Delia stopped looking up. Irving blamed her; she blamed Bradford; Bradford called the whole thing an exaggerated conversation nobody meant to act on.

At the end, Levi asked to speak. He walked to the podium slowly, on a cane. “I didn’t build a home so people would love me for what I had,” he told the court.

“I gave them my trust. Money can be replaced, and a knee can be repaired. But there are still nights I wake up feeling a chain that isn’t there anymore. That’s the part they don’t give back.” Delia and Irving drew the longest sentences, as the ones who’d built the whole thing.

Piper and Bradford were convicted for their parts. The former officer lost everything and faced his own trial.

Chapter 13 — The Door Left Unlocked

Three weeks after the verdicts, I got a collect call from the correctional facility.

“Mr. Yates, please,” Delia said.