Chapter 6 - The Interrogation Room and the Glass Castle
Inside the county detention holding facility, the fluorescent lights hummed with a monotonous, soul-crushing buzz. Arthur Sterling sat at a stainless-steel bolted table, his silk shirt stained with coffee, his gray hair disheveled. The arrogance that had defined his posture for six decades had cracked into a brittle, trembling disbelief.
For the past three hours, he had demanded phone call after phone call, invoking names of mayors, judges, and chief prosecutors. But every number he dialed resulted in the same dead tone. Men who once dined at his estate and sought his political endorsements were now actively distancing themselves, scrubbing all public digital footprints of their association with the Sterling name.
The heavy steel door swung open, and Detective Miller of the State Police Special Victims Unit stepped into the room, tossing a thick manila folder onto the table.
"Your connections at the local precinct don't reach state jurisdiction, Mr. Sterling," Miller said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "And as for your grandson—excuse me, your granddaughter, Josie—we have high-definition forensic medical documentation from Dr. Evelyn Vance at St. Jude’s. You struck a three-year-old child with enough force to fracture her facial bones over a broken glass trinket."
"It was an accident," Arthur muttered, his voice raspy and defensive. "A family dispute. The mother is exaggerating for emotional leverage. I want my attorney."
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"Your attorney is currently advising your daughter Diane, who is too busy fielding calls from federal bankruptcy lawyers to answer your bail bond requests," Miller replied smoothly. "Furthermore, the Attorney General’s office has seized all assets belonging to the Sterling Charitable Foundation. You are facing up to fifteen years for felony child abuse, alongside federal wire fraud charges that carry decades more."
Arthur stared at the table, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the steel frame. For the first time in his life, the impenetrable fortress he had built around himself had crumbled, leaving him entirely exposed to the cold winds of justice.
