Page 90 of After Anna

“Yes.”

“So Anna lied when she testified it was wine, is that your testimony?”

“Yes.”

“Dr. Alderman, isn’t it true that you forcibly kissed her and embraced her while you had an erection?”

“No.”

“No.” Noah could hear the jurors shifting. The gallery glanced at each other with nervous half-smiles. The sketch artist stared at him so hard she could have been memorizing his features, and reporters scribbled in their notebooks.

“Did you forcibly kiss her and embrace her while youdidn’thave an erection?”

“No.” Noah knew Linda was repeating the words to mortify him and shock the jury. It may have been shocking the jury, but he was beyond mortification.

“Isn’t it true that you grabbed her breast?”

“No.” Noah remembered that Anna was wearing the blue-checked sundress she had worn the first day, without her jeans jacket.

“It’s her word against yours, isn’t that right, Dr. Alderman?”

“Yes.”

“Except you’re here, and she’s dead, isn’t that right?”

“Objection, Your Honor!” Thomas half-rose.

“I’ll withdraw it, Your Honor,” Linda said, before Judge Gardner even ruled. She faced Noah. “Dr. Alderman, isn’t it true that you told Anna that you wanted to ‘fuck her’?”

“No.”

Judge Gardner frowned. “Counsel, find a euphemism, please.”

Linda pursed her lips. “Dr. Alderman, isn’t it true that you propositioned her for the second time?”

“No, I never propositioned her, either time. I heard Anna calling from the bathroom, so I went in and she said the toilet was running.” Noah told it exactly the way he had told it at the PFA hearing. “I bent over, took the lid off the tank, and looked inside, but everything seemed fine. I heard my wife coming down the stairs, and when I turned around, Anna was against the wall, and her bra strap was out. She called out, ‘Mom, help!’ then ran out of the bathroom.”

“So according to you, Anna is lying about this entire incident?”

“Yes.”

“Why would Anna make up such a lie about you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wouldn’t Anna have every motive to say nice things about you, in gratitude for your giving her a home, isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

“So why would Anna make up such a lie when it would also cause her to end up in court for a PFA, which you could see she was plainly uncomfortable testifying about?”

“I have no idea.” Noah knew Anna wasn’t uncomfortable at the PFA hearing. She hadacteduncomfortable, but she wasn’t.

“So even you have no idea what her motive would be for making up such a lie, is that correct?”

“Yes.” Noah realized that the only answer to the question was yes, but it made it look like an admission.

Suddenly in the back of the courtroom, the deputy stood aside, and the door opened. A woman in a jeans jacket left the courtroom. It was Maggie, and she was gone.