Part 28 (2/2)
”Mrs. Marchand.”
”Was she coming fast?”
”No, ma'am. And she stopped when she saw me in the road. Then she drove past us.”
”Did you wave to her?”
”Yes.”
”Did she wave back?”
”No. I think she was concentrating on not sc.r.a.ping her car on mine.”
”All right. Then what did you do?”
He described the same maneuver she had demonstrated to her father, pulled back to the side again, and said Ms. Franz drove past.
”Did you wave to her?”
”Yes. She stopped and yelled out her window to see if we were having car trouble. I said no, and she drove on.”
”Then what?”
He finished turning the car and parked it at the orchard side of the road.
”Why didn't you simply pull out onto the road, then across the little ditch, and back up again to turn?” She moved the car as she spoke. ”It would have been much simpler, wouldn't it?”
”I guess, but I didn't want to leave car tracks in the orchard. Mr. Marchand was pretty particular about things like that.”
”Were you afraid you might get in trouble with him?”
”Not me. But Daniel might have. He said not to go up into the orchard, and I didn't.”
”All right. Then what?”
”Then Steve got back in the car, and we talked about what we would do if Daniel didn't make it back by five minutes.”
Barbara smiled. ”What was the decision?”
”To take off,” he said sheepishly. ”That's what we said. I don't know if we would have. He came back in time.”
”You said earlier that he was puffing and sweating and you waited a minute for him to catch his breath. Were you concerned about him?”
”Worried? No. He was just out of breath. He got in the backseat with his feet out and his head kind of down, the way we do when we need to get our breath, and I waited for him to pull his feet inside.”
”Did he say anything?”
”No. Steve was talking about the track-team party. If there had been more pizza, we wouldn't have to spend our money on hamburgers, like that.”
”Did Daniel say anything on the way to The Station?”
”I don't remember anything.”
”When you arrived at The Station, you said you all went right in. Is that right?”
”We all got out of the car right away, but we sort of separated. I had a date, and Steve wanted to go to the bathroom and wash his hands.”
”Did you see Daniel after you left the car?”
He shook his head. ”I didn't notice him again.”
”Did he go inside The Station?”
”I don't know,” he said. ”I wasn't paying any attention to him.”
When Barbara sat down again, while Novak was reinforcing the points he wanted to make, she wrote a note and pa.s.sed it to Frank. Bailey work. Did Daniel go in, did he eat, what did he do at The Station?
Novak called Peter Navarro next, but only to confirm the story Ben Hennessey had already told, and to attest to the high quality and accuracy of his stopwatch. He had not noticed what time they arrived at the old road or what time they left. Novak finished quickly.
Barbara did not belabor the time details. Instead, she asked, ”At The Station, did you stay with Daniel?”
”No. I got a c.o.ke and went around back to the picnic table with some guys I knew.”
”Did you see where Daniel went when you arrived at The Station?”
He shook his head. ”He knelt down, tying his shoe or something, and I went on in.”
When Petey Navarro was excused, Judge Mac decided it was time for the luncheon break. They would resume at one-thirty, he said as if in warning, hardly necessary. This had been an exemplary trial, Barbara thought, watching him stride from the courtroom. No yelling, no scenes, very polite on all sides, and fast. A model trial, so far.
34.
”I want to talk to you,” Dolly Feldman said icily to Barbara. ”And I want to talk to my son.” They were still in the courtroom, preparing to leave for lunch.
”I'm sorry,” Barbara said. ”I have to work.”
”And we have to consult with Alex,” Frank said. ”Perhaps after court recesses for the day would be a better time.”
Dolly's lips tightened. ”I insist on talking to my son. Alexander, we have a suite at the Hilton. You can have lunch there just as well as anywhere else.”
”Mrs. Feldman,” Will Thaxton said, ”some of us are under court orders to guarantee the safe arrival of Alex in court every day-”
”I don't care about court orders! I'm his mother! You can come, too, if you insist.”
Suddenly Alex said, ”She's right. We should talk. Is there anything you need me for right now?” he asked Barbara.
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