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From her vantage point in the witness box, she glares at me like I’m the worst person in the world.
Gabriel’s up in the viewing gallery once again. I make the mistake of making eye contact for a split second, and he raises his eyebrow at my choice of witness. I give him my most imperious stare then turn away and do my best not to think about him. It’s unclear whether or not Leah can see him. It’s possible that his invisibility glamour is light enough that any practitioner can penetrate it. Equally, he may only be visible to those with sufficient power.
“Where were you on the 15th June?”
“With my fiancé. My ex-fiancé… I mean. Or rather, he was my fiancé then. He isn’t now. With Brendan.”
Her words are a messy jumble.
“Talk me through what you did that night,” I demand. “Starting from seven PM.”
“We ate dinner. Then I suggested a little drive out into the countryside.”
“Are you a fan of nature?”
“I like animals and that. But I thought it would be nice to go out there and… you know.”
“Go out there and what?”
Her voice is barely audible. “Go out there and make a baby.”
“And did the defendant agree with your plan?”
She nods. “Yes. He could hardly move fast enough. Jumped in the car and we were off.”
She stares into the distance as though she’s looking back through her memories.
“And was this your own idea?”
She doesn’t answer. I stare at her, willing her to speak.Would a little touch of mesmerism be so bad?
I shake myself. No. I’ll win this case fairly—even if I’m pushing professional ethics to the edge—not through magic. Especially not that sort of magic.
“Miss Stockville?”
“No. I was asked to do it. To get him out of the way so he’d have no real alibi.”
I can feel the shock in the court like a physical entity.
“Who asked you to do this?”
“Mr Thornber’s son. He wanted to set Bren up. And I was sleeping with him… with Gabriel… so I agreed.”
She bursts into such hysterical tears that both my attempts at a follow-up question and the judge’s warning to be careful with my line of questioning are all but drowned out.
I glance over at Bren. There’s an expression of pure anguish on his face. Leah’s helping his case, but he looks like he’d rather go down for life than have her set all this out to the court. She’s breaking his heart all over again, and I’m helping her every step of the way.
She says everything I told her to say, pausing between questions to sob her eyes out. If they were still together, no one would believe a word of it. But the truth of the messy breakup is written on every line of her face, and in turn, it gives her fantastical story enough of a hint of verisimilitude.
Eventually, it’s Imran’s turn to cross-examine her. Still in Gabriel’s power as well as his pay, his eyes are wide with shock, and he can barely keep the rage out of his voice.
“Was the defendant ever violent to you in the course of your relationship? Or after your breakup?”
“No. Never. Of course not.” She manages to answer that one without crying.
It’s clear where he’s going with this. He’s trying to imply Bren’s coerced her into giving this testimony. It could be quite a believable line, but she sounds so aghast at the idea that it’s falling flat.
He probes every word of the story she just set out, but she stays entirely consistent. Not surprising when she’s telling the truth for once.
