The abuse allegations against Richard remained part of a separate investigation, one that Chloe could pursue without having to carry the entire burden of proving the larger conspiracy. She made a detailed statement, and investigators reviewed medical records, photographs, and earlier reports that had been dismissed or mishandled. Two neighbors from the trailer community came forward with accounts of hearing threats and seeing Chloe locked outside. One apologized for not calling sooner. Chloe accepted the information but did not feel obliged to make the apology easier for him.
"I thought somebody with more authority would've done something," the neighbor said through a telephone interview arranged by the advocate.
"So did I," Chloe answered. "For a long time."
The criminal proceedings took longer than the first breathless headlines predicted. There were motions to challenge the search warrants, disputes over the admissibility of Richard's roadside statements, and arguments about whether the original evidence had been altered too many times to support reliable conclusions. The prosecutors had learned not to depend on one dramatic clip. They assembled a case from financial records, independent witness testimony, recovered physical evidence, and records showing that people with authority had knowingly changed the story of Dominic Hayes's disappearance. Every additional connection made the old explanation harder to believe.
Dominic's family attended the preliminary hearings quietly. His sister, Evelyn Hayes, was a retired nurse with silver hair and a way of speaking that reminded Chloe of Jack at his most thoughtful. She asked to meet Chloe privately through the victim-support coordinator, without reporters or club members present. Chloe agreed, then spent the morning worrying that Evelyn would blame her for having ridden the motorcycle or touched the vest. When they finally met, the older woman took her hand and thanked her for telling the truth.
"I don't need my brother turned into a saint," Evelyn said. "I knew his faults better than most people who wore his patch. But somebody killed him, and somebody lied to us while we were burying an empty coffin in our minds. You brought us the chance to know where he really was. That's enough."
Chloe tried to speak but could not. Evelyn embraced her gently, careful of the way she still startled at unexpected touch. They sat together for nearly an hour talking about things that had nothing to do with the case: Dominic's terrible singing, his fondness for stray dogs, and the way he once repaired a neighbor's porch railing rather than admit he had no idea what he was doing. The stories made Preacher human. His death became more painful, but also less like a mystery designed for strangers to solve.
That evening Chloe called Jack and told him about the visit. He listened, then let out a quiet laugh at the porch-railing story. "He did that," Jack admitted. "He nearly fell through the thing when he tested it. Made me swear I'd never tell his sister."