Chapter 7 - THE TRIAL OF LINDA DAWSON
The trial lasted eight weeks.
Linda wore navy instead of cream.
No pearls.
No handbag.
The prosecution began with the hospital hallway.
Boyd grabbing the wrist.
The first bottle falling.
The restaurant manager arriving with the pasta.
Emma throwing it.
The second bottle appearing.
Then the insurance policy.
The jury saw the crime backward first.
Evidence before motive.
Then prosecutors rebuilt the timeline.
Earlier reactions.
Medical access.
Supplier orders.
The missing EpiPen.
The tourist video.
The forged will.
The psychiatric trust.
Emma testified in a blue suit.
The defense played the hallway footage.
“You attacked a sixty-five-year-old woman.”
“Yes.”
“You were furious.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted James to choose you over his mother.”
“I wanted my husband to believe me before I nearly died.”
The attorney argued anxiety could mimic allergy symptoms.
Emma answered calmly.
“Anxiety does not put shellfish protein in my blood.”
James testified next.
The defense showed photographs of Linda paying tuition, attending graduations, and helping after his father’s death.
“Was she a good mother?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did she love you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why would she destroy your marriage?”
James looked at Emma.
“Because she believed love meant being the person I could not live without.”
Linda took the stand.
She claimed Chloe owned the bottles.
Claimed the restaurant contaminated the food.
Claimed Emma planted evidence.
The prosecutor showed the tourist video.
Linda said she was adding seasoning.
Then the discarded EpiPen.
Linda said she moved it by mistake.
Then the supplier account.
Linda said Chloe created it.
Then the policy.
Linda said James requested it.
James denied it under oath.
Finally, the prosecutor held up both bottles.
“Why carry two?”
Linda stared.
No answer.
“One for tonight and one for later?”
Silence.
May you like
The prosecutor turned toward the jury.
“The first bottle proves the act. The second proves the plan.”
