Chapter 31: Unwell

Gerald Lathrop wore his navy suit to his own hearing, and he had had his hair cut for it.

He sat at the defense table with a lawyer on each side of him, and he did not look at me when I took the stand.

I put my hand on the book and swore to tell the truth.

The prosecutor asked me six questions.

I told the court about the Chestnut Hill dinner, and the two million dollars, and the sealed report he had handed me across the table.

I told them about the lobby, and the garage on Spruce, and what he had said to Bridget with his watch in his hand.

I played my phone for the judge, and Gerald's own voice filled the room.

*The staff garage on Spruce is very dark after three.*

Nobody in the room breathed.

"Thank you, Mrs. Lathrop," the prosecutor said. "Your witness."

The defense lawyer who rose was the man from Colby's plea.

He buttoned his jacket and walked toward me with a kind face.

"Mrs. Lathrop, you've been through a great deal lately."

"Yes."

"A marriage ended in public. A very sudden second marriage. A husband in jail."

"Two husbands in two different places," I said. "One of them is in this room."

A few people laughed, and the judge looked over her glasses.

"You were, at the time of the dinner, under considerable strain."

"I was angry."

"You'd lost your sense of proportion. You projected a private video, a very personal video, onto a wall in front of forty guests."

"I did."

"Is it fair to say, Mrs. Lathrop, that you were unwell?"

The word dropped into the room.

I looked at Gerald, and he looked back at me, and for the first time he smiled.

He thought he had me.

I thought of Colby, handcuffed in his plea chair, saying that his father said it about everyone who told the truth.

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