Chapter 4: The Legal Siege
The following seventy-two hours were a whirlwind of activity that left the city of Chicago reeling. Richard Thorne, the man who had been the darling of the legal district, found himself on the other side of the courtroom glass.
Clara had not only sent the recording to the police; she had leaked it to the state prosecutor’s office, the ethics committee of the Bar Association, and the investigative team at the Chicago Tribune. There was no way for Richard to bribe his way out of this one. His father, the legendary Judge Thorne, tried to intervene, but even he couldn't touch the public outcry.
Clara, meanwhile, found herself surrounded by a team of the best defense attorneys in the state—lawyers she had contacted using an offshore account she had been funding for years, anticipating the day her marriage would fail.
She stood in the hospital room, watching the news on the wall-mounted television as the headlines flashed: Prominent Attorney Arrested for Attempted Murder.
"You saved yourself," a voice said from the doorway.
May you like
It was the lead investigator, a woman who had worked on the case for weeks. She looked at Clara with deep respect. "He didn't just try to kill you, Clara. He was embezzling from his father's accounts to pay for his gambling debts. The crash was just a way to accelerate the inheritance."
Clara looked at her reflection in the darkened window. She looked older, harder, and entirely free. "He thought he was the smartest person in the room. He forgot that the smartest person is the one who watches, listens, and waits."
