Page 103 of This Reckless Home

The guard’s jaw feathers, but with a huff, he steps from the room.

“Now, let me tell you what I have so far, the facts as I know them, and you can then fill in any gaps. Okay?”

“Sure,” I reply, and he gives me a nod, pulling out a thick file and placing it between us.

“This file contains years of evidence and documentation relating to the systematic corruption that Mr. Wilson Devonshire has been a part of. It shows his character as someone who abuses the power he’s gathered without remorse, both personally and in business. Also that this is not the first time he’s trumped up charges to get rid of someone.”

“Wait, where did you get that?” Nox interrupts, and my palms sweat when I think about the personal abuse of power.

“A fellow lawyer, a Mr. Ralph Symes Esquire, who has been working on behalf of a Miss Blossom Devonshire for the past twenty-four years, and her mother, a Mrs. Ella Devonshire before that.”

“Blossom had all this?” I ask, my gut twisting.

“No. She found out about it only this morning, when she contacted Mr. Symes, and then gave her permission for it to be used as evidence against her father in this case.” He shuffles the papers and my gut turns again, hot guilt flooding me when I realize my mind immediately went to blame instead of waiting for the truth. “She also gave a statement of the events of last night, plus I have a copy of the CCTV footage and the gate logs and guard statements placing Wilson Devonshire at the scene.”

I take in his words, the fact that Blossom has been working for us this whole time. There’s a lightness in my chest that’s been missing since last night.

“Can we know what it says about the personal abuse of power you mentioned?” Ant asks, and my heart gives a loud thud.

“It’s not a pretty picture,” Dwight sighs, moving the papers around again. “Years of financial and emotional abuse are recorded by Mrs. Devonshire, and after her death, Mr. Devonshire contested her will, trying to take the money and property under his guardianship even though it was to be held in trust for Blossom. When that failed, he tried to steal it, though managed to slip through the courts on some technicality.”

“He tried to steal his own daughter’s money?” I blurt, anger flaring hot and bright inside me.

“Yep. Which does work in our favor as it tarnishes his character pretty badly,” Dwight answers, giving me a brief, but sympathetic smile. “Now, I want to hear from you what happened last night. Don’t leave any detail out. Shall we start with you, Mr. Kane?”

Nox sits up. He lays out his arresting officer’s conduct with that specific unsentimental clarity he has. The whispered slurs, the exact words, the sequence of events, the way they went straight to the pool house without searching anywhere else. Dwight makes notes without reacting, but his pen moves faster at certain points.

“They’ll have body cam footage,” Nox finishes, and I snap my head to him. Shit. Of course they will.

Dwight looks up, his dark eyes glinting. “Yes, they will and I’ve already requested it.”

“It’ll show they went straight to the pool house, that they didn’t check anywhere else,” Ant adds and Dwight nods.

“It’ll show they knew exactly where to look, which is not the case in most drug raids.” He looks at Nox. “It’ll also capture the words said to you, no matter how quietly, and we will be taking that further.”

He looks to me.

“It will also show the fact that I wasn’t resisting arrest when the officer hit me around the head with his baton.”

Dwight’s jaw tightens as he looks at the side of my face, swollen. “You were compliant at the time?”

“Yes.”

“Were you restrained?”

“Yes.” Dwight takes a breath, writing down my answers.

“And did you make any movement that could be interpreted as resistance?”

“No.”

He finishes writing then looks to Ant.

Ant describes the whole sequence, the warrant, the search, the leading questions followed by the produced evidence bag and finally the arrest. He also tells Dwight about Wilson’s car at the gate. The little wave and smug smile. Dwight’s expression doesn't change but something in his posture does. He stiffens, like a hound scenting blood.

Let’s hope it’s Wilson Devonshire’s.

“Right, I think I have everything I need for now,” Dwight tells us, placing his pen down. “I’ve filed for the body cam footage already, but I’ll be pushing for bail consideration, begin building the case that evidence was planted and that Wilson is behind this. It won’t be easy, and it will take time.”