I SEE YOU an unputdownable psychological thriller with a breathtaking twist by PATRICIA MACDONALD (bookstand for reading txt) 📗

‘Now on the night in question, the eighth of March, did you hear the explosion at that house?’

‘Oh my, yes,’ said Vera. ‘You couldn’t miss it. It shook my whole house. I ran down there. The front of Mr Petty’s house was blown apart. The rest of it was on fire. I called nine-one-one.’

‘Did you see anyone else in the vicinity?’

‘No, I did not,’ said Vera. ‘But I saw her leaving just before I heard the blast.’

‘Who did you see?’ asked the D.A.

‘I saw the defendant. I was putting the cover on my cockatiel’s cage and I glanced out the window and saw her. She was driving fast away from his house.’

‘And you’re sure it was the defendant?’

‘It was her. I know her car, and I recognize her. She’s been down our road many times before.’

Hannah sighed with anxiety as Marjorie rose, pulled down on the peplum of her suit jacket and smiled at the witness. She walked toward the witness box.

‘So, Mrs Naughton, did you see any other cars on your road that night?’

‘No.’

‘Do you normally sit and look out the window all evening?’

‘No, of course not,’ she scoffed.

‘So any number of cars could have come and gone, and you just didn’t see them.’

‘It’s possible, I suppose,’ Vera admitted. ‘I just know that I saw her. I’d seen her come to visit Troy. Sometimes with her little girl.’

‘Now, the explosion occurred at eight o’clock, according to the police reports. At what time did you see Lisa go by in her car?’

‘It must have been about seven,’ said Vera. ‘But I could see her clearly. It wasn’t dark yet. In the spring it’s still light at that hour.’

‘Well, actually,’ said Marjorie, ‘on the eighth of March it was dark at seven. Daylight Savings didn’t begin until the tenth of March.’

Vera looked chastened. ‘I’m pretty sure . . .’

‘So it must have been closer to six o’clock,’ said Marjorie. ‘A full two hours before the explosion.’

Vera frowned. ‘Well, maybe. I’m sure it was still light,’ she admitted sheepishly. ‘Otherwise I wouldn’t have been covering the bird’s cage. They need darkness to sleep.’

‘No further questions,’ said Marjorie.

Hannah and Adam glanced at one another and Hannah nodded slightly. Marjorie Fox had made the woman sound as if she had not really thought about the time until she was on the stand.

‘This case is falling apart,’ said Adam in her ear.

‘God, I hope so,’ Hannah whispered.

The next witness, Dr Joan Ferris, was from the forensics team who examined the crime scene. The pretty, young explosives expert wore a dark suit and her hair in a no-nonsense knot which bespoke confidence and seriousness. She testified that the explosion occurred because someone had turned on the gas in an old-fashioned propane heater, and had failed to light the heater. There were illuminated candles in the room and, when the room filled up with gas, it was ignited by the candles. The heater was recovered, the knob still turned to the ‘on’ position.

‘Could this heater have been turned on by accident?’ the D.A. asked.

‘No, that wouldn’t be possible,’ said Dr Ferris.

When Marjorie had a chance to cross-examine, she asked the forensics expert if there were fingerprints on the on/off knob.

‘Impossible to lift after the explosion and all the water damage in the house from the fire being extinguished,’ said Dr Ferris.

‘Now, Dr Ferris, you testified that this heater could not have been turned on by accident.’

‘That’s correct,’ said the young scientist. ‘You have to push down on the knob and turn it.’

‘But it would be possible for someone to turn on that gas and then become distracted, and fail to light it, letting the gas escape from the heater unnoticed.’

‘Certainly it would be possible,’ said the forensics expert equably. ‘That’s the main reason why more up-to-date propane heaters light automatically. To prevent that from happening.’

Marjorie thanked her for her time and returned to the defense table.

Hannah and Adam knew that the forensics expert had done them no harm. In fact, she seemed to be quite open to an accident scenario.

The succeeding testimony, however, was an undeniable blow. A detective from the Nashville police showed the surveillance tape which had been made on the night of the explosion at a convenience store near the hospital. There, quite clearly, was Lisa, handing across a check and, after a brief discussion in the course of which she produced a card and showed it to the clerk, receiving cash in return.

‘How did you come to be in possession of this tape?’ asked the D.A.

Detective Hammond said that the clerk, who was also the owner of the store, a Mr Bahir Zamani, heard about Troy Petty’s disappearance on the news and came forward with the tape.

Mr Zamani was called as the next witness.

‘Mr Zamani,’ asked Castor, ‘is it your policy to cash the paychecks of employees at the hospital?’

‘We sometimes do that, if we know the person,’ replied the brown-skinned, mustachioed witness calmly.

‘Did you know Troy Petty?’ asked the D.A.

‘Yes, I did. He had come into my store for several years.’

‘So, on the evening of the eighth of March, when the defendant appeared asking to cash Mr Petty’s paycheck, didn’t you find that a bit unusual? Clearly she is not Troy Petty.’

Zamani nodded. ‘She told me that she was Mr Petty’s fiancée and that he had asked her to bring it in. Indeed, I had seen her in the store with him from time to time. And the check was signed by Mr Petty.’

‘Did you recognize his signature?’

Zamani squirmed on the stand. ‘Well, I assumed. I don’t memorize the signatures of all my customers.’

‘So, a young woman brings in someone else’s signed paycheck and you don’t even check to be sure that the endorsement is valid?’