Prosecutors reviewed the recordings and the emergency call.

Investigators interviewed neighbors, examined the condition of the yard, and gathered accounts of Garrett’s earlier threats.

Loretta and Delia each hired counsel and gave explanations that changed as new evidence emerged.

At one preliminary proceeding, I sat behind a courtroom railing and watched Garrett enter in a suit I had once ironed for him.

He looked toward me as if he expected an exchange of glances, a private signal that we were still playing by the rules of our marriage.

I looked straight ahead.