Page 102 of The First Gentleman

CHAPTER 98

Y our Honor, the State calls Detective Sergeant Marie Gagnon,” Bastinelli announces from the prosecution’s table.

The double doors at the rear of the courtroom swing open, and Gagnon walks down the center aisle.

She’s dressed in a simple black suit and white blouse.

Nothing fancy.

The clerk swears her in.

She takes her seat in the witness box.

Bastinelli steps up to the lectern.

“Good morning, Detective.”

“Good morning, Mr. Bastinelli.”

“Detective, please give us a quick recap of your experience and background in law enforcement.”

Gagnon seems solid and dependable.

And her responses are short and concise.

She recites her employment history, from the National Guard to the police academy to her years on patrol duty and then to her present position as a lead detective in Major Crimes, in about thirty seconds flat.

It’s clear that she’s gone through this routine many times, and she’s got it down pat.

As with any criminal case, the lead prosecutor and the lead detective work closely together.

Still, Bastinelli keeps his questioning formal and proper.

To the jury, it seems as if they’ve never met.

Bastinelli thanks her, then dives into his questions regarding the police investigation.

“Let me take you back to last winter and the night you responded to a traffic stop at mile marker fourteen on Route 95 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Were you first at the scene?”

“No. Trooper Steve Josephs and Sergeant Evan Tasker were already there, holding in custody the driver of the Nissan Sentra that Trooper Josephs had pulled over.”

Bastinelli takes Gagnon through the officers securing the scene.

She tells him that they opened the trunk and discovered its cargo of human remains.

“Your Honor, State’s exhibit two A, already in evidence.” He clicks the controller and an image jurors saw earlier appears on the screen: a dirty blue bundle in which the skull is visible.

“Detective, is this what you saw then?”

“Yes, it is.”

“So what told you that the contents of the trunk were previously buried and recently unearthed?”

“There was dirt all over the bottom of the car’s trunk, the blue fabric, and the bones themselves. The dirt was moist and fresh, indicating that the exhumation had happened within a day or so.”

“And did you at some point discover a grave in the area?”

“We did. It was in a wooded area near the Reverend Bonus Weare memorial rock in Seabrook.”

“And what did you find there?”

“We found evidence of disturbed ground and excavated it.”

“And what were you searching for at that time?”

“We were looking for more bones. Another skeleton or skeletons or any further evidence connected to the bones we’d already found.”

“Did you find any weapons? A gun? A knife?”

“No, we did not.”

“And did you find any other items relevant to the case?”

“We did.”

“Can you describe them, please?”

My heart is thumping hard.

I’ve heard nothing on the news or from Felicia about whether the bracelet I reburied was found.

It must have been, right?

“We found several metatarsals—foot bones—which later proved to belong to the skeleton found in the Sentra.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes. We found a woman’s tennis bracelet.”

Mission accomplished.

I give myself a little internal fist pump.

Here we go.

Bastinelli introduces the item into evidence and puts a photo of it up on the screen.

The red jewels gleam in the enlargement.

“And have you identified the owner of this bracelet?”

“From video evidence, we conclude that it belonged to Suzanne Bonanno.”

“Did you find anything else, Detective?”

“We did.”

I freeze in place.

Oh, shit. Did I leave something behind?

“Can you describe it, please?”

“We found a man’s watch.”

Where did that come from?

At least I know it wasn’t left by me or Garrett.

It’s been years since either of us wore a watch as we used our phones to check the time.

Bastinelli clicks to another image.

“Your Honor, State’s exhibit sixteen. Is this the watch you found, Detective?”

“Yes, it is.”

“And how deep in the ground was the watch buried?”

“About three feet below where the bracelet was discovered,” Gagnon answers.

Damn it! I knew I should have dug deeper!

Bastinelli clicks to a close-up.

“There’s an inscription on the back of the watch. Detective, can you tell us what the inscription says?”

“Yes,” says Gagnon.

“It says, ‘To CW from BC, with love.’”

I don’t know who BC is.

It doesn’t matter. I just know it’s not Brea Cooke.

All I care about is CW.

Because CW is Cole Wright. It has to be.