Until Proven Guilty

Until Proven Guilty

Young Emeline Bowers sat in front of the jury. They assembled stone-faced and weary. Cool air bit at the young woman’s face as she was situated in front of the courtroom.

It was preposterous, she thought. The idea that her sister Luisa could have murdered their father. Luisa sat arms laying on the wood table in front of her. She bit her lip the way Emeline remembered she did when she was nervous.

It had been a while since Emeline last saw her father alive. She remembered him happy and healthy. Now here she sat; her father dead and her sister the suspected murderer. She clenched her hands into fists on her lap.

A man dressed neatly in a pressed suit and a black tie stood tall in front of Emeline. Mrs. Bowers. She thought she heard her name.

“Mrs. Bowers.” She looked at the man who stood in front of her. His expression was blank though she could tell he was not on her side nor her sisters. “Mrs. Bowers, where was your sister the night of your father’s death?” Emeline looked over the man. He appeared stern and unforgiving. His balding head held a sheen of sweat, and he looked winded as though he had just run a marathon. She thought about that night. She had been in her room, her father in his study. Her sister was out.

“She wasn’t home.” Emeline wrung her hands.

“Did she tell you where she was going?” The young woman, still a minor, couldn’t believe that anything this awful could happen to her family. Everyone she knew was so kind and caring. This was something she thought only happened on television. Emeline shook her head.

“No”

“When did she get home that night?” Emeline thought about the events of that evening.

“I-I fell asleep. I woke to the sound of my sister screaming in my father’s study when she found him.” She paused and thought some more. “It was probably midnight.” The man nodded, wiping his brow with his spindly hands.

“Were you close to your father and your sister?” Emeline nodded.

“Yes.”

“What about your sister? Was she close to your father?” Emeline nodded before adding another yes.

“They had a few arguments, but who doesn’t.” The man nodded again. Emeline thought about the other statements she had heard that day as she looked at her sister’s ashen face. All seemed so incriminating, but Emeline knew her sister. She wasn’t capable of this.

“Mrs. Bowers, your sister’s fingerprints were found on the murder weapon.” Emeline thought about the scene she had walked in on after hearing the gut-wrenching scream of her sister.

“We all used his letter opener. Mine were probably on it too.” She thought this a plausible idea. However, was it? Doubt? No, she didn’t doubt her sister. The earlier testimonies arose again—those of friends, family members, and complete strangers.

“Is it true that your mother also passed away, Mrs. Bowers?” Emeline nodded. She was now an orphan, she thought. And her only sister was on trial for murder. A tear spilled down her cheek, warm against the cold air. She was frustrated that she even had to be there. “She died from the common flu, didn’t she?” Emeline nodded. She remembered vividly how the illness had progressed. “Is it possible she was poisoned?” Emeline looked up angrily.

“We are here about my father!” The man nodded, but then continued.

“We pulled your mothers’ records. Is it true your sister is a plant specialist?” Emeline nodded.

“Your mother died of asphyxiation, correct?” Emeline nodded again, not understanding the connection. “Aconite poisoning results in Asphyxiation, what you thought was your mother’s heart beating arrhythmically was actually Aconite, the poison found in wolfsbane. Would your sister have access to this?” Emeline looked at her sister’s foul expression. The man continued. “We had no need to look into your mother’s death before now as it was ruled natural. Your fathers, however, were not, and it peaked suspicion.” Emeline’s gut wrenched into knots. “Is it also true that upon both your parent’s death, you and your sister are each to receive an abundant amount of assets in the form of money?” It was accurate, and Emeline nodded.

“Yes.” She hadn’t even though of that. The only thing on her mind was that she was without her parents. “We believe you were next on her list.” The last few years flashed. She began to notice her sister’s odd behaviour, her lack of mourning for her parents.

She broke in that moment, and tears flooded her eyes. She now knew the truth; her sister had done it. At that moment, what was left of her crumbling world was gone. She wouldn’t be able to trust anyone from that moment forward.