Micaela had called Ashlyn early Friday morning and canceled their meeting. She had an upset stomach and wanted to recover over the weekend so she could participate in the trial again on Monday. Ashlyn was glad when she entered the courtroom and saw Micaela in her seat. She looked a little paler than usual, but her eyes sparkled.
"Good morning, Mica," the blonde greeted the DA. 'You look better already. Everything okay with you?'
"Thanks, I'm fine. And you?" Micaela replied, looking from Ashlyn to Garner, who was there for the first time today due to his testimony.
"Excited." Garner shifted from one leg to the other.
"But well prepared. We met on Friday at the farm and went over today's proceedings. In particular, of course, there are possible questions from the esteemed John Brankovic," Ashlyn added with a slightly ironic undertone.
"You don't have to be so nervous about it, Tim. You'll do an excellent job." Ashlyn looked confident and realized again how much he had developed in the past few weeks. Garner had bought a pair of dark jeans, a slightly tailored white shirt, and a simple blue jacket, especially for the trial. With his sun-tanned skin and short hair, he looked better than ever.
Nevertheless, Ashlyn thought Garner was becoming more nervous every minute, which was hardly surprising. The numerous reporters and spectators, who were just being let into the room by the court guards, were practically staring at him.
Ashlyn put her hand reassuringly on Garner's shoulder. "Don't let the crowd bother you; just look at me or Ms. Barboza. When you testify as a witness momentarily, tune out the audience."
Judge Pedro Berrios opened the trial shortly and called Garner to the witness stand. After the usual formalities, Micaela rose when the judge opened the first round of questions.
Micaela smiled kindly at Garner. "Mr. Garner, maybe you could just tell us your relationship with the defendant and when you first met him."
Garner nodded and began his story, which returned to his early childhood. Ashlyn listened intently, as did everyone else in the room. Garner did a good job of describing in detail what he could still remember. He clenched his right hand into a fist under the table.
After a good hour, Garner reached the point in his story where he and Justin Booker encountered Boston observer Tracy Payne after numerous defeats in front of authorities and in court.
Judge Berrios looked at his watch. "I suggest we take a break for thirty minutes now. After that, we have a good hour until lunch, and then we'll see how far we get today."
Berrios rose, and after a court guard requested, the other spectators left the room, as did the two defense attorneys and Micaela. When Marcus Cantu was escorted out through a side door, Garner looked at Ashlyn. She shook her head and said, "We don't have to go outside; we can stay in here."
Garner nodded, obviously grateful not to mingle with all those people.
Ashlyn smiled kindly and encouragingly. "That went well so far, didn't it?"
"Yeah. But so far, no one has asked me anything. Well, not really, I mean."
"Yes, that can change later, I won't kid you. The two defense attorneys, in particular, will probably want to know a lot. But you're well prepared, aren't you?" She pointed to the chair where Micaela had been sitting a few moments ago. "Come, sit with me.
Garner's eyes lit up, and he sat beside his lawyer. After Ashlyn had poured him a glass of water, she and Garner chatted about Holland and his farm. Ashlyn felt that a little distraction would do her client good right now.
"Yeah, he's a real crazy guy. He bought this farm by himself and is now rebuilding it piece by piece. It's been fun helping him, and it looks like I'll be able to stay with him for a while." Garner's eyes sparkled.
"I'm glad to hear it! And I envy you the fresh country air."
"Well," Garner replied, 'then you haven't mucked out the stables yet. Oh, sorry...' Garner bent down and picked something up from the ground. The small object he held in his hand had fallen to the ground. He picked it up and showed it briefly to Ashlyn. "Just a small pin," he said. "Well, in any case, it doesn't always smell so good around the cows. But then we can use the manure as fertilizer."
Ashlyn laughed, but suddenly, her thoughts were no longer on the cows and their manure. Something else had come up. Something had just been triggered in her subconscious, but she couldn't grasp what it was. She tried to concentrate because she felt it was necessary. At that moment, the minute-taker entered the room again.
"We'll be continuing in ten minutes," she said. 'In case you need to use the bathroom again.'
