Page 54 of Ashes of Us

Danica could practically hear Mathers' teeth grind together as the Judge nodded, looking like he was in agreement with David's reasons that the transcripts were admissible and had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep the smug smile that was threatening at bay.

After another minute or so of silent deliberation, looking over the transcripts, Perella closed the file.

“While Massachusetts is a two-party consent state, the court finds that the recording in question was made on the deceased's dash cam, in his vehicle, and recovered by police during the crash investigation.

Given that the defendant did not secretly make it and has been authenticated by law enforcement, I will allow the transcript into evidence.

Mr. Mathers, if there's nothing else, please proceed with your opening statement.”

Danica leaned back, her whole body relaxing as the Judge allowed the transcripts of the recordings.

Mathers cleared his throat as he straightened his tie.

That was a significant blow to his case and one she didn't think he could recover from.

He started his opening statement, which was basically the same as the one he gave at the first hearing, stating that Jasper admitted to sleeping with Ms. Gamache and that she was pregnant as a result.

The accident caused Lucy to miscarry, and they would provide evidence to show Jasper wanted to raise the child.

When he sat down again, the Judge cleared his throat, looking skeptical, but told David to give his statement.

“Your Honour, over the last three weeks, my client and I have been gathering evidence and learning about the events of the night in question.

I can say with certainty, Jasper Preston not only did not want this child, but there is no clear evidence, besides the word of Lucille Gamache, that they had intercourse.

Ms. Gamache was indeed pregnant on the night oof the accident We've seen the medical reports of her unfortunate miscarriage; no one is questioning that, but there is no evidence the child was Jasper Preston's.

There was no DNA test done on the fetus after the fact, and Ms. Gamache requested to have the remains cremated, making it impossible to prove paternity.

Because of this and other evidence we will present, we believe we have enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jasper Preston didn't want this child.” David finished his statement and sat back down.

Danica wondered why he didn't mention the theory that if the child was Jasper's, it was because Lucy sexually assaulted him and impregnated herself, then realized if he had, it would be on them to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt and this way, the evidence would tell the story and hopefully the Judge would make the connection himself.

She shifted a little in her chair and watched as the Judge told Mathers to present his case.

To her surprise, he called Amy to the stand immediately, but his reason's for it became clear as after she was sworn in, he immediately started asking about the text messages between her and her son and the discrepancies between the transcript she provided to him and the one David had pulled from Jasper's phone and submitted as evidence.

“Jasper asked me to delete our text messages.” Her voice was shaking slightly, and Danica could tell she was very nervous.

“What I supplied was what I was able to recover, but I felt it covered the important parts, that he woke up with Lucy on top of him, and if the baby were his, he would have raised it.”

“Why did Jasper ask you to delete your text messages with him?” Mathers asked, his voice very gentle, like he was talking to an emotionally fragile child, but Danica noticed he never questioned why she believed it was Jasper's baby when he kept denying it or if she thought there was a chance Lucy had done something sneaky in order to get pregnant.

“He came to me after everything happened, asking for advice about what to do.” Amy took a deep breath and glanced at Danica, her face full of resentment.

“He was afraid Danica would leave him if she found out.

I told him to get a paternity test quietly, and if it were his, he would have to deal with the consequences of his actions, but if he wasn't the father, then there was no need for her, or anyone else for that matter, to find out.”

“So, you encouraged him to hide it from his wife.” Mathers' tone of voice was grating on Danica's nerves.

He was acting like Amy was a fragile old woman who was just acting in her son's best interests when she was a conniving bitch who only cared about her son and herself. “Can you tell the court why?”

“Their marriage was already in jeopardy due to poor reactions from both of them during a fight. They were trying to work things out, and no matter what happened that night...” Amy trailed off, clearly not wanting to finish her sentence, judging by the way her mouth looked like she was sucking on a lemon.

She huffed and folded her arms, looking away from Danica like the sight of her was personally offensive.

“No matter what happened that night, my son loved his wife and losing her would have devastated him.

I didn't see the point in throwing another bomb on things. I wanted my son to be happy.”

Mathers asked her if she knew what the fight was about, and Amy shook her head.

