Chapter 18 - Monica’s Version
Monica cried before the first difficult question.
She told the jury she loved Andrew.
Loved Lucas.
Feared Victor.
Feared David.
Claimed she had been manipulated for years.
“David knew everything about Andrew’s family,” she said. “He made me believe Lucas was in danger whether I cooperated or not.”
Her attorney asked about the ferry.
Monica lowered her head.
“I pushed the stroller.”
The courtroom went still.
Andrew stared.
She had finally admitted it.
“But I believed Lucas had already been removed.”
Rachel’s face hardened.
Monica continued.
“David told me the plan had changed. He said Rachel was taking Lucas inside.”
The attorney showed a message from David.
R OUT WITH CHILD.
The message existed.
But prosecutors argued it referred to Rachel’s location, not Lucas being removed.
Monica claimed she saw the stroller canopy closed and believed it was empty.
“Why push it?”
“To create the incident David demanded.”
“Why accuse Rachel?”
“Because I was terrified.”
“Why retrieve the flash drive?”
“Victor had told me it contained evidence that could destroy Andrew’s company.”
Her version transformed attempted murder into reckless participation in a fraud.
Then came Harold.
“I did pick up his medication.”
“Why?”
“He asked me to.”
“Did you poison him?”
“No.”
“Did you murder Harold Bennett?”
“No.”
She cried.
“I was trying to help him expose Victor.”
Andrew almost admired the architecture of the lie.
She mixed truth with invention.
Yes, Victor stole.
Yes, David manipulated.
Yes, Monica met Harold.
Yes, she retrieved medication.
Then she rearranged motive.
On cross-examination Prosecutor Park approached slowly.
“Ms. Hale, you say you believed the stroller was empty.”
“Yes.”
“Did you hear Lucas crying before you pushed it?”
Monica hesitated.
“The storm was loud.”
Park played the footage.
Enhanced audio.
Wind.
Rain.
Then Lucas making unmistakable infant sounds.
Monica’s face tightened.
Park paused.
“Is that your son?”
“Yes.”
“Was he crying?”
“Yes.”
“You were standing eighteen inches behind him.”
“I was panicking.”
Park showed another camera angle from inside the doorway.
Through the stroller canopy, Lucas’s blue-gray blanket was visible.
Then the formula-poisoning footage played.
Monica claimed she added doctor-approved probiotics.
The bottle residue contradicted her.
Park displayed Monica’s dosage notes.
Then the sequence diagram from David’s files.
Harold.
Lucas.
Andrew.
Monica blamed David.
Park asked, “Why did you write your own copy?”
Monica froze.
A handwriting expert had matched annotations on one page to Monica.
Park continued.
“You understood the sequence.”
“Yes.”
“You understood Lucas’s death benefited the plan.”
“I understood the financial consequences.”
“You poisoned his formula.”
“No.”
“You wheeled him onto an open deck during a freezing storm.”
“Yes.”
“You checked whether anyone was watching.”
“I was afraid.”
“You placed both hands on the stroller.”
“Yes.”
“You heard him.”
Monica’s eyes filled.
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“And pushed.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Park approached the jury.
“Ms. Hale, what did you think would happen when a stroller containing a seven-month-old child entered freezing harbor water?”
Defense objected.
Overruled.
Monica looked at Andrew.
For one second, the mask disappeared.
“I thought Rachel would save him.”
Rachel stared.
Park turned.
“You thought Rachel would save him?”
Monica realized too late what she had said.
“I knew she was nearby.”
“So you knew Lucas was in the stroller.”
“No. I—”
“You just testified you expected Rachel to save him.”
Monica’s lawyer stood.
“Objection!”
The courtroom erupted.
The judge called order.
Andrew felt something inside him become still.
Monica had finally trapped herself.
Park waited until the room quieted.
“You knew your son was inside.”
Monica whispered, “I knew Rachel would jump.”
“And if Rachel didn’t reach him?”
Monica said nothing.
Park waited.
“And if she slipped?”
Silence.
“If the stroller sank?”
Monica’s mouth trembled.
“If the cold stopped her?”
Nothing.
Park’s voice softened.
“Lucas was acceptable collateral, wasn’t he?”
Monica looked toward Andrew.
Then toward the jury.
Her answer came almost inaudibly.
“I thought I could fix everything afterward.”
Park stepped back.
“That was not my question.”
Monica closed her eyes.
Andrew remembered the ferry deck.
Rain.
Black water.
Her pointing at Rachel.
She pushed him.
The performance had begun seconds after Lucas nearly died.
Now, finally, the performance was collapsing.
That evening, while jurors were dismissed, Monica’s lawyers requested renewed plea discussions.
Prosecutors refused to dismiss the attempted-murder count.
The murder charge involving Harold remained contested.
Then David’s attorney contacted Park.
David had remembered something.
A voicemail.
One he had preserved because he feared Monica.
Recorded the night Harold died.
May you like
Monica’s voice:
“It worked. He took the extra pills. By morning, nobody will question his heart.”
