Page 18 of The Happy Month

“I did.”

“How would you characterize that testimony?”

“It was false. I lied.”

“Why did you lie?”

“Because Larry wanted me to.”

“And why was that?”

“Larry and Pete were boyfriends, lovers, whatever. I’ve always though it would be worse for him if the jury knew that. I think that’s why he wanted me to say I was Pete’s fiancé.”

“Why are you coming forward now?”

“Honestly, to save my marriage. I married Pete’s brother, Paul. I never told him the truth until… It’s almost been a year. I went to the dentist and I was messed up afterward. From the gas. I told him the truth then. That I was never his brother’s fiancée. I’m trying to make everything better. For me. For my husband. For Larry.”

I scratched an X on the top of my pad so that Lydia could see it. To Anne she said, “To clarify, when you say husband you mean ex-husband. You and Paul Michaels are divorced.”

“We’re talking about getting back together. I guess I was being optimistic. Is there a law against that?”

“We just need to be accurate. You never know what a prosecutor might latch on to.”

“Whatever.”

“When did you find out Larry and Pete were in a relationship?”

“Larry told me. Sometime over the summer, I think.”

“The summer of 1976?”

“Yes.”

“You never saw them together?”

“No. But?—”

“But?”

“I’d seen them talking to each other at school once. It just made sense.”

“In your testimony you said that Pete was beating Larry up, is that true?”

“It’s true that I said it, but no I don’t think Pete ever beat Larry up.” She was smiling. Happy that she’d answered exactly.

“In your testimony, it seems like you truly believe Larry killed Pete. Didn’t you go further than Larry wanted you to go? He didn’t want to be convicted, did he?”

She hesitated. After a deep breath she said, “I don’t remember that. I wouldn’t have said anything like that.”

Lydia opened the file in front of her, flipped over a couple of pages, then said, “From your testimony, ‘I guess Larry got tired of getting beat-up because that’s when he killed Pete.’ That sounds like you believed Larry killed Pete, doesn’t it?”

“I didn’t mean it.”

“Why did you say it? Larry wanted you to say Pete was your fiancé, but he didn’t ask you to say he killed Pete, did he?”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Did someone ask you to say that?”