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“To be nice.”
Keith threw his hands in the air. “What? It has been your testimony here today that Jacqueline Blue had been making unwanted advances for close to a year. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“So you decided to be nice and have sex with her? Did you expect her to leave you alone after that night?”
Victor hesitated. “No . . . I . . . uh . . . it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I didn’t really think it through.”
“Was there another reason besides being nice enough to have sex that you accepted Miss Blue’s invitation that night?”
“No.”
“Did you question her about the homicide investigation?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Let me rephrase the question,” Keith said calmly. “Isn’t it true that the real reason you went to Ms. Blue’s apartment after the Black Pack party was because you wanted to find out how close the police were to finding Mrs. Murray’s killer?”
“Objection!” yelled Champ.
The judge hesitated and then ruled in Keith’s favor. “Answer the question, Mr. Bell.”
Victor’s body seemed to fold in on itself like a big helium balloon that has been punctured with a letter opener. “Yes.”
I prayed fervently that Keith would drop this line of questioning. There was no need for Mama to hear that Victor had vomited after climbing into bed with me.
“Did you have sexual intercourse with Jacqueline Blue that night?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Victor sighed. “We went into her bedroom and got undressed. We climbed into her bed. There was a picture on her nightstand. I knocked it over accidentally. When I picked it up, I saw that it was Annabelle. I got upset and had to leave Jackie’s house.”
Keith was a real showman. He yelled, sneered, laughed sarcastically, occasionally slipped into the cadence of a Baptist preacher, waved his arms about, and paced the courtroom like he owned it.
“Did you get the information that you wanted from Jackie?”
“No. She played it real cagey and wouldn’t open up about the investigation. It sort of pissed me off.”
“Were you in love with Annabelle Murray?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ever tell you that she loved you?”
“Once, a long time ago.”
At that point, Judge Veronsky became ill and court was adjourned for the day. Unfortunately, it was a Friday afternoon, which meant that Victor’s testimony was not over. He’d have to get back on the witness stand first thing Monday morning.
37
A BROKEN HEART
I couldn’t stand Paul during the next few days. He seemed angry, hostile, and brittle. I knew that Victor’s revelations were bothering him but he didn’t want to talk.
Mama wasn’t much better—several times I caught her staring at me as though I was a stranger. We were in her kitchen trying to talk about anything except the trial. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer.
