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CHAPTER TWO

Sitting in the witness box, Sutton looked as nervous as anyone present had seen her. The new DA was a tall black woman in her early 30s, Kim Lacey. She looked at Sutton with a reassuring but professional gaze. "Miss Mercer. Could you tell me your relationship to the defendant?"

"She's my birth mother,"Sutton answered. There was a ripple of murmurings from those present who were not already aware of the fact. Many of them looked at Emma, clearly drawing conclusions about how a girl who looked exactly like Sutton came to be there.

"When did you learn this?"Miss Lacey asked.

"On my seventeenth birthday. Someone had attacked me in my car, I'd driven it into a lake. I nearly drowned but a woman named Annie Hobbs saved me. She took me to a motel to recuperate and Rebecca found us there. She told me who she was."

"And who was the person that attacked you?"

"Derek Rogers." Sutton could feel the tension rising in the courtroom at the revelation.

"Did Miss Sewell know this?"

"I don't know. I found out the night Derek was killed, my friend Ethan and I went to see him and he admitted it. I told Rebecca the next morning but she might have known before that."

Miss Lacey took out a bag and gestured for a bailiff to hand it to Sutton. "This is People's Exhibit A, a necklace that the defence has stipulated was found at the scene of Theresa Lopez's murder. Can you identify it?"

"Yes. It belonged to Rebecca." Sutton loosened her collar to reveal the matching chain around her own neck. "She gave me one like it. She intended to give that one to my sister Emma but she never got around to it."

"With your permission, I would like to enter your necklace as People's Exhibit B." Sutton nodded and handed her chain to the bailiff, who put it in another bag. "No further questions."

Rebecca's attorney was Mr William Sanders, a rotund, balding man in his 40s. He got up to address Sutton. "Miss Mercer, when you and your friend saw Derek Rogers the night he was killed, did you see anyone else there?"

"A car pulled up as we were leaving,"Sutton answered.

"Do you know who was in the car?"

"We didn't see him at the time but it was Alec Rybak."

"And did Derek tell you why he attacked you?"

"He said Alec had paid him to abduct me."

"Thank you. No further questions."

"Office Whitehorse,"Miss Lacey addressed Dan,"you were involved in the investigations into these murders, correct?"

"That is correct."

"You initially arrested Alec Rybak for the murder of Derek Rogers?"

"Yes. The tyre iron used to kill Derek was found in Mr Rybak's belongings."

"But the charges were later dropped. Why was that?"

"It was discovered that Jessica Whitman, a worker at the Chelsea Creek County Club, was paid to plant the tyre iron in Mr Rybak's golf bag. Mr Rybak had an alibi for when the phone call to her was made."

"What was your relationship to the second victim, Theresa Lopez?"

"She was my fiancè."

"And also Mr Rybak's attorney?"

"That's right."

"Did she tell you why she represented Mr Rybak?"

"No. She said he'd shared a secret with her but she couldn't say what because of client confidentiality."

"Did you ever find out what this secret was?"

"After her death, Alec Rybak told me that he'd told her that Rebecca was the birth mother of Sutton and Emma. He felt that Rebecca would kill to keep that secret."

"A secret that both Derek Rogers and Alec Rybak were also aware of?"

"Yes."

"What happened after that?"

"Sutton Mercer identified the necklace found where Theresa was murdered as belonging to Rebecca Sewell. I applied for an arrest warrant but when we arrived at her home she'd already fled the scene."

"When did you next see her?"

"On the roof of the club right after Alec was pushing through it."

"No further questions."

Mr Sanders stood up. "Did Miss Sewell offer an explanation for her presence on the roof?"

"She said she'd gone there to meet Alec,"Dan replied.

"Did she admit to pushing him?"

"No. She said he jumped."

"Do you have any evidence to the contrary?"

"She had motive, means and opportunity, which no-one else did!"

"Other than your belief, do you have any evidence?"

Dan sighed. "No."

"Thank you. No further questions."

"You are excused, Officer Whitehorse,"the female judge noted.

Dan looked utterly downcast as he left the box. Ethan tried to give him a sympathetic look but it made no difference. He knew his testimony had just been rendered worthless.

It was Jordan's turn on the stand. "Mr Lyle, do you know who instructed Miss Whitman to plant the tyre iron on Mr Rybak?"Miss Lacey asked him.

Jordan looked at Mads, who gave him a reassuring smile. Then he turned back to the prosecutor. "Yes. I did."

There were muttering of outrage which were quelled by the judge. "Why?"Miss Lacey asked.

"Rebecca Sewell told me to. She was blackmailing me over an incident that happened in LA. A car crash where I was driving. She told me to make the call to Miss Whitman from the golf course where Alec was, so it'd look like he called her himself, as a double bluff. But I made the call from somewhere else so the police knew it wasn't him."

Miss Lacey nodded. "Your witness, Mr Sanders."

Mr Sanders stood up. "Mr Lyle, you witnessed a break-in at the Rybak house around the time of Miss Lopez's disappearance, didn't you?"

"Yes,"Jordan confirmed. "I saw someone take something from the safe."

"Do you know who the person was?"

"No."

"Or what was taken?"

"No."

"No further questions."

