Gertrude refused every offer the state made.

Her arrogance took her all the way to a jury.

She testified in her own defense and told them I had turned Chloe against her family, that children require harsh discipline to respect authority, that my career made me an unfit father, and that modern courts were far too soft on children who disobeyed their elders.

The jury was out for less than two hours. They convicted her on every count.

At sentencing two weeks later, I was allowed to read a statement.

I walked to the podium in a plain dark suit instead of my uniform. I wasn’t speaking as an officer. Chloe wasn’t in the building; she was at Mrs. McDaniel’s kitchen table across the street, learning to bake cookies.