Chapter 16 - Margaret Under OathMargaret Collins entered the deposition room like a queen arriving at a hostile province.
She wore pearls, navy silk, and the expression of a woman offended that chairs existed for people other than herself. Her attorney sat beside her, a small man with anxious eyes who kept arranging his pens.
Rebecca sat across from Margaret.
Calvin sat beside me.
A court reporter lifted her hands above the stenotype machine.
The camera light turned red.
Margaret looked at it with open disgust.
Rebecca began politely.
“Please state your full name for the record.”
“Margaret Elaine Collins.”
“Mrs. Collins, were you present at Andrew and Hannah Collins’s marital residence on December twenty-fourth?”
“Yes.”
“Did you pack clothing and supplies belonging to Hannah and Lily Collins into contractor bags?”
Margaret lifted her chin.
“I assisted Hannah in gathering necessities after she chose to leave.”
Rebecca placed a still image from Eleanor’s video on the table.
It showed Margaret holding a black trash bag.
“Is this you?”
“Yes.”
“Is this Hannah holding Lily?”
“Yes.”
“Is Andrew visible in the doorway?”
“Yes.”
“Is Vanessa Reed visible inside the house?”
Margaret’s mouth tightened.
“I suppose.”
Rebecca leaned back.
“You suppose?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca changed pages.
“Mrs. Collins, prior to December twenty-fourth, did you discuss a plan for Hannah to leave the residence?”
“No.”
Rebecca placed the email titled Transition Plan in front of her.
Margaret’s attorney shifted.
“Do you recognize this email?”
Margaret read it.
Her face barely moved.
“I write many emails.”
“That was not my question.”
“Yes, I recognize it.”
“You wrote, ‘If Hannah resists, keep calm. She will become emotional, and that will help later.’ Correct?”
“I was advising my son to avoid conflict.”
“You also wrote, ‘Make sure Lily goes with her.’ Why?”
Margaret looked at me for the first time.
Her eyes were flat.
“Because Hannah would not leave without the child.”
I felt Calvin’s hand close into a fist beneath the table.
Rebecca’s voice remained even.
“Why did you want Hannah to leave?”
“Because the marriage was over.”
“Was it your marriage?”
Margaret’s nostrils flared.
“No.”
“Then why were you directing the transition?”
“I was helping my son.”
Rebecca let the silence sit.
Then she played the recovered voice memo.
Margaret’s recorded voice filled the room.
“You cannot let Hannah stay past tonight... She needs to leave while she looks emotional.”
The real Margaret sat in front of us, motionless.
The recorded Margaret continued.
“Especially with Lily. Calvin will take them. Then we say she chose him over you.”
The audio stopped.
No one moved.
Rebecca looked at her.
“Did you say that?”
Margaret’s attorney whispered, “Answer carefully.”
Margaret swallowed.
“It appears I did.”
“Was that statement truthful?”
“I don’t remember the context.”
“The context was Christmas Eve, five hours before Hannah and Lily were forced out in a snowstorm.”
“Objection,” her attorney said. “Characterization.”
Rebecca nodded. “Noted.”
Then she asked, “Did you consider Lily’s safety when advising Andrew to make sure she left with Hannah?”
Margaret’s eyes flashed.
“Lily was with her mother.”
“In a snowstorm.”
“Hannah had transportation.”
“No, she did not.”
“She could have called someone.”
“She did. After she was outside.”
Margaret looked away.
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Mrs. Collins, did you believe Lily being cold was acceptable if it helped Andrew’s legal position?”
Margaret’s attorney objected.
Rebecca waited.
Margaret said nothing.
The court reporter’s keys stilled.
Finally Margaret said, “I believed Hannah needed to understand consequences.”
There it was again.
Consequences.
Rebecca’s expression did not change, but something in the room did.
Margaret had not apologized.
She had explained.
And the explanation was worse.
The deposition continued for three hours.
Margaret denied knowing about the forged signatures until shown the note Caroline found.
She denied knowing about the second loan until shown emails referencing it.
She denied helping Andrew access my trust until shown messages where she told him Calvin “could be handled.”
With every denial, Rebecca placed another document in front of her.
By the final hour, Margaret no longer looked regal.
She looked cornered.
Rebecca asked one last question.
“Mrs. Collins, do you believe Hannah Collins is a good mother?”
Margaret’s attorney objected.
Rebecca rephrased.
“Have you personally observed Hannah neglect or endanger Lily?”
Margaret hesitated.
“No.”
“Have you observed Andrew neglect or endanger Lily?”
Another objection.
Rebecca waited.
Margaret stared at the table.
“I observed a difficult evening.”
Rebecca’s voice sharpened for the first time.
“Did you observe your son allow his eighteen-month-old daughter to be carried outside in freezing weather while he stayed indoors with Vanessa Reed?”
Margaret whispered, “Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Not because I was relieved.
Because hearing the truth from her mouth did not heal anything.
It only confirmed that she had known exactly what she was doing.
After the deposition, Margaret rose without looking at me.
But at the door, she stopped.
“You think this makes you righteous,” she said.
Rebecca began to object, but I lifted a hand.
“No,” I said. “It makes me done.”
Margaret’s eyes narrowed.
“You took my son.”
“No,” I said. “You raised him.”
May you like
The words struck harder than I expected.
For the first time since I had known her, Margaret Collins had nothing to say.
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