He Was Sure the Cops Would Believe the Polished Son-in-Law Over a Terrified Old Woman. Then I Asked Them to Look at the Fireplace

Ronan had not simply lost his temper and then panicked.

He had called the police himself.

He had gotten there first, told his story first, and cast himself as the victim first — a calm, reasonable, uninjured man reporting that his elderly mother-in-law had attacked him.

He was betting, correctly, that a station full of tired officers at three in the morning would find it far easier to believe a polished son-in-law than a hysterical old woman with no witnesses.

It was, I had to admit even then, a good plan.

It had exactly one flaw.