The Forgotten Hours(39)

A. Yes, I guess. But so did everyone.

Q. Can you speak up, please?

A. Yes, he was often drunk.

Q. Let’s go back to the night in question, the night of August 31, 2007. Tell us what happened that night.

A. We were hanging out; people were swimming. There was a party, a square dance. And a big storm.

Q. You were with the alleged victim at one point, isn’t that right?

A. Yes, but, I mean. I was with everyone, on and off.

Q. Okay, so it was a party night, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Did you encounter Mr. Gregory during this period?

A. Yes, I did.

Q. And what did he say to you?

A. He—well, he wanted to go swimming. Skinny-dipping, in the lake.

Q. Uh, hold on. You are saying Mr. Gregory, the defendant, he wanted to swim naked with . . . with the children?

A. Everybody does it. You’re making it sound, like, I don’t know.

Q. Did this happen? Did Mr. Gregory, a man of forty-five, swim naked with all of you? With underage girls, with Ms. Henderson— A. No, no, I mean, I don’t know. But it was normal. And I left for a bit, so I don’t know if he even went swimming in the end. I’m not saying he did that. Maybe he didn’t; I don’t know.

Katie stopped reading, heart pounding in her ears. The questions were so leading. That’s not what had happened; it was Katie’s mother who had been so overheated, who had come out of the clubhouse sweating and wanting to cool off, not her father. Wasn’t Charlie the one who had suggested going swimming? And Jack was right—the prosecutor was making it sound perverted, when skinny-dipping at night was normal.

Q. Okay, let’s move on to later that night. The party broke up. It was what time? Around one a.m.?

A. Yeah. There was lightning. A big storm. So everyone went home.

Q. But you didn’t go home, isn’t that right?

A. No, I mean yes. But then I went out again, later. I wanted to see Katie one more time.

Q. Where did you go?

A. To her house.

Q. What happened then?

A. I thought they’d all gone to bed. But there was light coming from the den.

Q. And what did you do?

A. I thought maybe they were watching TV.

Q. Okay, so what did you do?

A. I didn’t mean to be, like, spying or anything.

Q. That’s okay. That doesn’t matter. Just tell us what happened.

A. They were in the den. Mr. Gregory, Katie, and Lulu. I looked through the back window.

A face at the window in the murky early-morning light—so Katie had remembered that correctly. She was afraid to read on. But she had come here to get facts, to better understand what had actually happened, and that meant she had to keep going, no matter how hard it was. She clamped her teeth together and continued reading.

Q. And what did you see?

A. The couch, there was a couch against the opposite wall. Everything was blue—the light, from the TV, it made everything blue. But I couldn’t see very well.

Q. Just tell the court what you believe you saw.

A. I saw Katie asleep on the couch.

Q. There were two couches? Who was on the longer couch?

A. Lulu. She was on that one. Well, she was sitting, and he was on the floor.

Q. He, meaning the defendant. What was he doing?

A. I couldn’t really tell. He was—there was a blanket over his back.

Q. Just tell the court what you thought you saw when you looked through the window.

A. I saw a man. It was Mr. Gregory. He was kneeling in front of Lulu. I think she had her eyes closed. I couldn’t really see much. He was, like, kind of bending down in front of her.

Q. Did it look as though Mr. Gregory was committing a sexual act?

A. It could have been. She was facing him. There was a blanket. And that’s all. That’s all I saw.

Q. Thank you.

A pulse at her throat, blood rushing through her veins. Pain in her bones, everywhere. Was this “evidence”? She couldn’t be sure what she was reading, what it really meant. She had thought she’d find a definitive answer, a word or an explanation that would illuminate the truth. Instead, she was flooded with dread and confusion. What had her father been doing?

Cross-Examination

Q. Were you drinking the night of August 31? What had you had to drink that evening?

A. Some beer. The older kids, they had vodka.

Q. You drank beer and vodka that night? Even though you were not of age.

A. Yes.

Q. Had other kids been drinking too? Underage teenagers?

A. Yes.

Q. Lulu Henderson, for example. She was drinking alcohol?

A. I’m not sure. I can’t be certain.

Q. And Katherine Gregory? She was drinking?

A. Yes. A little.

Q. Okay. In terms of your own behavior. Can you tell the court how much? Approximately how much alcohol or marijuana had you consumed that night?

A. Not very much. I mean, I was totally clear headed. It was late too. Everything had worn off.

Q. So you were drinking beer and vodka all night, and it was late, and you decided to go visit Katie Gregory one last time?

A. Um. Yeah.

Q. Can you tell us why? Why did you want to go to her house in the middle of the night?

A. I just wanted to see her again. And I thought Mr. Gregory—I don’t know. I thought he might, I guess, be angry about things? I was worried about Katie.