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

‘Lisa,’ Marjorie began in a casual tone, ‘tell this court how and when you met the deceased, Troy Petty.’

‘We met last October. I’m a second-year student at the medical school at Vanderbilt, and Troy was an LPN at the Vanderbilt Hospital. I’m often at the hospital for my studies, and one day we kind of saw one another and we were both . . . interested. He’s — he was — a good-looking guy. I don’t usually attract guys like Troy,’ she said with a little self-deprecating smile.

Seated halfway back in the courtroom, Troy’s sister, Nadine, shook her head in disgust, but there was a little titter of indulgent laughter from the other spectators.

‘And how would you characterize your relationship with Mr Petty?’

‘Well, we were certainly close. We saw each other, exclusively, for several months.’

‘We heard testimony that you sometimes brought your two-year-old daughter with you when you went to Mr Petty’s fishing camp by J. Percy Priest Lake. Were you concerned that your daughter might form an attachment to Mr Petty which was not warranted by a casual relationship?’

Lisa shook her head. ‘No. I was not worried. Not at that time. Not about that. She liked going out there. It was pretty out by the lake, and Troy was good to her.’

‘Almost like he was auditioning as a stepdad,’ Marjorie offered.

‘Objection,’ said the D.A. wearily. ‘Calls for speculation.’

‘Sustained.’

‘Withdrawn. We heard testimony from Claude Dupree’s deposition that Troy Petty was planning on breaking up with you on the evening of the explosion. Did you know this when you went to Mr Petty’s house on that evening?’

‘We had already discussed it on the phone,’ said Lisa, and there was a little gasp of surprise in the court.

‘So, you knew about this?’ Marjorie asked.

‘Yes, I knew,’ said Lisa.

‘Were you upset about this development?’

Lisa shook her head. ‘No. In fact, I was the one who insisted on it. I think he just said that it was his idea to his Skyping buddy to save face.’

‘If you were so determined to break up with him, why didn’t you just do it on the phone?’

‘He owed me money, and I went out there because I wanted it back.’

‘He had borrowed money from you.’

‘Yes.’

‘Do you know why he needed it?’

‘He said it was important, so I lent it to him. I didn’t press him for the reason.’

‘Were you in the habit of lending money to friends?’

‘No. But I believed him when he said that he needed it.’

‘So, this meeting at his home was your idea?’ asked Marjorie.

‘Yes. But I think he had hopes of making me change my mind. He had already opened a bottle of wine and started drinking. He had every candle in the place lit. Looked more like he was anticipating a seduction than a break-up.’

‘Would you say he was drunk when you were there?’

‘No . . .’ said Lisa slowly. ‘At that time he’d only had a glass or two. I don’t know how much he drank after I left.’

‘Were you tempted, in the course of your conversation, to change your mind about breaking up with Mr Petty?’

‘No,’ said Lisa firmly. ‘Never. There was never any chance of our . . . resolving things.’

‘So at this last meeting between you, he willingly gave you his paycheck? Is that correct?’

‘Not willingly. But he knew that he owed me money. He threw the check at me and told me to get out. So I took it and I left.’

‘Did you turn on the gas line to the propane heater before you left Troy Petty’s house?’

‘No. I did not.’ Lisa shook her head emphatically.

‘Were you, in fact, angry, and eager to get revenge on Mr Petty for breaking up with you?’

‘No. I told you. I broke it off with him. I just wanted to get away from him.’

‘Thank you,’ said Marjorie. She turned to the D.A. ‘Your witness.’

The D.A. almost seemed pleased, as if Marjorie had given him a gift. He walked up to the witness box, a look of consternation on his face. ‘Ms Wickes, we seem to have a case here of “He said, she said”. You watched Mr Dupree’s deposition, where he said that Mr Petty was planning to break up with you. Now, when Mr Petty is not here to dispute your version, you make it sound as if it were all your idea.’

‘It was my idea,’ said Lisa coolly. The expression in her gray eyes was impassive.

‘Ms Wickes, as I understand it, you are a single mother who lives with your daughter at your parents’ house. Weren’t you, in fact, hoping to make Mr Petty the stepfather of your child? Weren’t you hoping to be moving out of your parents’ home and in with Mr Petty?’

‘No,’ said Lisa.

‘I submit that you were hoping exactly that. Why else would you bring your child along on dates?’

‘I wanted to spend my free time with her. And Mr Petty lived right by a lake. It was pretty there. He showed her how to fish.’

D.A. Castor pursued it. ‘An unwed mother, still in school, saddled with a mountain of debt. Living at home with her parents. Finding a man willing to take that burden on must have seemed almost impossible.’

‘Well, if you put it that way,’ said Lisa coolly, ‘perhaps I’m not that great a catch, so to speak.’

The spectators tittered, relieved to have a light moment in the testimony.

‘They say that “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”,’ said D.A. Castor. ‘Didn’t you, in fact, feel completely betrayed by Mr Petty when he broke off your relationship? Didn’t you pick up something heavy — the brass desk lamp perhaps — and whack him over the head with it? Didn’t you turn on the gas and leave with his paycheck? All