“So there was an arrangement involving home cooked meals between your two households?” Judge Lawson asked.

“Rebecca began looking after Clarence when he contracted a severe respiratory infection last winter,” I explained to the court.

“Clarence lost his beloved wife Abigail many years ago, and since he has no surviving relatives nearby, he lives entirely on his own without any regular visitors.”

Rebecca had noticed that the heavy floral curtains across Clarence’s front window remained drawn shut for two straight days during an icy blizzard.

When she walked through the deep snow to check on him, she discovered the elderly gentleman shivering beneath two thin blankets, far too weak from fever to boil water or cook a warm meal for himself.