"Good idea," Garner said, and in the next moment, he disappeared through a side door to get to a bathroom reserved for employees. One of the officials had shown it to him shortly before the start of the morning so that he wouldn't have to push through all the spectators.
Ashlyn had also gotten up and was pacing restlessly. And then it hit her. And from one moment to the next, she realized nothing was the same.
xxx
Ashlyn was stunned. She felt as if she had been hit by a truck head-on. While Garner was already reporting on his meeting with Tracy Payne, she sat rooted to her chair. Micaela hadn't missed that, so she leaned over to the blonde.
"Are you okay?" the DA whispered.
Ashlyn blinked slowly a few times. "What? Why? Oh, yes. Yes, I'm fine," Ashlyn replied as if in a trance.
Micaela looked at her suspiciously but then returned to the witness stand.
In Ashlyn's mind's eye, a completely different film was playing. She had completely blocked out the trial.
Could that really be? Was that possible?
Suddenly, she recalled Maggie's words from Thursday evening. Did her mother have the same fear as she did? She had to talk to Maggie as soon as possible, immediately after the trial.
Ashlyn looked up. From Garner to Brankovic, to Berrios. It looked like everyone was listening to Garner's comments.
"And when exactly was the last time you spoke to her boyfriend Justin Booker?" Micaela asked with a slight frown.
The words only reached Ashlyn's ears as if through cotton wool. She grabbed a blank sheet of paper from her file and drew a timeline. And to her horror, she found no contradiction to her suspicions.
Pull yourself together, Ashlyn, she forced herself to remain calm. There's plenty of time for that after the trial!
She put the sheet in her file at the very back and tried to focus her attention on Garner's testimony. But she couldn't,
Micaela, she thought. She would have to tell Micaela, too. Maggie first. And Dominic. Then Micaela. She couldn't talk to her until she was sure. When they were sure! Not before. But first, the trial. She had to make sure they dragged out Garner's examination so much that Brankovic wouldn't have a chance to question Garner today.
Almost forty minutes later, Judge Berrios rose to speak. They had just reached the part where Garner was talking about being pushed in front of the bus. Sweat had formed on his forehead, and his testimony was becoming increasingly difficult. Again and again, he got muddled or asked for a short moment's pause to remember correctly.
"I would like to see the representatives of the public prosecutor's office, the joint plaintiffs, and the defense for a moment." Berrios wanted to discuss something with them without the audience and the media hearing anything of the conversation. The called parties all rose and approached the bench.
Berrios briefly made sure that the microphone was covered. "I suggest that we call it a day," he said, looking at the two women. "It seems to me that the witness is slowly becoming exhausted, and I would like a statement in which he is fully focused. I suggest we adjourn to Friday."
Ashlyn thanked heaven. This was precisely the interruption she needed. Micaela Barboza nodded in agreement, and Brankovic also agreed. Finally, Ashlyn gave her consent, and the judge appeared satisfied.
Twenty minutes later, Ashlyn and Tim Garner were standing at a back entrance to the courthouse, where they had arranged to meet Carlo Holland.
"So, how did it go?" Holland asked.
"I'm completely exhausted," Garner replied, and he looked exhausted.
"Judge Berrios has suspended the proceedings for today. Tim will continue testifying on the next day of proceedings, but that's it for today," Ashlyn explained.
"Excellent," Holland said, pointing toward his car. Turning to Garner, he asked, 'Shall we?'
Garner nodded and then looked at Ashlyn.
Ashlyn swallowed hard and licked her lips. "I'll come by your place tomorrow morning. Then, we can discuss the next day of the trial. It doesn't continue until Friday, so we have a few days off."
They said goodbye, and after Holland and Garner drove off, Ashlyn reached for her cell phone. She had three missed calls, all from Dominic.
xxx
"I'm sorry it took me so long to make it," Ashlyn said when she entered her parents' kitchen.
Sitting at the kitchen island, Elizabeth looked up from her cell phone and frowned a little. 'That's okay,' she said curtly. "Dominic is already here."