Once the state had concluded their case, Mr Sanders had called Rebecca to the stand. "Miss Sewell. Would you explain the circumstances by which you gave your daughters Sutton and Emma up for adoption?"

"I called Alec for help. I was alone, their father was married to someone else and didn't want anything to do with me, I couldn't cope. I asked Alec to find a home for them."

"Did you know where they were placed?"

"Not at first. I cut ties with them for many years. Then I found out that the twins' birth father, my former lover, Ted Mercer, had adopted a baby girl at the same time our daughters were born."

There were more scandalised mutterings from the crowd. Ted winced at his secret being exposed so publicly. Kristin stared straight ahead, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.

Rebecca went on. "I realised Alec must have split the twins up. I never wanted that, I wanted them to grow up together. So I came here and found Sutton and she told me Emma was here as well, that she'd been posing as her while Sutton went to look for me."

"And you wanted this kept a secret?"

"No!"Rebecca insisted. "I was desperate to be their mother. It was Alec that wanted it kept secret, he knew if anyone found out he'd been involved in a private adoption his career would be over. He threatened me, made me keep quiet. He even got Derek Rogers to try and abduct Sutton so no-one would know both she and Emma were in town."

"How did the tyre iron used to kill Derek Rogers come to be in your possession?"

"Someone sent it to me anonymously, along with a photo of Alec about to strike Derek with it."

"And the necklace found at the scene of Theresa Lopez's murder? How did that come to be there?"

"It was stolen from the safe."

"Why did you leave town after the necklace was found?"

"Alec rang me. He said the police were coming to arrest me and I should get out of town. I did at first but then I realised he was trying to shift the blame on me. I went back and told him I'd expose him. And that's when he jumped. He said he'd see me sent down for murder even if it was his."

"No further questions."

Miss Lacey stood up. "You say the necklace was stolen from the safe?"

"That's right,"Rebecca confirmed.

"Are you sure you didn't steal it yourself?"

Rebecca looked shocked. "I'm sorry?"

"You've already admitted you tried to make it look like Alec had planted evidence on himself in a double bluff. Perhaps you have done the same? You stage a break-in and plant evidence against yourself, making it look like you're being framed?"

"No, that's not true!"Rebecca insisted.

"I think you are a cold, calculating woman, Miss Sewell, who has murdered three people and is trying to blame the deaths of two of them on your remaining victim. No further questions."

Mr Sanders stood up. "The defence calls Thayer Rybak."

Of all the shocked reactions there had been in the courtroom that day, this was the greatest. Emma, Ethan, Sutton, Laurel, Jordan and Mads all looked at each other in astonishment and then at the courtroom door where Thayer was entering, avoiding their gaze as he headed up to the witness box.

"Mr Rybak,"Mr Sanders greeted him. "Do you know who killed Derek Rogers?"

"Yes. It was my stepfather, Alec Rybak."

The uproar returned, even stronger this time, the judge calling for order. "How do you know this?"Mr Sanders asked.

"Because I saw him do it. I followed Sutton and Ethan to the auto garage and I saw him kill Derek after they'd gone."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I was scared. I sent the photo and the tyre iron to Rebecca. I hoped that she'd know what to do with them, that she'd make him pay. But Alec found out what I'd done. He told me he'd killed Theresa as well. He'd told her about Sutton and Emma so she'd help him but she was getting too close to finding the real killer. Him. So he killed her. He said he'd kill me too if I didn't help him frame Rebecca."

"Which you did?"

"Yes. I stole the necklace from the safe and planted it in the quarry."

"As someone who was close to Alec and knew everything that had happened, in your opinion, would he have committed suicide in order to frame Rebecca?"

"Yes. He was so obsessed with paying her back he'd have done anything."

Thayer had hoped to get away from the courthouse as soon as the jury retired to their deliberations but he was out of luck. He heard the running footsteps behind him and heard Mads' angry voice. "How could you say all that about Dad?"

Thayer turned to face Mads and Jordan, the latter running to catch his girlfriend up. "Because it's the truth."

"No, it's not! You painted him out to be some sort of monster!"

"You're all convinced Rebecca's the monster. Well, I've seen what Alec's like. And it's about time you all faced up to it." Thayer turned and walked away.

A few yards away, Laurel walked slowly over to Kristin. "Mum…I need to tell you something."

"What's that?"

"I've told Dad that I want to live with him. And he's said yes." She saw the hurt on Kristin's face. "I mean, hey, this means Emma can have my room and it's silly to have us all squeezed in at your place when there's a spare room at Dad's…" She saw that her attempt to make light of it wasn't working. It was time to switch to heartfelt. "It's not because I don't love you, it's just the opposite. You're my mother and you love me. I know that. Sutton…she never quite got it. And Emma, she's never had that. It's you she thinks of as her mother, you know, not Rebecca. They both do. They need you more than I do. Please say something."

Kristin gave her a sad smile. "I think you're a very good sister. And daughter." She hugged her. Then she noticed Dan trying to catch her eye. He solemnly nodded towards the courtroom.

Everyone took their places as the jury filed back in. The male foreman stood up. "Have you reached a verdict on all counts on which you are all decided?"the judge asked.

"We have."

"Do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?"

"Not guilty."