“Mom, I know the truth now. Dad was killed by Grace.”
“I don’t yet know why—but I will make her pay for his life.”
I held my mother-in-law’s frail hands until her breathing steadied.
His death had shattered her.
The first time she fainted, her body took serious damage;
the doctor warned me to be prepared—she was clinging on with sheer will.
So I wouldn’t hide anything about him from her.
I was all she had now.
I would not let him die in vain—and I would not let her down.
Because of my report, Grace was quickly summoned to the Police Station.
I brought my father-in-law’s memorial portrait with me.
This time, Grace wasn’t going to slip away.
Grace was waiting alone when I arrived.
The moment she saw me, she charged at me, ready to fight.
“Do you even know Sandy died? You beat him to death!”
“Officer! Arrest her—I want her to pay!”
In the scuffle, she knocked the memorial to the floor.
The glass shattered, a clear shoeprint smeared across it.
I raised my hand to strike her, but an Officer caught my wrist.
“This is the Police Station. Both of you, calm down.”
He forced me to sit, though his voice stayed gentle.
“Ms. Carter, she’s accusing you of animal cruelty. The body has been brought in. We have to file a case.”
“We’ll investigate both matters together. Please don’t act impulsively, or you’ll only hurt your own case.”
I took a deep breath and lowered my hand.
“Grace already admitted it—she killed my dad.”
“What I want to know is why.”
Grace scoffed and cut me off.
“I admit I caused the old man’s death because I only had one vial of antivenom. I felt guilty and heartbroken. Is that a crime?”
“It’s not,” the Officer said, then looked at me with weary sympathy.
“We checked. She’s telling the truth about having only one vial at the time.”
My eyes burned. I kicked over a metal trash can; it clanged across the room.
Grace flinched, then teared up like a spooked rabbit.
“Officer, she’s going to hit me!”
I clenched my fists and stood, furious.
“What’s unclear? Grace bred a whole pit of snakes, lured my dad in under the pretense of ‘release into the wild,’ had him bitten, then refused to give him the antivenom and watched him die!”
“The snakes were found. The bags for release were at the scene. The autopsy is done. How are these not evidence?”
The Officer shook his head, eyes full of pity.
“Those are suspicions, not direct proof. We can file the case, but without further evidence, even if it reaches court, the odds aren’t good.”
“Who says there’s no evidence?” Ryan walked in with a stranger.
“I found proof—proof that clears Grace completely.”
“She was framed. You can’t even justify filing the case.”
The man he brought stepped forward, glancing between Ryan and Grace.
“I have records of all Grace’s snakes. I filmed every release. The ones she released were nonvenomous and beneficial to the environment.”
“So the snake that bit the old man wasn’t hers. And I can testify that when he was bitten, I was with her. She behaved herself—this had nothing to do with her.”
