.”
“Did she assault you?”
“No.”
That frustrated people who wanted me to dramatize.
Truth is enough.
Then the shipping box.
Victoria had retrieved it from recycling.
Was that evidence she knew what Harrison sent?
She knew a doll arrived.
Could courier monitoring show that?
Yes.
No sinister magic.
Then the note.
Defense emphasized Harrison wrote:
Do not trust anyone from Sterling.
Broad.
Fearful.
Not proof against Victoria.
Agreed.
Then his warning:
Run as soon as you see Victoria!
Again:
Harrison’s belief.
Not fact.
Agreed.
I left the stand.
No breakdown.
No confrontation with Victoria.
She did not look at me.
That was fine.
Outside court, reporter:
“Do you believe Victoria tried to hurt your family?”
“I believe she came to my door seeking evidence Harrison had sent. The criminal case concerns financial and record conduct. I’m not going to invent more.”
No viral quote.
Good.
Then Daniel Kersey testified.
Stronger.
He documented serial mismatches two years earlier.
Sent to finance.
Copied Victoria.
She replied:
Need verified scope before escalation.
Reasonable.
Then he found second batch.
He recommended external audit.
Victoria rejected.
Why?
Acquisition not yet announced at that time.
Defense used that.
Maybe she genuinely thought internal correction sufficient.
Then a third email:
Stop using the word fraud in internal threads until legal has classified this.
Lawyers often advise precise terminology.
Not inherently sinister.
Government had to show more.
May you like
Rafael would be that more.
And everybody knew it.
