It smelled, once again, like a home where someone is loved.

The criminal trial had moved with extraordinary speed, and I understood why: because there was almost nothing to argue.

Faced with the live cellular audio recordings capturing every word of their own confessions, the video evidence documenting the condition my mother had been kept in, and a forensic paper trail that laid bare the forged power of attorney and the welded-on signature page, the defendants had no defense worth mounting.

Julian and his cousin, the crooked notary, pled guilty to felony grand larceny, real estate fraud, and criminal conspiracy.