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

‘The defense claims that your brother gave her his paycheck to cash because he owed her money. Did that sound right to you? Was Troy ordinarily careless about money?’

‘No. Never. He was very careful.’

‘Did he have a lot of debts?’

‘No. No debts. He paid his rent on time. His truck was paid for. He never went shopping for himself. He had no fancy tastes. He didn’t gamble. No.’

‘Did he ever ask to borrow money from you?’

Nadine snorted. ‘From me? Never. He deprived himself ’cause he liked to help out me and my brother. I told you. He was like a parent to us.’

‘Thank you, Ms Melton. Your witness.’

Hannah watched as Marjorie rifled through her papers for a few seconds and then stood up. She walked over to the witness box and leaned against it in a friendly manner.

‘Ms Melton. How old were you and your brothers when your mother died?’

‘I was five. Ronnie was three. Troy was twelve.’

‘Obviously your brother wasn’t old enough to take care of you at that point.’

‘No. We went to live with our father, who didn’t want us, and then our grandparents. And finally, Troy was old enough, he just took over. He became our parent.’

‘That was a big responsibility for a young man.’

‘Yes, it was.’

‘So, clearly this is a great loss for you,’ said Marjorie.

Nadine nodded. ‘Yes. A great loss.’

‘You seemed to have turned out very well after so much upheaval in your childhood.’

Nadine lifted her chin. ‘I like to think so.’

‘And your younger brother?’

‘What about him?’

Marjorie glanced around the courtroom. ‘I don’t see him here,’ she said mildly.

‘He couldn’t come. Ronnie was . . . he had to go to a home for a while.’

‘What kind of a home? You mean a foster home?’

‘No. A halfway house,’ Nadine mumbled.

Marjorie regarded her with raised eyebrows. ‘Why a halfway house?’

‘He has . . . problems.’

‘With?’

‘Prescription drugs. He has a bit of a problem with self-medicating. His life was the worst of the three of us. As the youngest.’

‘I’m sure that’s true,’ said Marjorie sympathetically. ‘So your brother Ronnie was recently released from a drug rehab, was he not?’

Nadine shrugged.

‘Ms Melton, could you answer?’

‘Yes.’

‘What about now? Is he clean now?’

‘Objection, your honor. Relevance?’ demanded the D.A.

Marjorie looked at Judge Endicott. ‘The witness has testified that her older brother liked to help out his younger siblings. I submit that helping someone support a drug habit can be very expensive. It might account for his borrowing money from the defendant.’

‘Overruled,’ said the judge. ‘Witness will answer.’

Nadine lowered her head. ‘He’s . . . trying to stay straight. It’s not easy.’

‘Did Ronnie ever get into debt with any drug dealers? Any debt that perhaps he couldn’t repay? Any debt where he might have turned to his brother, Troy, for help? When you learned that Troy was missing, didn’t you accuse your younger brother of just that?’

‘I don’t remember,’ Nadine demurred.

‘Do you know a drug and alcohol counselor from the Sunrise Halfway House named William Trumbull?’

Nadine shifted uneasily in her chair. ‘Yes. What about him?’

Marjorie turned to the bench. ‘Your honor, I wish to read into evidence a part of this deposition from Mr William Trumbull, defense exhibit 5-B. The witness cannot appear in person because he is now working at a halfway house in Talkeetna, Alaska.’

‘So noted,’ said the judge.

The prosecutor jumped up and insisted on having a look. After perusing the paperwork, he resumed his seat.

Marjorie turned back to Nadine. ‘Ms Melton, in his deposition, Mr Trumbull testifies that you and your brother Ronnie argued about this very subject. Mr Trumbull asserts that he heard you suggest to Ronnie that it might have been his, and I quote, “lowlife druggie friends” who had harmed your brother Troy in some way?’

Hannah gripped her husband’s arm. ‘How does Marjorie know that?’ she whispered.

Adam shook his head. ‘She’s got investigators. She’s good.’

Nadine blanched and looked incredulous, as if she too was wondering how Marjorie Fox knew this piece of information. ‘That was a private conversation,’ she insisted.

‘So you did say that to your brother Ronnie?’

‘That was before I knew about Lisa forging his name and cashing his check,’ Nadine protested stubbornly.

‘You did say that.’

‘Yes,’ Nadine admitted.

‘No further questions,’ said Marjorie, returning to the defense table.

Hannah grabbed Adam’s forearm. ‘That’s it,’ she said. ‘If it wasn’t an accident, then that’s what happened. I’ll bet you anything.’

Adam nodded. ‘It has to be.’

When they got home that night they felt almost happy, for the first time in what seemed like ages. The D.A. had called several witnesses whose testimony did nothing to change the impact of Nadine’s admission about her brother’s drug use. The possibility that Troy had, indeed, had to deal with dangerous drug dealers on his brother’s behalf was the reasonable doubt that they had been seeking to show all along. It certainly explained why Troy might have borrowed money from Lisa, and why he might have owed her his entire paycheck.

That evening, as they settled into the safety of home, Adam drank a beer while Sydney played beside him, and Hannah made dinner. They talked about the day’s testimony, each one reminding the other of how a hostile witness, Troy’s sister, had inadvertently given evidence which was helpful to Lisa.

When they sat down to eat, they had a glass of wine and toasted Marjorie Fox. ‘Whatever this costs,’ says Hannah, ‘she will be worth it. She is terrific. I mean, she has seen right through this thing. She knows that Lisa is innocent, and she can prove it.’

‘Don’t say innocent,’ Adam insisted. ‘I wish she had never taken that check . . .’

‘You heard the sister. The younger brother was in trouble. Everything that Marjorie brought out today made