“All he told me was he started the fight, Danica tried to walk away to cool off, and he grabbed her arm to stop her, which resulted in her slapping him in the face to get away.

He insisted he was in the wrong and never should have started the fight or grabbed her.

He didn't blame her for slapping him and even said he deserved it.” She looked outraged by that and glared at Danica.

“Although personally, I don't believe violence is ever the answer.”

“No further questions.” Mathers smiled at Amy and thanked her before sitting down. The Judge told David that Amy was now his witness, and David stood up, approaching Amy, who tried to hold his eyes and appear indifferent, but ended up coughing and looking away from him.

“Mrs. Preston.” He came to a stop in front of her and linked his hands behind his back as he studied her.

“In the text messages recovered from your son's phone, he repeatedly insists the baby wasn't his, and you backed him up, telling him to get the paternity test to prove it wasn't his. What made you change your mind?”

Amy shifted, clearly uncomfortable with the question.

“Lucy came to me the day after the accident and told me her side of the story.

She said she approached Danica in the hospital and asked for my son's sperm so she could get pregnant again.

I felt she wouldn't have done something so incredibly rude and insensitive if she were making things up.”

“So, you believe your son cheated on his wife, who you've admitted, on record, loved his wife so much that losing her would have devastated him, and got Ms. Gamache pregnant?” David raised his eyebrow.

Amy swallowed and shook her head. “No, not on purpose. He admitted to being high, and I figured he didn't remember everything.”

“I'm not an expert, although I do have one who is willing to testify about the effects of marijuana if needed, but it's my understanding that marijuana does not cause memory loss unless someone is a chronic user.

According to my client and the statements of numerous family members and friends, Jasper didn't usually partake, only using it once or twice a year at most.” He tilted his head at her.

“Do you have proof that he used it enough to affect his memory?”

“No.” Amy shook her head, looking weirdly proud and defeated.

“So, why wouldn't he remember having sex with someone who wasn't his wife?” David pressed. “Or do you think he was lying about his actions that night?”

“I don't know.” She admitted after a moment, and Danica could tell it killed her to realize that in order to continue saying it was Jasper's baby, she would have to acknowledge her son was at fault and had made a conscious decision to cheat on Danica that night.

“And yet, you were so sure that it was your son's child that you filed an injunction and brought his widow to court to demand that she allow his alleged affair partner to take his reproductive material and impregnate herself with his child again.” He paused, allowing the statement to sink in before he pressed forward.

“I'll ask again, do you believe your son cheated on his wife and got Ms. Gamache pregnant?”

Amy glared at David for a long moment, and Danica ducked her head to hide her smile at how David had backed Amy into a corner.

She now had to admit that she either thought Jasper cheated or that she didn't actually believe Lucy was pregnant with Jasper's baby and only went through with all this to get Jasper's offspring.

“Yes.” She snapped finally when the Judge cleared his throat and raised his eyebrow at her.

“Yes, I think he cheated on Danica, and I think she deserved it.”

There was a collective gasp in the courtroom, and several of Jasper's cousins stood up, talking over one another as they all attempted to make it understood that Jasper wouldn't cheat on Danica.

The Judge banged his gavel several times, demanding order and had to threaten to clear the courtroom before things died down.

David, however, just smiled politely and returned to his seat. “No further questions.”

“What are you doing?” Danica whispered as Amy stepped down from the stand and returned to her seat, red-faced. “Why aren't you asking anything else?”

“Because I got her to admit she thinks you deserve all of this,” David murmured back soothingly.

“She just pretty much admitted she's doing all this to get back at you, either for slapping Jasper or because you pulled Jasper out from under her thumb, whatever, her reasons don't really matter.

I thought she would deny her precious boy cheated, and I would then point out that if she truly believed Jasper didn't cheat, then she either knew it wasn't Jasper's baby, or she didn't care that her son was sexually assaulted as long as she got a grandchild out of it.”

Danica furrowed her brow. She wasn't exactly sure how the fact that Amy was doing this to be vindictive was better than her admitting she was okay with all of this because it meant she would get a do-over baby, but she trusted David's judgement.