She smiled, then went back to the labels.

It was one of many times she reminded me that surviving something terrible hadn’t made her valuable.

She already was.

PART 26

Diane’s case was resolved later that year.

Following the review of evidence and legal proceedings, the court imposed a sentence that included supervision, treatment-related conditions and restrictions on contact.

I won’t pretend the process was neat, or that it answered every question.

Much of it involved hearing people I knew describe the same four days in ways that barely resembled each other.