Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark [27]
Just enough mileage left for me to have driven to Natalie's house that Monday morning, killed her, and been back in Manhattan on schedule, Gregg thought. Could I have done that? When did I ever jog for over two hours? Was I so out of it that I don't remember going there?
Could I have left her bleeding to death?
He opened his eyes and turned up the volume with the remote. His former close friend Michael Gordon was saying: “Tomorrow there should be fireworks in court when the state's star witness, Jimmy Easton, testifies that he was hired by Gregg Aldrich to mur?der his estranged wife, acclaimed actress Natalie Raines.”
Gregg pushed the off button on the remote and finished his drink.
Just Take My Heart
18
Your Honor, the state calls James Easton."
The door leading from the holding cell opened. Easton emerged, walking slowly toward the witness chair, escorted by sheriffs officers on either side of him. As she looked at him, an expression that had been a favorite of her grandmother's rushed through Emily's mind: “You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.”
Jimmy was wearing the dark blue suit, white shirt, and patterned blue tie that Emily had personally selected for his appearance in court. Under protest, he had gotten a haircut from the jailhouse bar?ber, but even so, as Emily had remarked to Ted Wesley, he still looked like the con man he was.
From long prior experience before criminal judges, he knew what came next. He paused as he reached the area directly in front of the bench. Judge Stevens directed him to first state his full name and then spell his last name.
“James Easton, E-A-S-T-O-N.”
“Sir, please raise your right hand to be sworn,” the judge in?structed.
The pious look on Jimmy's face when he swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth caused a ripple of snick?ering among a number of the spectators in the courtroom.
Terrific, Emily thought, dismayed. Pray God, the jury will keep an open mind about my star witness.
Judge Stevens rapped his gavel sharply and warned that anyone who reacted verbally or visibly to any witness's testimony would be removed immediately and would be barred from attending further sessions.
When Jimmy was settled in the witness chair, Emily walked over to him slowly, her expression grave. Her strategy was to immediately elicit from him his prior criminal record, and the plea agreement he had made with her. She had addressed his background as a longtime felon in her opening statement and now she wanted to get the de?tails out immediately. She hoped that facing these circumstances head-on would at least convey to the jury that she would be forth?right with them and that this witness, despite his laundry list of crimes, should be believed.
I'm walking on thin ice, she thought, and maybe the ice will break. But as she asked question after question in a matter-of-fact tone, Jimmy Easton's response was everything she could hope for. His voice humble, his manner hesitant, he admitted to his many ar?rests and frequent prison terms. Then out of the blue he added gra?tuitously, “But never once did I hurt a hair on anyone's head, ma'am. That's why I couldn't go through with the deal to kill Aldrich's wife.”
Richard Moore sprang to his feet. “Objection.”
Way to go, Jimmy! Emily thought. So what if it was stricken from the record? The jury heard that loud and clear.
It was already late morning when Easton's testimony began. At twelve twenty, Judge Stevens, recognizing that Emily was about to transition her questioning to Easton's involvement with Gregg Al?drich,