‘Whoops, I forgot.’ Linda motioned to her paralegal, though Noah didn’t believe for a minute that she’d left it up by accident.
Thomas stopped in front of the witness stand. ‘Dr Kapoor, you testified that your office performs about 220 autopsies per year. How many of those have been on homicide victims?’
‘Probably ten.’
‘Ten total?’ Thomas lifted an eyebrow.
‘Yes.’
‘And you aren’t the only assistant coroner who performs autopsies, are you?’
‘No.’
‘How many others are there?’
‘It varies, two or three.’
‘How many homicides generally occur in Montgomery County, per year?’
‘It varies between three and five. Except last year, we had eleven.’
‘So in fact, the overwhelming amount of your experience is not on homicide victims, isn’t that correct?’
‘Yes.’ Dr Kapoor frowned.
‘And even so, how many of those homicides were by manual strangulation?’
‘I’d have to think about that. Most are by gun or knife.’
‘Would you say less than five are by manual strangulation?’
‘Yes.’
‘Would you say less than three are by manual strangulation?’
‘Yes.’
Thomas stood taller, and Noah could read his mind. He had hit paydirt. ‘Dr Kapoor, how many autopsies have you personally performed on victims where you found the cause and manner of death as homicide by strangulation?’
‘One.’
Thomas allowed himself a theatrical frown. ‘So the opinions you gave during your testimony regarding what you expected to find in a manual strangulation were not based on your actual experience, isn’t that correct?’
‘Yes.’ Dr Kapoor pursed her lips unhappily.
‘And, you testified that in your opinion, whoever killed the victim by strangulation was most likely an adult male, isn’t that what you said?’
‘Yes.’
‘Isn’t it true that you have no idea of the age of that male?’
‘Yes.’ Dr Kapoor pressed her glasses higher on her nose with an unpolished fingernail.
‘The killer could also have been any size or weight, could he not?’
‘Yes.’
‘Furthermore, the killer could have been a very fit woman, couldn’t she?’
‘Yes.’
‘In fact, you can’t tell from the bruising whether the murder was committed by a man or a woman, can you?’
‘No.’
‘Dr Kapoor, isn’t the most you can say for certain is that Anna was strangled by a person who was strong enough to strangle her with their bare hands?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you testified, did you not, that you could not determine the size of the killer’s hands by the bruises on Anna’s neck, isn’t that true?’
‘Yes.’
‘The most you could say for certain is that the hand was average in size, isn’t that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘What is the average hand size for men?’
‘Between six and eight inches.’
‘I would assume that women’s hand sizes are generally smaller than men’s, isn’t that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘And isn’t there an overlap between hand sizes for men and women?’
‘Yes.’
‘So in fact, you could not say for certain whether the hands of the killer belonged to a man or woman, isn’t that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘Dr Kapoor, you also testified that there were no fingernail marks from the victim found on the defendant, isn’t that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you further testified that because there were no fingernail marks on the defendant, you concluded that either the victim’s fingernails were too short to make a mark or that the defendant was wearing gloves, isn’t that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘But isn’t it possible that there were no fingernail marks on the defendant because he did not commit the murder in question?’
‘Yes.’
‘Thank you, I have no further questions.’ Thomas strolled back to counsel table and sat down with a satisfied smile, and Noah contained his happiness, because Thomas had warned him not to react. It was one of the best moments the defense had had, and Noah felt a surge of new hope. The jury was nodding, and VFW Guy lifted his grayish eyebrows in surprise.
‘Your Honor, I’d like to call my next witness,’ Linda said quickly.
Chapter Fifty-four
Maggie, Before
Maggie felt excited that the barbecue was finally here, especially after the week she’d had. She’d been on her own with Caleb, who’d gotten a bad cold, then Anna, who got the same cold but had tons of homework. Maggie had been busy at the office, then at night had gone shopping, driving herself crazy to find paper plates that were nice enough and heavy plastic forks, not the flimsy white ones. She realized she was worrying more than usual because of what had happened with Noah before he’d left for the conference.
He’d stayed in only light touch with her through the week, texting at night and calling only once, toward the end. He’d said he’d been too busy to call, but there was a rift between them. They were tacitly agreeing to table the conversation, the way married people do after more serious fights, but that left her only with an uneasy feeling that there was a disturbance in her field. Noah had remained remote even after he’d gotten home late Thursday night, and she had spent Friday and Saturday setting up the tables, chairs, tablecloths, and box lanterns to string from the trees, which looked artsy instead of cheesy.
The party started with the sun dipping behind the treeline and the garden looking perfect. Everybody arrived on time, and Kathy helped Maggie refill platters and pour drinks throughout the evening. Noah had manned the grill as if it were his fiefdom, but kept a distance from Maggie and Anna. There was plenty of wine and beer, and Maggie made sure everybody had champagne to toast Anna, overjoyed that the welcome was unalloyed happiness, despite the past.
Maggie would have felt like everything was falling into place, if only Noah had been in sync, but he wasn’t. She noticed him drinking, which typically made him frisky later, though she doubted they’d be having sex tonight, or if they did, it would be one of those big-talk-then-sex sessions, which she liked more than he did. Either way, Noah didn’t have much to say to Anna and only once did Maggie see him hand her a drink, so he was making an effort.
Darkness fell as the meal was served, everybody ate their fill, and the approved playlist went into its umpteenth loop while the guests went home, leaving Maggie, Noah, Caleb, and Anna. Noah had wanted to scour the grill, so Maggie had taken Caleb up to bed, and Anna had said she would clean up the kitchen. Maggie had been coming downstairs when she heard Anna shouting in unmistakable distress.
‘Mom, help!’
‘Anna!’ Maggie almost tripped as she ran down the stairs, reaching the bottom just as a disheveled Anna came running toward her, the front of her sundress revealing her bra strap.
‘Mom, this has to stop, I can’t take it anymore, I just can’t!’ Anna burst into tears, running into Maggie’s arms.
‘What?’ Maggie hugged her tight, dumbfounded. ‘Honey? What happened?’
‘Babe?’ Noah came out of the powder room, stricken, and Maggie realized that he had been in there with Anna.
‘Mom, you have to stop him! He tried to kiss me! He keeps coming on to me –’
‘What?’ Maggie asked, astonished. Her mouth went dry. Her heart hammered. She looked at Noah in shock. ‘What is going on?’
‘Maggie, listen –’
‘Mom, you have to know the truth!’ Anna let her go, tears spilling from her eyes. ‘You have to get him to stop! I can’t take it anymore, I can’t!’
‘What did you say?’ Maggie said, still unable to believe her ears. Noah stepped back against the open door of the powder room, and Anna headed for the stairwell, grabbing the banister.
‘You ask him, Mom! Ask him about the driving lesson, what he tried to do! I can’t live with him!’
‘Anna, wait!’ Maggie felt her mouth hanging open. She couldn’t close it, she was so thunderstruck. She whirled around to face Noah in disbelief. ‘Is this true?’
‘Maggie, she’s crazy. I don’t even know what she’s talking about.’
‘Noah, what’s going on here?’ Maggie tried to get a grip. ‘What’s she talking about with the driving lesson? What happened?’