Page 103 of The First Gentleman

CHAPTER 99

T ess Hardy’s turn.

The defense attorney strides forward and stops a few feet short of the witness stand.

“Sergeant Gagnon, good morning.”

“It’s Detective Sergeant. Detective is fine.”

Hardy adjusts smoothly.

“Detective,” she says, folding her hands in front of her.

“Could you tell the jury how you learned the location alleged to have contained the remains of Suzanne Bonanno?”

I’m riveted—this is the police testimony of my 911 call.

“State police dispatch received an anonymous phone call that was transferred to me. The caller gave specific directions as to where Suzanne Bonanno was buried.”

“Have you identified the caller?”

“No. The call was short and not easily traceable. Probably from a burner phone.”

“Anything distinctive about the caller?”

“Female. That’s all we know.”

No link to my identity.

Thank goodness .

Tess Hardy says, “Your Honor, defendant’s exhibit ten B. This is an audio exhibit.” She presses a button on the controller and a recording starts.

Oh, crap. That’s my voice booming through the speakers!

I shift uncomfortably in my seat, hoping that Ron Reynolds, the only person in the courtroom who knows my voice, won’t recognize it.

“My name doesn’t matter. Just listen. Suzanne Bonanno was buried in the woods in Seabrook, forty feet west of the Reverend Bonus Weare memorial rock—”

Hardy stops the playback.

“Is that the voice you heard?”

“It is, yes.”

“Detective, are you aware that the Department of Homeland Security, NSA, and other government intelligence agencies can sometimes trace burner phones?”

I feel a twist in my gut.

To my relief, Gagnon is quick to answer.

“I am aware of that,” the detective says.

“But by the time we considered contacting them, we’d already arrested a suspect with longstanding ties to the victim.”

Hardy gives a disapproving look, then moves in another direction.

“Isn’t it true, Detective, that criminals often return to the scene of the crime?”

“Sometimes they do, yes.”

“And have criminals been known to plant evidence?”

“Of course. It happens.”

“So it’s possible that those items were buried at a different time than the remains were? Maybe at a later date?”

I can tell Gagnon doesn’t want to answer this question, but she has no choice.

“Yes. It’s possible.”

“Thank you. No further questions for the witness at this time.”