Page 73

“But it was,” I say as the image of Ms. Cortez giggling as she signed her acceptance of my latest witness this morning appears in my head. “Your Honor?”

The dean nods at me. “Go on.”

Samantha approaches from the audience, her demeanor steady. She’s tall and outspoken and has a mean streak. “Samantha, two weeks before the vandalism, you attended an event at the local mall, is that correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you tell us why you were there?”

From my peripheral, Jake crosses his arms. I’m sure he doesn’t understand where the line of questioning is going.

“Yeah,” Samantha says. “Masy Rose—she’s the seventh-most followed influencer in Connecticut—was doing an event at the makeup store. It was a party, discounts and gift bags. And she was giving away one special edition custom lip kit and gloss she created, and she’d etched the winner’s name into the side.”

“Was this custom lip kit set made anywhere else?” I ask.

“No.”

“Your Honor,” Jake says, “as much as I enjoy my opposing council flailing around because she doesn’t have a case, I assume we don’t want to waste time on this unnecessary witness.”

“One final question.” I hold up a hand before the dean can dismiss Samantha. “Please, there’s a point to this, Your Honor.”

“Then find it, Ms. Lopez, expeditiously.”

“Ms. Wilson,” I ask, “who won the limited-edition custom lip kit set?”

“Rachel West.”

“No further questions,” I say, smiling at Jake, who is frowning at me. We both know the next witness is his, and it’s Rachel. It trips him up; he’s hesitant as Samantha leaves, and he calls for Rachel.

As he questions Rachel, he keeps glancing over at me, especially when I let him do so without interrupting.

Rachel claims Theo was in the drama room speaking with Chloe, and the next day the clown costume was missing, the same one found on the founder’s statue. And I let her make the statement clearly.

When it’s my turn, I approach Rachel friendly with a smile and soothing voice. “Ms. West,” I say, “to confirm, you’re claiming to believe Theo stole the clown costume weeks before the vandalism, the day he was in the club room rejecting Chloe.”

Her eyes flare and I have to hide my laugh. The last part was again unnecessary to the case but very necessary to my personal enjoyment.

“That’s right.” She has her cavity-sweet smile on.

“But you didn’t see him take it, did you?”

“No, but when he was gone, that’s when we noticed it was no longer there.”

“We?”

“Chloe and I,” she clarifies.

“So you’re saying, though Chloe was having a conversation with Mr. Hudson, he somehow managed to hide from her long enough to take the costume without her noticing at the time? Was her vision blurred? Did she take a nap? How could she have missed this?” I watch with delight as Rachel’s eyes flare with anger.

“Your Honor,” Jake cuts in, “please tell the opposing council she should have asked those questions to Ms. Miller.”

“Keep your questions related to Ms. West, Ms. Lopez.”

“Forgive me,” I go on. “Just trying to find a timeline here. Ms. West, you claim Mr. Hudson had access to the costume, but isn’t it true you did as well? At any point in time, anyone from the drama club has more access than anyone else, so why are you so sure Mr. Hudson was the one to take it?”

“I already told you,” she says through her teeth, still smiling, “because we noticed it after he had left.”

“Right, right,” I say, “but I want it on record you also had access to the costume as well.”