Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark [41]
“What did you do when you got to the Cape, Gregg?”
“I checked into a little motel in Hyannis. We know a lot of people who live on the Cape and I didn't want to bump into any of them. I just wanted to see if Natalie was alone.”
“You drove past her house several times?”
“Yes. Years ago, the garage was converted into a recreation room and no one ever got around to building a new one. There was no garage that another car could have been in. When I drove past the house, I saw only her car in the driveway, and I knew she was alone.”
Suppose she had picked someone up along the way? Emily wrote on her pad. How could you assume she was alone just because there wasn't another car there?
“What did you do then, Gregg?” Moore asked.
“I drove past her house Saturday afternoon and late Saturday eve?ning, and three times on Sunday. Her car was always the only one in the driveway. It was overcast both days and there were lights on in?side the house, so I assumed she was there. Then around eight o'clock Sunday evening I started back to Manhattan. There was a nasty storm predicted and I wanted to get home.”
“At that point, had you made any decision about continuing your efforts to reconcile with Natalie Raines?”
“On the drive home, I remember that I thought about something I had read. I'm not sure if it was written about Thomas Jefferson, but I think it was. Anyhow, the quote was 'Never less alone than when alone.' ”
“ 'Never less alone than when alone.' Did you decide that was true of Natalie?” asked Moore.
“Yes. I believe that on the drive home that Sunday evening, I re?signed myself to that reality.”
“What time did you arrive home?”
“About one a.m. I was exhausted and I went right to bed.” “Monday morning, what did you do?”
"I went for a jog in Central Park. Then I returned the rental car.
“What time did you go out to jog?”
“About 7:15 a.m. or so.”
“And you returned the rental car at 10:05 a.m.”
“Yes.”
“Was that an unusually long amount of time for you to jog?”
“Usually, I jog for about an hour and sometimes after that I just keep walking. Sometimes, especially when I'm thinking things through, I lose track of the time.”
Sure you do! Emily thought.
“How often does it happen, Mr. Aldrich, that you may lose track of time when you're jogging or walking?” Richard Moore asked, his voice sympathetic.
“There's no pattern. But when I have a lot on my mind, it can happen.” Gregg remembered that it had happened just this morn?ing. I left the apartment before five thirty and got back at seven thirty. I had to rush to shower and change to be here on time. I won't tell the jury that, he thought to himself. They'll think I'm nuts.
There's no pattern. But it happened the morning Natalie died, Emily thought. How convenient.
Richard Moore's next questions were about Gregg Aldrich's reac?tion when he received the call saying that Natalie was dead.
“I couldn't believe it. It seemed impossible. I was devastated.”
“What did you do when you got that news?”
“I left my office immediately and went to see Natalie's mother.” Gregg looked directly at Alice Mills who was seated in the third row. Although the witnesses were sequestered, she had been permitted, once her testimony was finished, to watch the rest of the trial. “We were bewildered and shocked. We cried together. Alice's first thought was of Katie.” His voice grew strained. She knew how much Katie and Natalie loved each other. She insisted that I go right away to break the news to Katie before she heard about it from someone else."
It was getting close to four o'clock. Moore's going to drag this out so that he can leave the jurors feeling sorry for Gregg over the week?end, Emily thought.
Intensely disappointed that she would not be able to start cross-examination until Monday, she was careful to maintain her impas?sive demeanor.
Just Take My Heart
26
That evening, Michael Gordon's Courtside panel was in agree?ment that Gregg Aldrich had fared well during direct examination