They called me a liar in front of a packed courtroom, and my own mother made sure everyone believed it. With one hand on the Bible, she looked the judge in the eye and said, “She was never a soldier. She faked the scars, the medals, all of it.” The room turned cold as every face shifted toward me with disgust. Then the courtroom doors opened, and the man stepping inside made my mother’s smile vanish.

“No one gave you the document?”

“No.”

“You are absolutely certain of that?”

“I am completely certain.”

I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was eleven fifty six.

My lawyer placed a large, clear photograph on the digital monitor. It showed Dad’s office after a fire suppression accident had ruined everything. The safe stood wide open, filled with nothing but warped metal and blackened paper.

“The photograph was taken on February twenty second,” she said. “The safe’s contents were destroyed sixteen days before you claim you found that document.”

Curtis’s face drained of all color. His attorney objected, but the sound came much too late to save his story.

My lawyer continued her assault. “Mr. Wright, did you bribe Delwyn Johnson to create this statement?”

“No,” he stammered.

“Did you promise her two hundred thousand dollars?”

“No.”

“Did your mother help you rehearse her affidavit?”