Chương 14
Claire whispered, “I had one glass.”
Naomi did not look at her. “Write it.”
Claire wrote it.
Dominic’s attorney displayed photographs of the scratch and the broken bowl. Then he presented Claire’s messages to Lorraine. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I want to burn his whole life down.
Dominic’s voice broke when asked whether he loved his wife.
“Yes,” he said. “I love her enough to want treatment for both of us.”
Claire looked at him then.
He did not smile. He did not need to.
Naomi’s cross-examination was quiet.
“You told the responding officers Mrs. Hale had taken sleeping pills?”
“I believed she had.”
“Did you see her take any?”
“No.”
“Did you find an empty bottle?”
“No.”
“Did medical testing support your belief?”
“I don’t know what testing was done.”
Naomi handed him the toxicology result. “No sedative medication was identified beyond treatment administered by paramedics. Were you mistaken?”
“Yes.”
“You also told officers she fell during an argument.”
“Yes.”
“You did not tell them she threw a bowl?”
“I may have.”
“It is not in your recorded statement.”
“I was shaken.”
“You did tell them about the scratch.”
“Yes.”
“You told officers she had been drinking heavily.”
“I said she was drinking.”
“How much did you observe her consume?”
Dominic paused. “I don’t know.”
“One glass?”
“Possibly.”
“Did you remove a laptop from the house before police obtained a warrant?”
“It was firm property.”
“Did you take it to your office?”
“My attorney advised me not to answer questions about the location.”
The judge looked over her glasses. “Unless there is a privilege basis stated, he will answer.”
Dominic’s attorney rose. After a whispered exchange, Dominic said, “I secured it.”
“Where?” Naomi asked.
“At a private office.”
“Did you alter or delete any files?”
“No.”
“Did you possess administrator access to the home security system after the emergency order prohibited you from approaching or monitoring Mrs. Hale?”
“I did not attempt to monitor her.”
“That was not my question.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened. “I had credentials.”
“Were those credentials used at 3:07 a.m. two days after the order?”
“I received an automated alert and checked whether the system was active.”
“From where?”
“My hotel.”
“You attempted remote access to the house where Mrs. Hale was sleeping?”
“I checked the status of property I co-own.”
The judge made a note.
Naomi asked about the life insurance policies. Dominic’s attorney objected on relevance grounds. Naomi argued that the dispute over financial documents explained the confrontation and Claire’s reasonable fear. The judge allowed limited questions.
Dominic said Claire had consented to the insurance as part of estate planning.
“Did you hear her give consent?” Naomi asked.
“I received confirmation.”
“Was the recorded speaker your wife?”
“I believed it was.”
“Did you recognize her voice?”
“It was a vendor process. I did not personally review the call at the time.”
“Who supplied Lorraine Mercer with the verification number?”
Dominic’s attorney objected.
The judge overruled.
Dominic looked toward the back bench. Lorraine went pale.
“I don’t recall,” he said.
Naomi let the silence sit.
Claire testified after lunch.
Walking to the witness stand hurt more than she expected. She could feel Dominic watching each careful step. Naomi began with simple questions: where Claire worked, how long she had been married, what happened before the argument.
Claire described the insurance statement, the folder, the transfer to North Orchard, and the laptop. She admitted throwing the bowl. She admitted scratching Dominic. She admitted reading his phone without permission months earlier.
Then she described his hand around her throat.
Dominic’s attorney approached gently, almost kindly.
“Mrs. Hale, you told the detective you did not remember parts of the incident.”
“Yes.”
“So you cannot say with certainty how you reached the bottom of the stairs.”
“No.”
“You cannot say whether my client pushed you down them.”
“No.”
“You had been drinking.”
“One glass of wine.”
“You were angry.”
“Yes.”
“You threw a heavy object.”
“A ceramic bowl.”
“At my client.”
“Near him.”
“Close enough that it shattered beside his head?”
“On the wall.”
“Beside his head?”
Claire looked at Dominic. “I don’t know how close his head was.”
“You scratched him hard enough to draw blood.”
“When he had his hands on my neck.”
“That is your account.”
“Yes.”
“You also wrote that you wanted to burn his life down.”
“I did.”
“What did you mean?”
“I wanted the truth to hurt him.”
“Did you want to destroy his career?”
“At that moment, yes.”
“Did you copy confidential information from his work computer?”
“I copied files containing my name, my accounts, my signature, my trust, and insurance on my life.”
“That was not my question.”
“Yes.”
“Did you understand some files might concern third parties?”
“I didn’t review all of them before copying.”
“So you took them anyway.”
“Yes.”
The attorney stepped closer. “Isn’t it true that when my client tried to prevent you from taking confidential files, you became violent?”
“No.”
“You threw an object and scratched him.”
“After he took my laptop and blocked the door.”
“Did he strike you with a closed fist?”
“No.”
“Did he kick you?”
“No.”
“Did he threaten to kill you?”
“No.”
“Did he point a weapon at you?”
“No.”
The list was designed to make what happened sound like what had not happened.
Claire’s breathing became shallow. Naomi stood. “May we take a brief recess?”
The judge looked at Claire. “Do you need one?”
Claire thought of every pause she had used to avoid a decision. The apartment she did not rent. The account she closed. The messages she explained away. The hospital call in which her mother told her to live with her choice.
“No,” Claire said. “I can answer.”
May you like
Dominic’s attorney returned to the table.
Claire looked at the judge. “He didn’t punch me. He put one hand around my throat, then both. I scratched him because I could not breathe. I threw the bowl before that because he took the computer and stood between me and the door. I do not remember falling down the stairs. I remember waking at the bottom. I remember crawling outside. I remember asking my neighbor not to let him touch me. Those are the things I can say.”
