Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark [22]
“Something made me investigate, even though I was worried that I could be arrested for trespassing,” she would relate breathlessly, “and then when I went in and saw that beautiful woman, crumpled on the floor, blood all over her white sweater, and moaning, I tell you, I almost died myself. My fingers were trembling so much that when I dialed 911, I didn't think the call would go through. And then . . .”
Knowing that the police called Natalie's husband, Gregg Aldrich, a “person of interest” in the homicide and that someday he might be indicted, Suzie had gone a half dozen times to the Bergen County Courthouse when a criminal trial was in session, just to familiarize herself with what it would be like if she was ever called as a witness. She found the proceedings exciting and took note of the fact that some witnesses talked too much and were directed by the judge to answer the questions without giving their opinions. Suzie knew that would be hard for her to do.
When after two years, Gregg Aldrich was formally accused of Natalie's murder and Suzie knew she would definitely be a witness at the trial, she and her friends had a long discussion about what she should wear to court. “You may be on the front page of the newspa?pers,” one of them cautioned. “If I were you I'd get a nice, new black or brown pants suit. I know you love red, but red seems too cheerful for someone describing what you saw that day.”
Suzie had found exactly what she was looking for on sale in her favorite outlet. It was a brown tweed pants suit with a thread of dark red running through it. Red was not only her favorite color but it al?ways brought her luck. Just having a little of it in the pattern, and the fact that the lines of the suit also made her size fourteen body look slimmer, gave her confidence.
Even so, and even though she'd had her hair colored and blown dry the day before, Suzie felt a flutter in her stomach when she was summoned to the witness stand. She placed her hand on the Bible, swore to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and sat down in the witness chair.
The prosecutor, Emily Wallace, is really attractive, Suzie thought, and she looked so young to be trying an important case like this. She had a nice way about her, too, and after the first few questions, Suzie began to relax. She had talked about what happened so much to her friends that it was easy to answer everything without hesitation.
In response to Emily's questions, Suzie explained that she had gone into the garage, seen Natalie Raines's pocketbook and suitcase in her car, then knocked on the door. Realizing it was unlocked, she then opened it and went into the kitchen. Suzie was about to ex?plain that it wasn't her habit to walk into people's homes uninvited but this time, because of what she had seen, it was different. But she stopped herself. Just answer the questions, she thought.
Then Emily Wallace asked her to describe in her own words what she found in the kitchen.
“I saw her right away. If I'd taken two more steps, I'd have tripped over her.”
“Who did you see, Ms. Walsh?”
“I saw Natalie Raines.”
“Was she alive?”
“Yes. She was moaning like a hurt kitten.”
Suzie heard someone begin to sob. Her eyes flew to the third row, where a woman, whom she recognized from newspaper pic?tures as Natalie Raines's aunt, grabbed a handkerchief from her purse and pressed it against her lips. As Suzie watched, the expres?sion on the elderly woman's face became agonized, but she did not utter another sound.
Suzie described calling 911 and then kneeling beside Natalie. “There was blood all over her sweater. I didn't know if she could hear me but I know sometimes people who seem to be unconscious really aren't and are aware if someone talks to them, so I told her she'd be all right and that an ambulance was coming. And then she just stopped breathing.”
“Did