Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark [23]
“I put my hand on her forehead and stroked it. I wanted her to feel that she wasn't alone. She must have been so frightened, I mean lying there, hurting so much, and knowing she was probably dying. I tell you, I'd be scared.”
“Objection.” Richard Moore jumped from his seat.
“Sustained,” the judge ordered. “Ms. Walsh, please just answer the question without additional comment. Prosecutor, repeat the question.”
“Did you touch her?” Emily asked again.
“I put my hand on her forehead and stroked it,” Suzie said care?fully now, frightened by the defense attorney. But then when it was Moore's turn, he only asked her a few more questions and acted very friendly. It was a little embarrassing to admit to him that she almost always drove by Natalie Raines's house in the afternoon when she left work even though it meant going all around the block to get to the parkway. But then she noticed that some people in the court?room smiled when she said she was such a fan of Natalie's that she loved to catch any possible glimpse of her.
“When was the last time you saw Natalie Raines before you en?tered her house?” Moore asked.
“Like I said. I saw her getting out of the car that morning.”
“No more questions,” Moore said crisply.
It was almost disappointing to be finished. As she left the stand Suzie made it her business to get a good look at Gregg Aldrich. He's a fine-looking man, she thought. I can understand why even some?one as beautiful as Natalie Raines could fall in love with him. His eyes have such a sad expression. What a phony he is. It's enough to make a person sick.
She hoped he caught the contemptuous glance she shot at him as she exited the courtroom.
Just Take My Heart
15
Because of his long friendship with Gregg, and because Katie's comments had stung him, Michael Gordon had expected to be drawn emotionally into the trial of the State of New Jersey versus Gregg Aldrich. However, he had not expected to feel an almost fa?talistic sense that Gregg was not only guilty, but that he was going to be convicted of Natalie's murder.
As he had expected, the trial attracted national attention. Natalie had been a major Broadway star and an Academy Award nominee. Gregg, a regular at star-studded events, was a familiar figure to the avid tabloid readers whose lives revolved around those of celebrities. After Natalie's death, Gregg had been a particular target of the pa?parazzi. Every time he escorted an actress to an event, it was rumored that he was involved with her.
The headlines in the gossip magazines had also kept front and center the fact that he was a “person of interest” in Natalie's death.
Michael knew Gregg was carrying a lot of baggage into the trial. But added to that was an unexpected element: The news stories were also focusing on the young, beautiful prosecutor Emily Wallace, and the skillful manner in which she was building up the case against Aldrich.
As a former defense attorney, Michael recognized that Emily was closing the doors to the possibility that Natalie's death had been a random crime. The detectives from her office, Billy Tryon and Jake Rosen, were good witnesses, articulate and prompt in their answers to her questions.
They testified that there had been no break-in at the home of Natalie Raines. The security system had not been tampered with. A professional thief could have opened the small safe in Natalie's bed?room closet with a can opener, but there was no sign it had been touched. Evidence seemed to indicate that the perpetrator had ex?ited by the back door and run through the yard and the wooded area behind it to the next street. It had rained during the night and they believed he might have had some kind of plastic covering over his shoes since it was impossible to get a useful cast of a footprint, even though there were two specific indentations where the grass was par?ticularly soft. The shoe size ranged between a ten and a twelve.
Gregg Aldrich wore a size eleven shoe.
The security system log was entered into evidence. The last time it was turned on was at four o'clock