Next Chapter..... As Promised. Thanks for reading, Laura xxxxxx
Chapter 28- The Final Piece of the Puzzle
Sara and Gil sat down in the gallery after lunch, ready to hear the final piece of evidence: Hank's side of the story. 'I call my client Hank Pettigew,' Mr Johnson said.
Hank stood in the witness box and recited the oath. 'Mr Pettigew, how long had you and CSI Sidle been together before the incident in question?' Mr Johnson asked.
'9months,' Hank replied.
'Can you tell the court about the incident on Saturday 17th February?'
Hank nodded, 'I was sat in the hotel room, waiting for Sara to come back, she came back and I said we needed to talk,'
'Talk about what?'
'I proposed to her on Valentine's Day and I wanted an answer,'
'What happened next?'
'We started arguing and she hit me. The knife was on the table and Sara picked it up,'
'Are you saying that CSI Sidle had the knife?'
Hank nodded, 'what happened after that?'
'I tried to reason with her, get her to put the knife down, she refused,'
'What did you do?'
'I approached her and tried to take the knife off her, we wrestled with it for a bit. Then Sara got stabbed, it was an accident, self-defence, it was either her or me,'
'No further questions,' Mr Johnson said as he sat down.
Ms Granger stood up, 'Mr Pettigew, the court has already heard that you discovered CSI Sidle's affair with CSI Grissom that afternoon, we're not disputing that. How did you feel when you found out?'
'I was gutted, I couldn't believe it, I proposed to her because I loved her and I thought she loved me too,'
'You must have been really angry,'
'I wasn't angry; I was prepared to give it another chance,'
'What happened when she got back to the hotel room?'
'As I said earlier, I told her we needed to talk,'
'How did she respond to that?'
'She acted as thought she didn't know what was coming,'
'What happened after that?'
'We started shouting at each other…'
'Now to me, that doesn't sound like the reaction of an understanding partner,' Ms Granger interrupted.
'Sara kept denying it; I couldn't believe that she was still trying to cover it up,'
'CSI Sidle said that you hit her…is that true?'
Hank looked down at his feet before answering, 'yes I did,' he finally said.
'I put it to you Mr Pettigew that you were angry about your girlfriend, to whom you'd already proposed to, having sex with someone else and you decided to vent your frustrations out on CSI Sidle,' Ms Granger replied.
'No!' Hank said, his temper beginning to rise. 'It was self-defence,' Hank said, his temper beginning to rise.
'So you admit that you stabbed her?'
'Yes I do, but it was self-defence, it was either her or me,'
'During the course of this trial, we have also heard from CSI Nick Stokes and he claims that you did a bunk after the incident, is that the actions taken by an innocent man?'
Hank stayed silent for a moment, 'please answer the question,' Ms Granger pressed.
'No,' Hank finally said.
'No further questions, your honour,' Ms Granger replied triumphantly.
The judge then turned to the jury and began to speak, 'members of the jury, over the past three days, you have heard both sides of the story and your job is to decide on a verdict based on what you have heard. I must ask you to strive for a unanimous verdict either way, you may retire,' the judge said.
The jury and everyone else began to stand up and make their way to the exit.
Sara and Gil pulled up outside their house 20minutes later, 'why don't you go in babe, I've got something that I need to do,' Gil said.
'Do you want to get a takeaway as well or shall I cook?' Sara asked.
'Ummm, I think I'll get a takeaway,'
'Is there something wrong with my cooking?'
'No course there isn't honey; I'm just saving you some trouble,'
'OK then,' Sara said as she kissed Gil softly on the lips. 'I'll see you later Gil.'
'Love you Sara,' Gil replied.
'Love you too Gil,' Sara said as she got out of the car.
Sara stood on the pavement and watched as Gil's car disappeared out of sight. She smiled to herself as she walked up the garden path and put the key into the lock. The door opened and Sara went inside, closing the door behind her.
What do you think? Thanks for reading up to now. I think I have about 2 chapters left after this, so I think I'll have completed the story either by tonight or tomorrow. Thanks again Laura xxxxxxx
