“There’s one more thing. The deposition is scheduled for January 10th. Connor will try to portray you as confused, grief-stricken, unable to manage your own affairs.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Answer his questions, but don’t elaborate.
If he asks about your work, tell him you worked in management. If he asks about your retirement, tell him Thomas wanted more time together. Be truthful, but don’t volunteer information he doesn’t specifically request.”
I understood.
“He’ll assume I’m just a bank employee, not a fraud investigator.”
“And when we get to trial,” Michael said, “we’ll show him exactly who you are.”
I smiled. It wasn’t a kind smile.
“Connor Hayes is going to underestimate me,” I said. “Not because he didn’t look—because he looked at the wrong things.”
Michael extended his hand, not as a lawyer to a client, but as a partner.
I shook it.
“Let’s destroy them,” he said.
The deposition took place in a sterile conference room in Connor Hayes’s San Antonio office. Fluorescent lights. Beige walls.
A court reporter sat in the corner with her stenography machine. Connor sat across from me, polished and confident. Amanda attended via video conference, her face filling a monitor on the side table.
Michael sat beside me, calm and watchful.
Connor began with the standard questions—name, address, date of birth. Then he shifted to my mental state.
“Mrs. Henderson, how have you been coping since your husband’s death?”
I paused, letting my hands tremble slightly on the table.
“It’s been very difficult. Some days I can barely get out of bed.”
“I understand. Can you tell me about your work history?”
I looked down as if gathering my thoughts.
“I worked at Community Trust Bank for a long time.”
“Can you be more specific about your role?”
“I was in management. Operations. Compliance.
Things like that.”
Connor leaned forward. “What was your exact title?”
I hesitated, rubbing my temple. “It changed over the years.
I’m not sure I remember all the details. It’s been hard to think clearly since Thomas.” My voice trailed off. I dabbed at my eyes with a tissue.
Connor’s expression softened, sensing victory.
“Did your work involve direct customer service?”
“Sometimes.
I helped people. I tried to help people.”
“And you retired in 2022?”
“Yes. Thomas wanted us to have more time together.” My voice cracked.
“And now he’s gone.”
On the video monitor, Amanda dabbed at her own eyes, performing grief for the camera.
Connor glanced at his notes. “Mrs. Henderson, do you feel capable of managing your late husband’s estate?
It’s substantial—over $600,000.”
I looked at Michael as if seeking guidance. He gave me a small nod.
“I… I don’t know. The numbers are so big.
Thomas always handled the finances.”
Connor exchanged a satisfied glance with someone off camera. “Thank you, Mrs. Henderson.
I think we have everything we need.”
The deposition ended. The court reporter packed up her equipment. Connor stood, already drafting his next motion in his mind.
As soon as the door closed behind him, I straightened in my chair.
The trembling hands stilled. The tears dried. My voice returned to its normal, clear tone.
Michael closed his laptop.
“That was quite a performance.”
“I didn’t lie,” I said firmly. “Every word I said was true.”
“You just didn’t elaborate.”
“He didn’t ask the right questions. I worked in management—that’s accurate.
I helped people—also accurate. He assumed I was a teller or a loan officer. That’s his failure, not mine.”
Michael smiled.
“It’s still risky if the judge thinks you were deliberately misleading.”
“I wasn’t. I was a grieving widow struggling to remember details, which frankly isn’t far from the truth. Grief doesn’t make you incompetent.
It just makes you tired.”
Michael packed his briefcase. “Connor’s going to go into court thinking he has an easy win.”
“Good.”
That evening, at Amanda and Ryan’s house, Amanda replayed the deposition video for her husband.
“Look at her,” Amanda said, pointing at the screen. “She can’t even remember her own job title.
She’s completely broken.”
Ryan watched, arms crossed. “This will be easy. The judge will see she can’t handle the estate.
You’ll get guardianship.”
And then, “And then everything goes back where it belongs.”
Amanda finished. They smiled at each other. Neither of them noticed what Barbara had actually said—“Manage, compliance, helped people.” They heard what they wanted to hear.
Weakness.
I drove home alone, windows down despite the January chill.
My phone rang.
“Dorothy.”
“How did it go?”
“Perfect,” I said. “They think I’m incompetent. Exactly as planned.”
Dorothy laughed.
“You’re terrifying. You know that.”
“Connor Hayes called me a bank employee. He has no idea what’s coming.”
“And Amanda…” I thought of my daughter’s face on that video monitor—the fake tears, the calculated performance.
“She thinks this will be easy,” I said quietly. “She has no idea who I am.”
I hung up and drove the rest of the way in silence. Tomorrow, Michael would file our response.
In 2 weeks, we’d be in court, and Connor Hayes would learn that grief and weakness are not the same thing.
Two weeks later, the night before the trial, I drove to the cemetery. It was January 24th. The sun was setting.
The air was cold. I brought white roses—Thomas’s favorite. His grave was in the older section under a live oak tree.
I knelt down and set the roses beside the headstone.
Thomas William Henderson, beloved husband, 1943 to 2024.
I touched the stone. It was cold beneath my fingers.
“Tomorrow is the day,” I said quietly. “I have everything you left me.
The recordings, the journal, your letter. I’m ready.”
The wind moved through the branches above me.
“I love you always.”
I stayed for 10 minutes. Then I walked back to my car.
Dorothy was waiting, leaning against the door. She did not ask what I had said.
“Let’s go home.”
At 10:00 that night, I sat at the kitchen table. Three evidence folders spread out in front of me.
Recordings.
Sarah Mitchell / Linda Hoffman. Peterson properties Ponzi.
Everything organized. Everything documented.
Everything ready.
I texted Michael. See you at 8:30 tomorrow.
His reply came immediately. Ready?
Yes.
I opened Thomas’s desk drawer and pulled out his letter—the one from the safe.
I unfolded it and read it again.
Please, Barbara, use these recordings. Stop them.
I folded it carefully and slipped it into the pocket of the jacket I would wear tomorrow. A talisman.
I set my alarm for 6.
I did not fall asleep until 2.
When the alarm went off, I got up immediately. I showered, made coffee, dressed carefully. Navy suit—not black, not the color of mourning.
Navy. Professional. Strong.
I fastened Thomas’s wedding ring onto a thin gold chain and put it around my neck.
I tucked it under my blouse. No one would see it, but I would know it was there.
Pearl earrings—my mother’s. Simple.
Elegant.
I looked at myself in the mirror. Not a grieving widow. A warrior.
Dorothy arrived at 8.
We arrived at the courthouse at 8:30. Travis County Courthouse, downtown Austin. The building was tall—granite, imposing.
Michael was waiting at the entrance. Dorothy squeezed my hand before I went through security.
“Go get them.”
Courtroom 4C was on the fourth floor. We arrived early.
The room was empty—rows of wooden benches, the judge’s bench at the front, two tables.
I walked to the plaintiff’s table and sat down. I looked up at the judge’s bench. This was where it would happen.
Michael sat beside me and opened his briefcase. We did not speak. We waited.
At 9:05, the doors opened.
Amanda walked in first, then Ryan, then Connor Hayes. Amanda wore an expensive cream-colored dress. Designer.
I recognized the label—$1,500. I had seen the credit card statement in the subpoenaed records, paid for with money stolen from Thomas’s accounts.
She looked confident, composed. She sat at the defendant’s table, Ryan beside her.
Connor joined them. Amanda glanced over at me. Her eyes swept across my
