A Darkness More Than Night - Michael Connelly [129]
“Did he say anything at this time?”
“He just kept saying, ‘I have to do this, I have to do this’ and he was breathing really hard and he kept on having sex with me. His teeth were clenched tight when he said it. I . . .”
She stopped again and this time single tears slid down both her cheeks, one slightly behind the other. Langwiser went to the prosecution table and took a box of tissues from her spot. She held them up and said, “Your Honor, may I?”
The judge allowed her to approach the witness with the tissues. Langwiser made the delivery and then went back to the lectern. The courtroom was silent save for the crying sounds of the witness. Langwiser broke the moment.
“Ms. Crowe, do you need a minute?”
“No, I’m fine. Thank you.”
“Did you pass out when the defendant choked you?”
“Yes.”
“What do you remember next?”
“I woke up in his bed.”
“Was he there?”
“No, but I could hear the shower running. In the bathroom next to the bedroom.”
“What did you do?”
“I got up to get dressed. I wanted to leave before he came out of the shower.”
“Were your clothes where you had left them?”
“No. I found them in a bag — like a grocery bag — by the bedroom door. I put on my underwear.”
“Did you have a purse with you that night?”
“Yes. That was in the bag, too. But it was opened. I looked inside and he had taken the keys out. I —”
Fowkkes objected, saying the answer assumed facts not in evidence and the judge sustained it.
“Did you see the defendant take your keys out of your purse?” Langwiser asked.
“Well, no. But they had been inside my purse. I didn’t take them out.”
“Okay, then someone — someone you didn’t see because you were unconscious on the bed — took your keys out, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, where did you find your keys after you realized they were not in your purse?”
“They were on his bureau next to his own keys.”
“Did you finish getting dressed and leave?”
“Actually, I was so scared I just grabbed my clothes and my keys and my purse and I ran out of there. I finished getting dressed when I got outside. I then ran down the street.”
“How did you get home?”
“I got tired of running and so I walked on Mulholland for a long time until I came to a fire station with a pay phone out front. I used it to call a cab, then I went home.”
“Did you call the police when you got home?”
“Um, I didn’t.”
“Why not, Ms. Crowe?”
“Well, two things. When I got home David was leaving a message on my machine and I picked up. He apologized and said he got carried away. He told me he thought that the choking was going to increase my satisfaction while we had sex.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I don’t know. I was confused.”
“Did you ask him why he had put your clothes in a bag?” “Yes. He said he thought he was going to have to take me to the hospital if I didn’t wake up by the time he was out of the shower.”
“Did you ask him why he thought he should take a shower before taking an unconscious woman in his bed to the hospital?”
“I didn’t ask that.”
“Did you ask him why he didn’t call for paramedics?”
“No, I didn’t think of that.”
“What was the other reason you did not call the police?”
The witness looked down at her hands, which were grasping each other in her lap.
“Well, I was embarrassed. After he called I wasn’t sure anymore what had happened. You know, whether he had tried to kill me or was . . . trying to satisfy me more. I don’t know. You always hear about Hollywood people and weird sex. I thought maybe I was . . . I don’t know, just being uncool and square about it.”
She kept her eyes down and two more tears went down the slopes of her cheeks. Bosch saw a drop hit the collar of her chiffon blouse and leave a wet mark. Langwiser continued in a very soft tone.
“When did you contact the police about what happened that night with you and the defendant?”
Annabelle Crowe responded in a softer tone.
“When I read about him being arrested for killing Jody Krementz the same way.”
“You talked to Detective Bosch then?”
She nodded.
“Yes. And I knew that if I’d .