After Anna(30)

Judge Gardner nodded. ‘The objection is overruled.’

Thomas sat down, and Linda turned to Noah, her eyes flashing darkly. ‘Dr Alderman. I remind you that you are under oath, and ask you again, did you or did you not send this text?’

‘I did not.’

Linda stepped back. ‘If you didn’t send the text, who did?’

‘I don’t know,’ Noah answered, but that was a lie. But he was trying not to get into that, per Thomas’s instructions.

‘Are you really trying to convince this jury that you did not send a text that clearly came from your own phone?’

Thomas rose. ‘Your Honor, objection, asked and answered. The prosecutor is badgering the witness.’

Linda whirled around to face Judge Gardner, whose lined forehead had buckled with confusion. ‘Your Honor, cross-examination is a time-honored engine of truth –’

‘The objection is overruled. Please proceed, Ms Swain-Pettit.’

‘Thank you, Your Honor.’ Linda turned on Noah. ‘Dr Alderman, are you trying to suggest that someone else sent this text from your phone?’

‘I believe that’s what happened.’

‘But didn’t you just tell Judge Gardner that no one else uses your phone?’

‘I told him that no one else routinely uses my phone.’

Linda’s eyes narrowed. ‘Was your phone out of your possession at the time this text was sent?’

‘Yes.’

‘Where was your phone at the time this text was sent?’

‘In my car, parked at the gym.’

‘Is it your testimony that you left your phone in the car while you went to the gym?’

‘Yes.’

Linda signaled to her paralegal. ‘Allow me to show you Commonwealth Exhibit 47, which has been previously admitted. Please take a moment to examine it.’

Noah eyed the screen, which changed to an entry log at the gym, with his name next to the time he swiped in. ‘I’ve examined it.’

‘Dr Alderman, this document shows that you swiped in at 7:10 P.M. on the night Anna was murdered, does it not?’

‘Yes.’

‘You testified that the text was sent at 6:55 P.M., the night Anna was murdered, did you not?’

‘Yes.’

‘Yet your testimony is that you did not send the text, though you had time to do so before you swiped in to the gym?’

‘Yes.’

Linda pursed her lips. ‘Why did you leave your phone in your car while you were at the gym?’

‘There’s never any free lockers at that hour, and there’s no reason to risk it being stolen in the gym.’

Linda’s eyes narrowed. ‘Are you about to tell us that you didn’t lock your car that night?’

‘No, I locked my car.’ Noah didn’t need to look at the jury to know that they were turning to each other in confusion, because the gallery was doing the same thing. No one in the courtroom had heard this yet because none of the previous witnesses had heard Noah’s story. Thomas hadn’t asked him about it on direct because he thought it was ridiculous. Maggie wasn’t in the courtroom, for which he was grateful.

‘Dr Alderman, was your phone stolen from your car that night?’

‘No. It was still in the console when I got back to the car. I pulled it out after I left the gym.’

‘Did you check to see if you had received any calls or texts?’

‘There was no banner, so I assumed I hadn’t.’

‘Did you check to see if your phone had sent any texts?’

‘No.’

Linda threw up her arms. ‘How did someone send a text from your phone at the time it was locked in your car?’

Thomas rose again. ‘Objection, Your Honor. The prosecutor is badgering the witness. Dr Alderman has been completely forthright –’

Linda faced the judge. ‘Forthright? Your Honor, the witness’s testimony is nonsensical, at best. I’m merely trying to understand it. I’m entitled to press him to explain. Did the text write and send itself?’

‘Ms Swain-Pettit, please.’ Judge Gardner looked down at Noah, leaning forward. ‘Dr Alderman, do you know how the text got on your phone?’

‘No, I do not,’ Noah answered the judge. He realized that the final time he’d hear directly from Judge Gardner was when he was sentenced to life or death, if he was convicted.

Linda cleared her throat. ‘Your Honor, may I proceed? I’m not sure how you ruled on the objection.’

‘Overruled.’

‘Thank you, Your Honor.’ Linda turned to Noah, squaring her shoulders. ‘Dr Alderman, do you have any notion at all how this text got on your phone?’

‘I can speculate, but I don’t know for a fact.’

‘Objection!’ Thomas shot to his feet. ‘Your Honor! What’s the point of having the witness speculate? This is improper!’

Linda turned to Judge Gardner. ‘Your Honor, this text is a critical piece of Commonwealth evidence. The jury has a right to know how he believes the text got onto his phone from inside a locked car.’

‘Counsel, I’ll allow it.’ Judge Gardner leaned back in his chair. ‘Dr Alderman, you may answer.’

Noah didn’t hesitate. ‘I believe that Anna wrote the text and sent it to herself.’