Chapter 10: The Deposition of Truth
On Wednesday morning, the mandatory pre-trial evidentiary hearing took place in Federal District Court before Senior Judge William Harrison.
Austin Vance sat at the defense table in a rumpled grey suit, his hands trembling violently, his eyes bloodshot and sunken. Margaret Vance sat behind him, stripped of her jewels, her face pale with humiliation.
Nora Nolan took the witness stand wearing a tailored navy blazer and white silk shirt, holding herself with magnificent, serene composure.
Austin’s defense attorney tried to cross-examine her with aggressive technical jargon. ""Ms. Nolan, can you guarantee under oath that this surveillance video was not altered using artificial intelligence or synthetic video generation?""
Nora looked directly at the judge.
""The video stream uses SHA-256 cryptographic hashing with continuous blockchain timestamps generated every 100 milliseconds,"" Nora explained with effortless technical precision. ""The physical camera has an un-bypassable hardware signature burned into its optical sensor. If a single pixel had been altered, the digital seal would have broken instantly. The seal is one hundred percent intact.""
She turned her gaze to Austin.
""Furthermore,"" Nora added, ""when federal agents executed the search warrant on Mr. Vance’s private locker at the Charleston Yacht Club yesterday, they recovered the authentic Star of Carolina diamond brooch wrapped in his custom wedding handkerchief.""
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Austin buried his face in his hands, letting out a pathetic, broken sob that echoed through the courtroom.
Judge Harrison banged his wooden gavel with a sound like thunder. ""The evidence is overwhelming. Bail is denied. The defendant will remain in federal custody pending trial.""
