“About the baby.”
“Your nephew?”
“Yes.”
“What about him?”
“She said she was leaving.”
“Leaving where?”
“She was going to leave Sylva and move to Knoxville.”
“And that upset you.”
He said nothing.
“Trooper Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“Tell the jury why.”
Danny looked down.
“My mom had been helping with Davie since he was born. A lot. David worked. Caroline worked. Things got rough. My mom stepped in.”
“And you believed Caroline couldn’t manage alone?”
His mouth flattened.
“I believed she didn’t know what she was doing.”
That landed badly.
“What exactly did you say to her?”
“I told her she couldn’t just take him away.”
“And what did Caroline say?”
“That he was her baby.”
“What was your basis for the stop?”
Danny looked up, startled.
“I thought she’d been drinking.”
Eleanor didn’t react.
“You thought Caroline Simms had been drinking,” she repeated.
“Yes.”
“Did you conduct a field sobriety test?”
“No.”
