Page 46 of After Anna

Linda mock-slapped her forehead. “So that’s your story and your sticking to it?”

Thomas rose. “Objection, Your Honor. The prosecutor’s comments are improper and prejudicial.”

“Sustained.” Judge Gardner waved Thomas back into his seat. “Ms. Swain-Pettit, you’re on notice.”

“Thank you, Your Honor.” Linda turned to face Noah, folding her arms. “Dr. Alderman, what happened when you returned home?”

“I got out of my car with the groceries, and Anna’s car was in my driveway. I looked inside the car and she wasn’t there.” Noah had told this on direct, so he summarized it now. “I kept going to the house, and it was dark. The porch light was off. I looked around since I knew that Anna didn’t have a key, so she would be outside.”

Linda kept her arms folded, letting him speak without interruption, and Noah realized that this would be the first time that Maggie would hear his story from start to finish. He prayed she would believe him, and so would the jury. When he’d told it on direct, they had listened attentively, but Noah knew Linda was having him tell it again so she could destroy him.

“I saw that she was lying on the porch floor, and I thought she had fallen asleep, so I set the grocery bag down and said, ‘Why are you here?’ But when she didn’t move, I went over to her and realized that she was dead.”

“How did you realize she was dead?”

“She didn’t move or answer, then I touched her arm and there was no response, so I went closer to her and I looked into her face. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I could see her eyes were open.” Noah realized he was volunteering but he felt shaken, knowing that Maggie was hearing every word. “I felt for a pulse at her neck, then at her wrist, and there was no pulse, but the skin on her neck was warm, so I tried CPR. I began chest compressions, and at the same time I got my phone out of my pocket and called 911 and put them on speaker while I did the compressions.”

Linda frowned. “How did you determine she had been strangled if it was dark?”

“Oh, right. I had my phone in my hand and I turned on the flashlight and shined it on her face.”

“Why didn’t you mention the flashlight just now?”

“I forgot about it. I said it before, when I testified on direct.”

Linda arched an eyebrow. “You mean, you mentioned it when your lawyer took you through your questions, but not now?”

“Objection.” Thomas rose, frowning. “That comment is testimony, Your Honor.”

“Sustained.” Judge Gardner waved Thomas back down. “Counsel, please rephrase.”

“I’ll withdraw the question,” Linda said, though she had made her point. “Dr. Alderman, are you saying that you examined her on the porch?”

“Well, not examined, but I looked at her, and I could see that she had been strangled.”

“You hadn’t seen the corpse of a person who had been strangled before, had you?”

“No, I hadn’t. But it was obvious.” Noah told himself to stop volunteering. He realized he was trying to explain to Maggie, his audience of one. But he was getting himself in deeper and deeper.

“Isn’t it true that you knew Anna had been strangled because you strangled her?”

“No.”

“Then how specifically did you know she had been strangled?”

Noah hesitated. He didn’t want to say it in front of Maggie. “I just knew. It was obvious. Her body was still and her eyes were fixed. She was motionless, as in death.”

“But if you were only going by the stillness, couldn’t she have died of a heart attack or an aneurysm?”

“No, that wasn’t what it was.” Noah knew he sounded evasive, because he was being evasive. He had to say something. “The vessels were broken in her eyes. The petechiae, the capillaries in the whites of her eyes, had burst.”

“Sonowwe’re hearing that her capillaries were broken, but you didn’t mention that before, did you?”

“Uh, no, I guess not.” Noah couldn’t imagine how Maggie felt right now.

“Dr. Alderman, aren’t you making this up as you go along?”

“No.”