Chapter 17 - Vanessa’s parents enter the story
Vanessa’s mother, Diane Vale, called me.
I refused.
Then she wrote.
Please do not confuse our daughter’s panic with an attempt to murder you.
I did not.
Prosecutors did not either.
Her father, Richard Vale, was less careful.
He suggested publicly that Nora manipulated a deaf four-year-old into making an allegation because Nora resented my engagement.
That enraged me more than anything Vanessa had said after arrest.
My attorney wanted silence.
I agreed publicly.
Privately, we obtained the child-interview documentation, interpreter qualifications, and timing record.
Lily’s statement preceded Nora’s arrival.
That fact mattered.
Richard later retracted his implication through counsel.
No apology to Lily.
I remembered.
Vanessa eventually told him to stop speaking for her.
That was one of the first signs she might someday understand something.
May you like
Too late for our relationship.
Not too late for her life.
