Part 29 (1/2)
She shook her head. ”It can wait until court recesses later. But I'll need you then.”
”There's a perfectly private back entrance to the Hilton,” Dolly said. ”We'll meet you there.” With a triumphant glance at Barbara, she turned and left with her husband, who had not said a word and simply looked resigned and thoughtful.
As soon as they were out of hearing range, Barbara said, ”Alex, you don't have to go. You should try to relax during the recesses. She probably doesn't realize what a strain this is.”
”It's okay,” Alex said. ”As she said, she's my mother after all. She'll try to talk me into hiring a new lawyer or skipping town, or both. Remember, I lived with her for fourteen years, and in our own way we get along. Now, let's build a little wall around Alex and get the h.e.l.l out of here.”
Reluctantly Barbara nodded, then she said, ”Be ready to leave by fifteen minutes after one. We'll pick you up at the back entrance.”
A few minutes later they watched Alex and Will join Dolly and Arnold Feldman and walk into the Hilton Hotel.
”My office for me,” Barbara said then. ”There's something I have to look up.”
”We can all go there and order some lunch,” Frank said, aware that she might forget to order anything until too late.
Bailey drove the van to her office, and they all went inside.
Maria was there, and if she was surprised to see them all, she did not show it. ”Lunch for five?” she asked.
”Six,” Barbara said. ”You have to eat, too. Bailey, did you get someone on finding out if Daniel went into The Station?”
”Yep. Alan and Chris both.”
”Good.” She followed Bailey into her office, leaving Frank to consult with Maria.
Sh.e.l.ley tagged along after Barbara. ”What can I do?”
”Go back through your notes and see when the first mention of Daniel's being at the middle school comes up, or if it does.” She thought for a moment, then said, ”Nola Hernandez, the school secretary, mentioned a dinner Hilde always treated her teachers to. See if and when it happened.”
Bailey headed for the little bar, and she thought irritably that he really did think of it as his; he never asked her permission to help himself the way he always did at her father's office. She opened her safe and brought out a box of files, then began to look for her notes of the conversation she had had with Ruth Dufault many months ago.
At one-fifteen, Alex and Will were waiting at the Hilton, Alex with his back turned, as if reading a poster on the wall near the door. They hurried to get inside the van, and Bailey drove to the courthouse.
Barbara and Sh.e.l.ley lingered in the corridor a minute after the others entered the courtroom. ”Stan Harrelman,” Sh.e.l.ley said. ”He was hall monitor that evening, trying to keep the kids in line, keep the big kids out of the kitchen, whatever monitors do. He said he had to run off a couple of high-school kids. I should go pin that down.”
”Go,” Barbara said. ”Daniel will be on the stand most of the afternoon. I'll fill you in and, as we all know,” she added, ”Dad will tape everything.”
That afternoon the courtroom was filled to capacity for the first time; word had gotten out that the Marchand boy was to testify, and now the media were present in force. How did you feel, Daniel, losing your mother and father both so tragically in just a matter of hours? She shook herself as Judge Mac entered, and they all rose.
Jase Novak called Daniel Marchand. He was an athletic boy, with good muscles, a lithe body that moved with confidence and grace. His hair was black, short and thick, and his eyelashes were beautiful, long and black, the kind girls his age would kill for. With regular features, no distinguis.h.i.+ng marks, no glaring flaws and yet no real beauty, either, except his eyelashes, his face was forgettable. He was calm and composed, soft-spoken and to the point. Attentive, with a studious look, he listened to the questions and responded without hesitation. Although he did not sound as if he had been overrehea.r.s.ed, it was apparent that he had covered this same ground many times. He glanced once at Alex, then averted his gaze and did not look in that direction again.
Novak's voice was weighted with sadness, his expression lugubrious. He sounded like a funeral director, Barbara thought. He led Daniel through his brief history of schooling, his scholars.h.i.+p for track at Oregon State University. This was a good boy who had done well in school and was active in his church, without a blemish to shame him.
Finally Novak got to the day of the murder. ”What was the atmosphere in your house on the morning of June ninth?”
”Really happy,” Daniel said. ”We were all sort of hyper.”
”Did you discuss plans at breakfast?”
”Yes, sir.”
”Please tell the court what was planned for that day.”
”I had to go to school for half a day and then help clean the locker room, check lockers, stuff like that. We were having a pizza party for the track team later on. Then I was going to The Station and from there on to the middle school. Rachel was going to go home with Tiffany Ecklund and have dinner at her house, and walk to school later. My mother was running around getting things ready for the graduation at the middle school.” His voice broke and he took a sip of water; then, looking at the gla.s.s in his hand, he continued. ”She said she would make dinner that morning and be home in time to heat it up later. We were planning on driving home together, all of us, after the graduation party.”
”Did your father have any specific plans for the day?”
Daniel shook his head. ”I don't think so. He said he'd fix the porch rail that was loose. He was going to eat and then walk to the school.” He took another drink of water.
”You're doing fine, Daniel,” Novak said kindly. ”Take your time.”
Daniel set the gla.s.s down and nodded at him.
”That day your plans changed, didn't they?” Novak said. ”Will you tell us how that came about?”
”Yes, sir. Sometime in the afternoon I realized I had left my money in my other jeans, and I would have to go home and get it before going to The Station. But our party lasted too late for me to catch the bus and get home and then on to the middle school on time. So I got a ride with Ben Hennessey.”
”What was the mood in the car as you rode home?”
”We were laughing, joking, having fun.”
”Why did you stop where you did that day?” Novak asked then, as if he had never asked that question before.
Daniel answered it in the same way, as if it were a brand new question. ”I was supposed to go to The Station on the bus. My father didn't approve of me taking rides with other kids, so I didn't want to go all the way to the house.”
”If he had seen you that day and asked any questions about how you got home, what would you have told him?”
”The truth,” Daniel said promptly. ”That's why I didn't want to see him.”
”All right. About your run, did you have a stopwatch?”
”No, sir.”
”So you didn't know at any time how many minutes you were taking? Is that correct?”
”Yes, sir. I just knew I had to hustle, or they'd leave without me.”
”At any time during your run to your house and from it later, did you see another person on the property?”
”I think so,” Daniel said hesitantly.
”Can you explain what you mean by that?”
”I saw sun reflecting off what I thought were sungla.s.ses.”
”I see. Where were the sungla.s.ses?”
”Back near the blackberries. Then I was running behind bushes and I didn't look again.”
”Did you see the person wearing the sungla.s.ses?”