Chapter 6 - JASON'S DEFENSE
Jason hired Lauren Pierce.
He denied intentionally striking Emma.
His version:
Emma overheard a work call.
She began asking questions.
Jason tried to move her away from the office area.
She pulled back.
Lost balance.
Hit the couch.
He panicked.
Then Claire entered.
Why accuse Claire?
Jason admitted that was wrong.
He said:
“I thought Dad would blame me for being careless.”
Lauren framed it as:
an impulsive lie after an accidental injury.
Not a planned frame-up.
That explanation had one strength.
Emma landed on a couch.
Not a wall.
Not a hard floor.
No severe injury.
Jason could argue he had never intended to hurt her.
Then Grace asked:
“Why did you immediately say Claire hit her?”
Jason replied:
“I panicked.”
“Why Claire?”
“She was coming into the room.”
“Why not say Emma fell?”
“I don’t know.”
Grace looked at him.
Then showed him his text to Derek Sloan at 4:11 p.m., forty minutes before the incident.
JASON:
Claire is digging. Dad needs her off tomorrow’s certification.
DEREK:
Can he remove her?
JASON:
If there’s cause.
Jason went still.
Lauren objected.
“Cause can mean company cause.”
Grace replied:
“Correct.”
Then another text.
DEREK:
What kind?
JASON:
Anything that makes Dad stop trusting her.
No mention of Emma.
Lauren also produced a fact that helped Jason.
Earlier that month, Claire had argued with Emma about school.
A neighbor heard Claire shout.
The defense could use that to show Claire was not always calm.
Claire stared at Grace.
“I yelled because she lied about homework.”
“I know.”
“Does that matter?”
“It could.”
Claire felt sick.
Then Grace said:
“People who yell at their children are not therefore people who knock them unconscious.”
Again, precision.
The defense could attack Claire’s image as endlessly patient.
It could not substitute ordinary parenting conflict for proof of assault.
Claire decided not to pretend she had never lost her temper.
She had.
That honesty made Jason’s cleaner lie harder to sustain.
May you like
No instruction to hurt anyone.
But motive was no longer speculative.
