He Comes in the Night by Ricky Fry

Author:Ricky Fry [Fry, Ricky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aerobic Gypsy
Published: 2020-03-31T22:00:00+00:00

It was an awful affair. Day after day she passed through a set of metal detectors, sour-faced court officers waving her down with a wand like a common criminal whenever she forgot to remove some piece of jewelry. Then there was the courtroom itself, with the judge presiding over everything like some kind of feudal lord.

She tried to smile at him once. It would do good to make a positive impression on the man who held her husband’s fate—and by extension her own fate—in his hands. But the black-robed man was entirely without expression, a general look of disdain for her husband and the details of his trial the only exception.

She was in enemy territory. All around her, crowded into the long rows of wooden benches, were the families of those who had been fleeced. She caught their sideways looks—their eyes burning into the back of her head. Every torturous minute in that room passed like an eternity.

The jury selection came first and lasted a full two days. Potential jurors were questioned by the prosecutor and Mr. Bennett about their backgrounds, their families, and whatever knowledge they might have about the case.

“I hope he burns in hell,” said a rough looking man who spoke of hardworking families and the retirement savings which had been lost to her husband’s scheming. “It’s people like you,” he said, addressing her husband directly, “who get rich on the backs of people like me.”

While the prosecution had been keen to see the angry man selected to the jury, Mr. Bennett made quick work of having him dismissed. Still, there was only so much damage control the beady-eyed lawyer could do.

There were very few who hadn’t heard at least something about the case, a handful of odd types and modern day recluses, who would eventually form the committee of twelve that would decide her husband’s innocence or guilt.

The whole thing seemed rather improbable, and yet there she was at the center—the balance of everything coming down to the will of a dozen strangers. She remembered something Inez had said about leaving judgement to God. It was beginning to make a lot of sense.

On the third day, the trial was set to begin. They’d arrived early so Nancy could take up a position directly behind Byron, who sat alongside his lawyer at the same table where he’d sat during the preliminary hearing. She fidgeted on the hard wooden bench and stood when the room was called to order.

The prosecutor, a tall, grey-haired man in a cheap, ill-fitting suit, was first to give his opening statement.

“Your Honor, ladies and gentleman of the jury, as I stand before you today I’m filled with disappointment.” He let each word hang for dramatic effect like a bad actor in a second-rate theater performance. “While the facts of this case are clear, there will be no winner. The victims of this well-planned and carefully orchestrated crime have, in many cases, lost their entire life savings. Can you imagine, everything they’ve worked so

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