After Ashlyn had placed her winter coat and scarf over the back of a kitchen chair, she greeted Dominic briefly while Maggie provided everyone with drinks.
"So," said the redhead. "What exactly happened today that can't wait?"
To whom Ashlyn had already given a brief summary of her observations, Dominic was the first to speak. "A lot, but I suggest we start at the beginning." He pushed a picture across the dining room table to Maggie, showing Justin Booker sitting at a table. "I was at Booker's local a while back, the last place he was seen."
Maggie nodded because they had already discussed that point.
"Well," he continued. 'The landlady couldn't remember anything, but I left her some pictures of our people, and she wanted to talk to her employees to see if anyone could remember Booker's table neighbor.'
Maggie sat down at the dining room table. "Which wasn't the case."
"That's right, until today. Because a waitress who rarely works in the pub came back to help out for the first time today."
Elizabeth looked up from her phone again and offered an unsolicited opinion. 'And?'
Dominic looked first at the former captain and then at Maggie and Ashlyn. "And she remembered."
But before Dominic could solve the mystery, Ashlyn interrupted him.
"Besides, something happened in court today that also shed a new light on our case." She pushed another one over to Maggie, which showed a blow-up of the first picture. Justin Booker could be seen there with his upper body, and Ashlyn pointed to his lapel. "Do you see the small gold pin on Booker's jacket? I noticed it earlier because it stood out so much."
Maggie nodded slowly.
Elizabeth rose from her chair, took the picture from Maggie's hand, studied it closely, and then nodded with the corners of her mouth down. "That's right, it's eye-catching."
"That's Justin Booker's pin Garner held in his hand during the interrogation today. He held on to it convulsively the whole time," Ashlyn replied, looking Elizabeth up and down.
She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. "Let me guess. The man the waitress identified as Booker's table neighbor was Tim Garner himself."
Maggie looked at her wife wide-eyed.
Ashlyn took a deep breath and nodded. "That's exactly how it is."
Maggie closed her eyes for a moment and then looked at the ceiling. Then she leaned forward, looking from Dominic to Ashlyn. "Then I have to tell you something, too, which will probably make the picture more transparent. And which I only came across last week. I had briefly told you, Ash, that something had come to mind that I still wanted to check. In the meantime, I had the opportunity to talk to Katherine again."
"And what was that about?" Ashlyn asked.
"It's simple. I autopsied a dead body. He had been run over by a bus. Not at a bus stop but in the middle of the street, which reminded me of our case. The BPD had initially investigated a homicide but then relatively quickly found a suicide note in the deceased's apartment."
Ashlyn nodded slowly. "Someone throws themselves in front of a bus to commit suicide."
"Exactly. And Kate confirmed to me that victims of sexual abuse unfortunately also often tend to suicidal behavior."
"I could have told you that," Elizabeth murmured, sipping her beer bottle.
Ashlyn looked at the former captain and pressed her lips together in agreement. All at once, more and more pieces of the puzzle fell into place. She was about to ask a question when Maggie raised her hand defensively. "Please wait a moment, Ash. I want to share another thought that Kate brought up with you. I have also been thinking about the results of Justin Booker's autopsy. If someone really pushed him into the river and he died as a result, it must have happened either suddenly or unexpectedly."
"What exactly do you mean by that, Mom?" Ashlyn asked, profoundly frowning. She didn't quite understand what Maggie was getting at.
"Well, it would be surprising if someone came running at Booker out of nowhere and then hit him so violently in the back that he wouldn't have had time to realize what was happening. Just a surprise from ambush, so to speak. And it would be unexpected if he were attacked by someone familiar, from whom he didn't expect any harm."
"Do you mean, for example, someone he knew? Someone he might have been walking with along the Charles River?"
Maggie took a deep breath and nodded.
Ashlyn frowned deeply. "But what would be the motive? Let's assume that it could have been as you say. Why on earth would Garner kill his friend, the man with whom he was fighting the ghosts of his past?"
Elizabeth chimed in again. "That's exactly the crux of the matter, Ashlyn. Because, in some cases, victims can become perpetrators again. And maybe Booker was one of Tim Garner's ghosts from the past, too."