Chapter 8 - Margaret’s first version
Margaret spoke to police in our kitchen.
She did not remain calm for long.
Her first version:
Sarah became hysterical about money.
Sarah waved a phone in David’s face.
Sarah shoved him.
David pushed her away defensively.
Sarah tripped over an orange.
I wish I were joking.
The oranges had rolled after the grocery bag fell during my fall.
Photographs showed where they ended up.
One beneath David’s shoe.
Others around me.
Margaret tried to turn the orange into causation.
Then an officer asked:
“Did you see Mrs. Bennett’s leg fold before or after Mr. Bennett pushed her?”
Margaret hesitated.
That was enough to expose the wording problem.
She admitted:
David’s hands touched my upper body.
I fell immediately afterward.
Then:
“He didn’t mean for her leg to break.”
Different claim.
Possible.
Intent to injure versus intent to shove.
Important legal distinction.
The officer asked about her statement:
“Now look what you made him do.”
Margaret said:
“I was upset.”
“Did you say it?”
“I don’t remember.”
The old phone remembered.
So did Emma.
Later, through her attorney, Margaret admitted saying it but characterized it as:
“An emotional reaction to a chaotic marital argument.”
True, in the narrowest sense.
It was also a worldview.
David acts.
May you like
Sarah causes.
Margaret had spent years protecting that equation.
