“Is that true?” he asked hoarsely. “Are you sure?”
Emily nodded slowly.
Nathaniel stood up so abruptly that the chair tipped backward with a crash. Guards rushed forward, but he wasn’t trying to escape.
He was shouting.
“I told you I was innocent!” he cried, his voice suddenly fierce after years of quiet despair. “I told all of you! And now I can prove it!”
Emily wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, her small hands gripping his shirt with surprising strength.
“It’s time everyone knows the truth,” she said calmly. “It’s time.”
Behind the reinforced glass window, Warden Beaumont felt his instincts sharpen.
He picked up the phone and dialed the state attorney’s office.
“Stop everything,” he said. “We may have a serious problem.”
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