Chapter 4: The Acoustic Evidence

“These are photos of her children and pets.”

Adriana handed the judge a stack of photos from my Instagram feed.

The photos showed my three children, two Golden Retrievers, and five cats.

I’d always loved a lively home, and I loved animals.

My oldest was in first grade, my middle child was in preschool, and the youngest was still a toddler.

Adriana pressed on.

“Everyone knows that a home with children and pets is never quiet.”

“Genevieve Wells has this many people and animals in her home. Do you really think it would be silent?”

“Can she guarantee those animals make no sound at all in the middle of the night?”

Listening to her, I was momentarily speechless.

“You’re right, I have a large family and many pets.”

“But you still don’t have direct evidence that the recording came from my apartment, do you?”

“My children are young. I admit they can be noisy during the day. But you’re talking about the middle of the night.”

Adriana’s voice rose.

“Children don’t care what time it is!”

“If they want to run, they run. If they want to scream, they scream.”

“And those animals of yours—I want you to get rid of them so they don’t disturb the rest of the building.”

“You can take them to a shelter.”

Her lawyer spoke again.

“My client has submitted multiple pieces of evidence, and every single one points to the defendant.”

“We demand that the defendant accept responsibility and issue a public apology to Ms. Ferraro.”

“She must also pay civil damages, including compensation for emotional distress and funeral expenses for Ms. Ferraro’s grandmother, totaling one million, two hundred forty-six thousand dollars.”

“Does the defendant accept this proposal?”

“I do n—”

Before I could finish, Adriana interrupted me.

“No! I want her in jail!”

“She killed someone. How can money just make this go away?”

“My Nonna was innocent.”

People in the gallery quickly echoed her.

“That’s right. Money isn’t enough.”

“She needs to be prosecuted.”

Just then, her lawyer quietly walked over to me and lowered his voice.

“Genevieve, there’s no need to drag this out and make things ugly.”

“You have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t ruin it over this.”

“Settle now. Pay double the amount, and I can guarantee we won’t push the DA to press charges.”

Finally, I understood his endgame.

I glanced at him.

“Thanks, but no.”

Then I turned back to the judge and said clearly,

“I did not do this, and I will not admit to it.”

Adriana gritted her teeth.

“You just won’t give up, will you?”

“Fine. We’ll bring out the most important piece of evidence.”

“Once the analysis comes out, you won’t just be paying. You’ll be facing a criminal investigation.”

I said,

“Then bring it out. If I did it, I’ll take responsibility. If I didn’t, I won’t take the blame.”

A moment later, a professional acoustic analysis report appeared on the large screen.

The report showed that the children’s voices in the recording were a high-percentage match to the voiceprints of my three children.

It also confirmed that the sounds of cats and dogs could be identified in the audio.

After reviewing the report, the judge played three audio clips for me.

Then he asked,

“Do you admit these are your children’s voices?”

I answered without hesitation.

“Yes, I do.”

The judge was about to speak, but I held up a hand, a small smile playing on my lips.

“Wait.”

“Since we’re presenting evidence, I have something to show everyone, too.”