After Anna(15)

‘Emotional.’

‘Were either of you raising your voices?’

‘Yes.’

‘Were either of you crying?’

Weissberg blinked. ‘She was.’

Linda cocked her coiffed head. ‘So you’re walking down the street at night, your dog is panting and pulling, and you’re on the phone having an emotional conversation with your girlfriend, who is crying, and the televisions are playing in the houses, isn’t that correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘In fact, weren’t you so distracted that you dropped the dog’s leash, isn’t that correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘Yet despite all of these distractions, the dog pulling and panting, your girlfriend crying, the TVs playing through the windows that could have been open, you feel positive that you heard the sound coming from the defendant’s house at exactly 9:28?’

‘I did notice the time on my phone screen,’ Weissberg answered, newly defensive.

‘Mr Weissberg.’ Linda looked at him like he was nuts. ‘You saw those little tiny numbers on the top of the screen in the dark, with all of those distractions?’

‘The, uh, screen was lit.’

‘You saw them exactly at the very moment your beloved dog ran away, your girlfriend cried, and you were distracted, is that your testimony?’

‘I thought . . . I had, but maybe I didn’t,’ Weissberg answered, faltering.

‘So isn’t it possible that you were wrong?’

‘I guess it’s possible.’ Weissberg swallowed hard.

‘I have no further questions, Your Honor.’ Linda turned on her heel.





Chapter Ten


Maggie, Before

‘Anna, tell me what it’s like at Congreve,’ Maggie asked, trying to recover from the revelation that Anna had been lied to about being abused. It had thrown Maggie off-balance, but she couldn’t let that ruin their dinner. She would set the record as straight as she could, but it was hard to prove a negative. She worried Anna would always wonder whether Maggie was telling her the truth.

‘Before that, I have bad news.’ Anna pursed her lips, looking down and pushing her salad away. ‘I didn’t want to tell you over the phone. Dad died, in a plane crash.’

‘I’m so sorry, I did know that.’ Maggie felt a pang, seeing the change come over Anna’s face, as her lovely features fell into grief-stricken lines.

‘It’s horrible.’ Anna’s big eyes glistened. ‘I don’t know how it happened. He was a good pilot. He loved flying, but they think he had, like, a heart attack. He wasn’t even that old.’

‘I’m so very sorry, truly.’ Maggie patted her hand. ‘I saw an article about it online, after you called.’

‘So then you know. They were all killed, my stepmom and my stepbrothers.’

‘I know, it’s so awful.’ Maggie could see Anna’s pain at losing the entire family.

‘And my stepbrothers were so little.’ Anna grimaced. ‘I didn’t know them that well, but still. They were so cute. They were nice kids. It’s so awful. Michel and Paul. And my stepmom Nathalie was nice, too.’

‘I bet.’ Maggie heard Anna pronounce the names in an authentically French way, though her English was flawless. ‘It really is, and it’s hard for you to lose them, I know.’

‘It shouldn’t be. Like, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, it’s not like I saw Dad so much, or them.’ Anna frowned, blinking her eyes clear. ‘I hardly knew Nathalie. I met her for the first time when Michel was born. They flew me home for the christening. It was a big deal.’

‘Oh?’ Maggie kept her surprise from her tone. ‘But what about the wedding? You must have met her then.’

‘No, Dad didn’t invite me. They had it in Morocco. He told me it was on impulse, like, they eloped? But I saw the pictures later. There were three hundred people there.’

‘Even so, it’s hard for you to lose him.’ Maggie simmered but tried not to let it show. It was Anna who mattered, not Florian.

‘Yeah, it is, hard. It was a month ago, but it still, I don’t know, it messes me up. Ellen, my therapist, says that can be worse because conflicted emotions are harder to grieve. She says it’s normal to be depressed and crumbly.’

‘Of course, that’s very normal, honey.’ Maggie patted her hand again. ‘I don’t think you ever truly get over the death of a parent. My parents were gone before you were born, and I still miss them every day. I wish they got to meet you.’

‘You only got to meet me today, for real.’

‘That’s true.’ Maggie let the awkward moment pass, though she felt proud of Anna for her honesty. ‘Well, it’s good you have a therapist to get you through something this difficult. And your friends.’

‘Honestly, I don’t have that many friends.’ Anna shrugged. ‘Congreve isn’t such a great place if you’re a boarder. Most of the other boarders are international and they’re not that friendly.’

‘There must be some Americans who board.’

‘Not that many. Congreve is popular with European families. American kids go to Andover or Moses Brown because they’re coed.’ Anna shook her head. ‘I wanted to come stateside, but Dad said he would only let me go to Congreve.’