As their initials appeared on screen, I called out the ones who were in the room. Nathan Ashby stood up from row five. Deborah Fenn stood up from row eight. Three others stood from row 12 and row 15. And from the back of the room, walking slowly with her cane, Elaine Brookshire stepped out from where she had been standing near the door.
The crowd parted to let her through. She walked to the front. She stopped next to me at the podium. She stood there, didn't say a word, just stood. Slide nine.
The CPS complaint Vivian had filed against me 22 hours earlier. I read one sentence from it. Deceased wife imagery being used to manipulate a minor into codependent grief performance. Then I said, "CPS dismissed this in 4 minutes. That was Mrs. Holloway's 15th charge tonight, filing a false report."
Slide 10. State versus Vivian Holloway, 15 counts. I closed the laptop, turned off the projector, walked to the front of the podium. The badge on my chest caught the overhead light and threw a small reflection onto the ceiling. I spoke slowly to the whole room, but looking at Vivian.
"Mrs. Holloway, for 9 years you have used HOA authority as a personal weapon. You targeted widowers, single parents, elderly residents. You drove people out of their homes. You covered for your son's felony conduct across three subdivisions. You filed a false report to a state agency about a 14-year-old boy.
And tonight, you called a public vote to strip a crime victim of his home." Detective Owen Ashcroft stepped up onto the podium beside me. He faced Vivian, not the room. He read her rights out loud, clean and rehearsed. "Vivian Holloway, you are under arrest for eight counts of accessory to crime, six counts of obstruction of justice, and one count of filing a false report to Child Protective Services.
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed for you." Vivian tried to stand.
Her knees didn't work right. She grabbed the podium. Her voice came out shaking. "Do you know who my father is?" Owen didn't blink.
"Yes, ma'am." Franklin Blackwood. He signed the property lien on your home this morning." The room made a collective noise that was half gasp, half laugh. Deputy Karina Voss stepped forward with the cuffs.
Vivian turned her wrists behind her back. As Voss clicked the cuffs closed, Vivian's free hand, before it went behind. Her instinctively reached up to smooth her blowout. Amelia Pratt got the photograph. That photograph would be on the front page of the Coloradoan by 6:00 a.m. At the same moment in the front row, Deputy Shawn Whitlock was cuffing Preston.
Preston lost it. "Mommy bear! Mommy, do something! Mommy bear!" The room did something I don't think anyone was prepared for.