Chapter 23 - The Verdict
The jury deliberated seven hours.
Count one:
Attempted theft by conversion/deception of the Bellamy ring.
Guilty.
The judge’s instructions allowed intent to substantially deprive the owner of possession, not only permanent loss.
A secret sixty-day collateral pledge qualified if proven.
Count two:
Attempted fraudulent secured borrowing.
Guilty.
He had submitted false ownership documentation, appraisal, scheduled inspection, and obtained possession of the proposed collateral.
Substantial steps.
Count three:
A broader completed false-document/fraud charge alleging the electronic ownership certification itself completed the charged felony.
Not guilty.
The jury apparently accepted that no money had been obtained and the prosecution had not proven every statutory element of the completed offense as charged.
Mixed.
Good.
No fictional all-or-nothing justice.
Gwendolyn cried.
Estelle cried.
I felt mostly tired.
Thayer sat still.
Sentencing six weeks later.
No prior criminal record.
Ring recovered immediately.
No lender loss.
He had admitted conduct at trial.
Substantial planning.
Use of another family’s property.
Willingness to let a child remain falsely accused to protect scheme.
The judge imposed:
Ten months county custody, with part eligible for work release under local rules.
A suspended additional term.
Three years probation.
Restitution for limited documented investigative/replica-related losses where legally appropriate.
No contact restrictions involving Percival were criminally necessary, but our family wanted none.
Thayer also had to resolve his civil Northline debts separately.
The criminal court did not magically erase them.
He lost his job after conviction.
Not because judge ordered.
His employer handled it.
Gwendolyn did not attend sentencing.
She had heard enough.
I did.
Not out of revenge.
Closure.
Thayer spoke.
“I kept telling myself temporary meant harmless.”
Then:
“I thought if I could put everything back before anyone noticed, I had not really taken anything.”
He looked toward me.
“I also thought Percival being suspected bought me time.”
There.
Not a preplanned frame.
But conscious use once it happened.
He swallowed.
“I saw a child paying for my lie and still wanted another minute.”
That was the sentence I remembered.
Then:
“I am sorry.”
I did not respond.
An apology can be true without requiring an audience to reward it.
He was taken away.
The ring went back to Estelle’s bank box.
May you like
The wedding was long gone.
And Percival had finally stopped asking whether the police believed him.
