Katherine sobbed and choked out her words. "Homer sneaked into my room in the middle of the night and forced himself on me."
Roland was beside himself with rage, shouting, "Homer Swanson, get out here! You think you can hide and get away with it? Get out here now!"
I looked at Katherine calmly. "You say my brother forced you. What proof do you have?"
"What proof do I need? I'm an unmarried girl. Would I slander him for no reason?"
"Why wouldn't you?"
Katherine cried harder. "Hilary, what kind of person do you take me for? Saying that, are you trying to get me killed?"
Maya Finch, watching the show from the side, slapped her thigh.
"Oh my, what kind of people are these Swansons? Homer forces himself on a girl, and Hilary here says she's slandering him on purpose. How is anyone supposed to live like this?"
"Sweetheart, I told you yesterday to stay at Dawn's place. At least in someone else's home Homer would have thought twice. You move into the Swanson house, and how is that any different from a lamb walking into a tiger's den?"
I fixed Maya with a hard glare. "None of this happened. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll report you to the neighborhood council."
"It's right here in front of everyone and she still won't admit it!"
I turned to Katherine. "Since you say my brother forced you, then when he came into your room last night, why didn't you call out for anyone?"
Roland had gone looking for my brother, come up empty, and circled back.
"Right, Katie, didn't I tell you to call me if anything happened? How is it I didn't hear a single sound?"
"I was keeping watch outside your door all last night. I never saw anyone go in."
Katherine shot him a vicious look.
"What are you saying? You think I'm slandering Homer too?"
"No, that's not what I meant. Maybe Homer slipped in while I was dozing off and covered your mouth, so you never got the chance to call for me."
See that. Roland had thought up the excuses for her himself.
Katherine cried even harder. "How could something like this happen to me? I don't want to live!"
And with that she lunged to slam her head into the wall.
Roland caught her fast. "Katie, don't do anything rash. We'll call the police, get the authorities, and put Homer Swanson behind bars!"
I chimed in at once. "Yes! Call the police right away. If Homer really did this, I won't let it slide!"
"Dawn, could I trouble you to run down to the local police station and report it for me?"
Dawn agreed immediately and was about to head out when Katherine screamed.
"Don't call the police!"
She was frantic.
"If the police get involved, my reputation is ruined. And Homer surely acted on impulse. He's not a bad person."
Roland shouted, "No, we have to report it to the authorities!"
"Yes, we have to report it to the authorities! If our family has produced someone like this, that can't stand!"
Seeing this, Dawn hurried off at a trot to report it.
Katherine's face went red with panic.
"Hilary, I don't want Homer to go to prison at all. If he's willing to apologize to me and marry me, I'll drop it."
"That won't do. No one in our Swanson family has ever done such a thing. If Homer really did this, then even if you're willing to forgive him, I'll never let him off!"
Before long, Dawn came back with an officer.
The officer asked, "Where's Homer Swanson?"
That was when they discovered my brother's room had been locked with a padlock the whole time, and there was no one inside at all.
