(The witness purses her lips.)
AHM: All right. You are right. Ivet ran away with me.
Judge: Can you tell us why? Was it your idea or hers?
AHM: It was… it was her idea… It was not… First…
Judge: There’s no hurry. Take your time and tell the truth.
(Three minutes later, the session resumes.)
AHM: I’m ready. Judge, I’m sorry.
Judge: Continue. Remember that you cannot lie or hide information of value that is within your knowledge, under legal penalty.
AHM: The idea of running away to Portugal was mine. Ivet was the first and only person to know my plans because, well… She is the reason why I wanted to run away. I want to make one thing clear: I did not leave France or my family on a whim. I made the decision to do something for myself… for my own happiness, for once in my life. Do you know how complicated it is to be Antonia Hawtrey-Moore? Everybody knows me. They think they have the right to judge me, to judge my life, to judge my family! Do you know the ordeal I went through when I decided to divorce Laurent? I didn’t run away because of the pressure of public life… but I did run away so that I wouldn’t have to endure the criticism, the constant whispers that I knew the news of a new divorce would arouse.
Judge: Was that the only reason you hired the services of the Counterfeiter,Mrs. Hawtrey-Moore?
AHM: Yes… Yes. I ran away to have the opportunity to live a quiet life together with the woman I love. And it’s not her fault that this was the only way I could think of to get it. That’s all, your honour.
Judge: What exactly happened on the afternoon of February 11?
AHM: Ivet and I set everything up in the morning. We made a plan. I knew that my husband talked to his friends from four to five every afternoon. We faked an argument right between those hours. I knew Tim’s friends thought there was something going on between them because, well… Ivet was acting very affectionate with us. It was fake, of course. It was the perfect alibi. The perfect motive.
JUDGE: Okay. Let’s move on to the next question. When you left France, did you intend to return at any time?
AHM: No, never.
Judge: Why did you come back?
AHM: My daughter, judge. My daughter. She is the most important thing to me.
Judge: You abandoned your daughter.
AHM: I did not! Eloise no longer needed me. I left her everything I had.
Judge: Did you think that making your daughter believe that you had died instead of telling her the truth would do her any good?
(The declarant turns red.)
AHM: What do you want me to say, that I was selfish? Yes, I was. I have no regrets.
Judge: Let’s go back to the question. Why did you come back? Why are you here now?
AHM: I just told you. Because of my daughter. It’s true thatI didn’t want to leave my other son, Laurent, with nothing, so I left him something that would get him the money from the family Club, in case he needed it one day. He has never accepted my help. I didn’t think he was going to do it now. I didn’t think he was going to use it to…to do something like that.
Judge: Something like what?
AHM: Like forcing me to come back from hiding. To leave Eloïse with nothing. To blackmail everybody.
Judge: What do you think, as his mother, was his motivation?
AHM: My son… for him, everything is a game. The ring thing… I don’t blame him, you know? He got it from me. I gave him my hand to hold, and he grabbed my entire arm. I would not like to answer any more questions about him.
Chapter 42
BASTIAN
