Morning

Dr. Cullen

Mr. Marshall leads Jasper into the courthouse and Edward and I follow through the columns and the large double doors.

Inside people are moving quickly through the dark wood hallways and along the marble floors.

Mr. Marshall introduces Jasper to a young man who stands waiting in the lobby. "This is Jonathan, he's Mr. Tillman and Mr. Ford's assistant he'll take care of y'all from here." Mr. Marshall departs with a nod and Jonathan smiles at us wide eyed and enthusiastic.

He's the only one who's excited. This morning has been all business. Jasper has been quiet, we all have.

Jonathan greets us all.

"Good morning, they're about to start with jury selection." Then he turns and focuses completely on Jasper.

I see the surprise cross his face when he gets a good look at Jasper scars. He composes himself quickly, smiling even wider than before. "Hum, Mr. Whitlock you'll be waiting in a witness room until you're called. If you would please follow me." Jonathan waves at us to follow him.

We go down the hall and up two floors in an elevator, then we take a left and a right and another left, to a back hallway in the courthouse well off the beaten path.

Jonathan keeps looking back at us as we walk. Our guide seems particularly concerned with Jasper. Jasper has chosen to only bring one crutch today but he's keeping up.

Finally Jonathan opens the door and invites us into the witness room, where we're to stay.

It's a comfortable sized room, there's a conference table in the center with a pitcher of water and a few plush chairs along the wall. The large windows along one wall looks out to the main road.

Jonathan stands in the doorway. "I'll give you updates on the proceedings periodically, I'll also bring lunch. Can I get anyone coffee right now or tea?"

Jasper shakes his head and moves over to the window. Edward and I both decline the offer, as hot as it is, the water will suit me fine.

"Alright then, I'll be back soon with news. If the jury selection goes smoothly the trial will be off and running."

I nod, hopefully everything will go smoothly. Jonathan closes the door swiftly behind him. We're left with nothing to do but wait.

Edward flops down in a chair with a magazine. Jasper doesn't move from the window, he's looking out it very intently so I leave him to it. I find last Friday's paper on the table and flip through and am pleased to find no one has done the crossword yet.

There's a clock on the wall that ticks rather loudly and seem like it must be the slowest clock in existence.

9:30 finds us all seated, Jasper and Edward in the chairs along the wall and me at the table. The door to the room opens and we all sit up straight. Jonathan sticks his head in. "No jury yet." He says smiling and then closes the door.

I can feel the boys deflate.

I open the newspaper to a spread about the trail and fold the paper to take a closer look at what's written. I find that the article is hardly impartial. There is a strong sense of sympathy for Maria. "They're probably having a difficult time finding people from around here who haven't heard about the case or who aren't bias." I say to the boys and can see Jasper's face twisted up as he cringes.

"Is that her?" Edward asks and gets up from his seat. I turn the paper and see the page that had been facing out has a picture of a woman on it.

She's thin and small with dark hair and big doe eyes that have a feeling of sincerity. The description under the picture does indeed say Maria Bowman.

"She looks... normal." Edward comments, obviously surprised.

Jasper looks darkly at the newspaper. "The worst monsters do."


Just before noon Jonathan reappears at the door. "The jury's been selected."

Jasper nods and Jonathan ducks back out the door.

Edward looks from Jasper, whose taken up his spot watching out the window, to me. "They've got the jury, that's good right, things will get moving now?"

"Yes, it's good." I agree, It's one step closer to all this ordeal being done.

A little while later Jonathan brings sandwiches and sodas and even some cookies, but no more news.

Unsurprisingly, Jasper doesn't eat much, part of a sandwich. At least it's something.

Also I'm not surprised he's not called to take the stand.

Jonathan returns at three. We all jump a little when the door opens after so long. "They're done for the day." He announces

"Really, that's it?" Edward looks perplexed.

Jasper looks drained.

Jonathan shrugs. "Well, the jury heard the opening statements of both the defense and the prosecution, the lead detective, and the medical examiner. Any more information would likely be too much for the jury to take in."

Edward unhappily accepts the explanation. "So, we'll be back again tomorrow."

"That's the plan..." Jonathan smiles, he always seems to be smiling. "If you would follow me, I'll get y'all out to Mr. Marshall."

As we head out the door of the witness room Jasper's foot catches on the edge of the carpet causing him to adjust quickly.

Holding the door Jonathan comments"Ten cuidado"

I'm not familiar with the phrase. Jasper hitches an eyebrow but nods, seemingly understanding. I imagine it's not uncommon for people to speak a little Spanish in their everyday conversations here in Texas.

I pay close attention to Jasper as we make our way out of the court house. His steps aren't as sure as they were this morning. It's been a long day, I know he's been on emotional tenterhooks. It turns out even doing nothing but waiting around is exhausting.

I breath a sigh of relief when we get into the our car.

Mr. Marshall slips into the driver's seat and we pull away from the court house. The drive back to the hotel is quiet. All of us knowing that tomorrow we'll be right back again likely doing the same thing.


We cross the lobby. I don't see Dr. Knox, maybe he'll be around for dinner. I wouldn't mind talking with him again. It was certainly nice hearing from him some about Jasper's past and family

I do see there's a woman and two men in suit with briefcases and a policeman standing at the front desk, where a clerk points in our direction.