Page 91 of One of Us Is Guilty

‘Did you know the occupant of apartment twenty-six?’

‘Yes, my neighbor – well, she was a neighbor for a while, Molly. Molly Green.’

‘How long did she live there?’

‘Oh, not long. Maybe four or five months at the most.’

‘How well did you know her?’

‘Not well, not really. I remember her moving in and I think I helped her with a few boxes of books in the hallway. I’d heard noise, I opened my door and saw her struggling with all her bags and boxes. She was real nice, asked if I wanted water or anything. Yeah, very polite.’

Assistant district attorney Riley knew his way around a witness. His first questions were short, with short answers coming back. He asked them quickly, building up a rhythm, allowing the witness to get used to hearing their voice in court. The equivalent of a warm-up at the gym. Getting the blood flowing.

‘Did you know what her job was?’ he asked.

Now he was going to start lifting some weight.

‘She worked in politics, I believe.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘I met her in the elevator one morning. She was going to work and she was buttoning a pin, like a political pin, onto her jacket. Ican’t remember what it said, something about voting. Some slogan. We got talking and she said she was working for Patrick Vanderpool who was going to be running for governor next election.’

‘Was that the extent of the conversation?’

I leaned forward. Riley had expected Alison Karim to give a fuller answer. She was leaving some important detail out of that answer and Riley was giving her another shot, even a mild prompt to get her to reveal it.

‘No,’ said Alison, ‘I said I wasn’t into politics. I’d always thought it was too complicated for me and asked if she liked her job. She said she loved it, but that like any workplace there are problems. She said she was getting a hard time from her boss’s wife.’

Riley’s head lowered to the binder on the prosecution table in front of him. He licked his thumb and turned a page. Pure theatre. He had a lot more confidence than I’d anticipated. He wasn’t scanning the trial bundle for anything in particular. He was just wasting time. Letting the jury fill the silence in the room with that last answer from the witness. Allowing it time to cement in their consciousness.

The victim was getting a hard time from her boss’s wife – the defendant. The jury would remember this.

‘Miss Karim, let me turn now to the night of February seventeenth. Do you recall anything out of the ordinary that evening?’ asked Riley.

‘Why yes, I remember hearing raised voices. The walls in my apartment have pretty good sound insulation so I don’t normally hear anyone else. Just lucky, I guess. But that night I heard an argument. It was pretty heated. At first, I wasn’t sure where it was coming from. I thought maybe from the apartment upstairs, but then it seemed louder when I was close to the bathroom which is right near my front door. So I opened my front door, stepped out into the hallway. It was pretty clear it was coming from Molly’s apartment.’

‘Did you knock on the door and ask if everything was alright?’

‘Not right then, not at first. People argue, you know. And itwasn’t really bothering me. I thought I would just give her some privacy. It would be embarrassing for everyone, you know, if I’d knocked right then.’

‘Do you recall what time this occurred?’

‘It was pretty late. I’m not exactly sure. I had the TV on and the late news was on. That’s all I remember.’

‘You said you didn’t knock at first. Was there then a time when you did knock on the door?’

‘Yes, like I said, I ignored it at first, then I went to bed. I couldn’t really hear much in my bedroom. I was trying to get to sleep when I heard a scream. It was very clear to me. This was someone screaming for their life. And then I heard nothing. I jumped out of bed, put on my robe and slippers, went out into the hall and I knocked on Molly’s door a few times. I hollered asking if she was alright. I didn’t hear anything after that, so I was real worried. I went inside and paced around a little, not really knowing what to do. I made a hot milk, and thought about it and eventually I decided to call the police. I don’t know what time I called them.’

‘The time of the 911 call is logged. Just one more thing. The scream you heard, you said it was female. What about the raised voices you’d heard earlier?’

‘Both were female. I’m one hundred per cent sure about that.’

‘Thank you, Miss Karim. Please wait there. Mr. Flynn may have some questions.’

As Riley sat down, he didn’t throw any smiles, nods or winks to his assistants on the prosecution team. He had put a lot of points on the prosecution scoreboard with this witness, and he wasn’t about to brag about it. There was no ego in this performance. He was going straight for the win.

As I stood, Harry handed me some documents.