Five more days passed before the morning of my arraignment finally arrived. During those days I thought of Paul and Daniel and Joseph in the Bible, those who’d faced prison. But in every case they were innocents suffering for God. I was guilty, and day by day my prayers boiled to a simple plea for mercy. Not that I deserved it, but for Rick and Caroline. I’d also hoped that the event would escape everyone’s notice. I wanted to go in quietly and get this all over with. But of course that’s not what happened.
Ryan Scott and I walked toward the courthouse together. He pointed toward a clump of people gathered around a sidewalk. “Those are reporters. I’m not sure who they’re talking to, but when they see us, they’re going to be right in our faces. Keep your head down, your expression neutral, and don’t say a word.”
“I’ve got no problem with that.”
As if they’d heard him, the pack As if they’d heard him, the pack looked up and immediately began to run in our direction. I looked at the sidewalk just a few feet in front of me. “Mrs. Stewart, is it true that your son confessed to the crime, and that justice in this case could have been served without your ever coming forward? What made you decide to turn yourself in? How are you feeling?”
How am I feeling? Okay, that was the dumbest question I’d heard in a long time. As we got closer to the front door, I turned to the side and tried to catch a glimpse of the person they’d been talking to. I recognized her at once. Gary Singer’s mother.
We walked into the small room, filled mostly with the same crowd that had been present at Kurt’s arraignment a few weeks ago, except there were no members of Rudy Prince’s family that I could see.
Beth, Ken Maddox, and several other friends from church smiled and waved up at me. Noticeably absent were Jana, Julie, and Marsha. Just as well. I’d gotten enough of the grapevine chatter to know what the three of them were saying about me. I was glad I didn’t have to face them, now that I’d sworn off putting on a happy face and pretending.
Rick, Kurt, Monte, Jodi, and Lacey all sat in the front row, with an empty seat beside Lacey. A jacket lay across it, obviously holding someone’s spot. I had no idea whose it might be.
Just then, Theresa Singer entered the courtroom, picked up the jacket, and sat down. She and Jodi exchanged some sort of small talk. Then she looked me directly in the face and nodded. I returned the gesture and turned back in my seat.
“All rise.” The bailiff’s announcement caused my heart to skip a beat.
The proceeding was quite short. The judge was middleaged, and had a rather pleasant demeanor, or at least I would have thought so until he looked up at me. “Mrs. Stewart, you are charged with obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and accomplice after the fact. How do you plead?”
“Not guilty, your honor.” Of course everyone in this courtroom knew that I was guilty. They all knew exactly what I’d done. But Ryan Scott had assured me that now was not the time to state any of that in front of the court. There was lots of legal wrangling to be done before we reached that point. I didn’t argue.
A few minutes later everything was over. I was free to go home on the promise I would return when summoned back to court.
I turned just in time to see Theresa Singer step quickly out of the courtroom. I walked around the rail and hugged my family. “That wasn’t too terrible.”
Jodi hugged me. “Did you see all the press out there, talking to Gary Singer’s mother?”
“Yeah.”
“I heard her tell them you were a brave and good mother.”
Kurt came to stand beside me. “And she’s exactly right.”