Chapter 22 - Jocelyn Testifies
Jocelyn took the stand.
Risky.
Necessary.
She began with our marriage.
My work.
Amelia.
Emmett’s grief.
Her role.
Times he screamed:
“You’re not my mom!”
Times I contradicted her in front of him.
Times she called me at nine p.m. and I said:
“Handle it.”
I had.
The jury needed that.
Then:
“I was drowning.”
I believed her.
“Why Vermont?”
“Because Ruth and Alan love him.”
“Why not divorce Declan and leave?”
She cried.
“Because I loved him.”
That was the tragedy.
Then:
“I thought if Emmett had a stable school term away, Declan and I might stop fighting long enough to decide if our marriage could survive.”
“Did you intend permanent separation?”
“No.”
“Did you intend to steal him?”
“No.”
“Did you believe Declan would ultimately allow it?”
“Yes.”
Then fake email.
“Why?”
“Because every time I raised Vermont, he heard rejection of Emmett.”
“Was it rejection?”
She looked toward me.
“Partly.”
There.
Then porch.
“I thought controlled separation from his bedroom would reduce his panic about sleeping elsewhere.”
“Who told you that?”
“No one.”
“Were you a therapist?”
“No.”
“Did you lock him out?”
“Yes.”
“Do you regret?”
“Yes.”
Then prosecution.
“Mrs. Winslow, when you believed Declan would ultimately agree, why did you need his identity?”
Silence.
“Why not email Ruth as yourself?”
“I wanted them to take it seriously.”
“As Declan.”
“Yes.”
“Because he was the parent.”
“Yes.”
“And you were not.”
“Yes.”
Then school.
“You submitted his signature.”
“Yes.”
“Without permission.”
“Yes.”
Then:
“You wrote, ‘Declan will fight if asked first.’”
“Yes.”
“So you knew he had not agreed.”
“Yes.”
There.
Then Emmett.
“Why tell him Daddy wanted Vermont?”
She cried.
“I thought if he believed his father accepted it, he would be less afraid.”
The prosecutor paused.
“You reduced his fear by telling him his father wanted him gone?”
Jocelyn closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
That answer ended something.
May you like
Maybe not legal case.
Moral one.
