The Coincidence (The Trial Trilogy) by David B. Lyons

Author:David B. Lyons [Lyons, David B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

Lavinia Kirwan

He nods at the judge, then readjusts his standing position to face me again.

‘Okay, well, let me put it to you this way, Ms Kirwan… Since Reese and Oscar Stapleton were reported missing, you have gone on record to say you felt Joy was acting differently to how she normally acts, is that correct?’

‘Yes, it is,’ I reply, without hesitating. Just as we’d rehearsed.

‘Can you elaborate?’

I sit more upright.

‘There wasn’t any standout moments where I thought, ‘Wow, Joy is losing it,’ I say. ‘I don’t have absolute proof. It’s just small things. Things that maybe only a best friend would notice. She was off schedule. In different ways. She used to obsess about time… she’d never be late, would Joy. But in the months leading up to Oscar and Reese going missing, she just always seemed to be late. She’d never turn up to anything on time. And she got more forgetful.’

There’s a beat of silence before she gasps. Loudly. Like, loudly enough for everybody in the courtroom to hear. It makes me instantly snap a stare at her – the first time I’ve seen those eyes in over a decade. She’s aged. Definitely. Her skin is a lot paler – almost like milk. And her hands look really wrinkled. Much more wrinkled than mine. I might even be prettier than she is now. If we went out to some pub or club tonight, maybe I’d be the one who got all the attention.

The court has stayed silent since her gasp. I don’t really react but to stare at her. I’m not going to let that murderous bitch intimidate me while I’m up here. Typical Joy though. Trying to steal the limelight from me.

‘Okay,’ the judge calls out. ‘Mrs Stapleton, if you could refrain from making any noises.’

Then the judge nods back at Jonathan Ryan and he readjusts his feet to face me again.

‘Can you give the court any specifics on Joy Stapleton getting more forgetful and not being herself in the lead up to Oscar and Reese being reported missing?’

‘There was one time that I was supposed to meet her and the two boys in Dundrum shopping centre. We were supposed to meet at one p.m., so we could have lunch together. She didn’t get there till gone two… about ten past two. I ate alone. Other times she would phone me and then we’d be on the call for a few minutes and when I asked why she’d rung, she’d say she’d forgotten. I could tell her mind was going a bit… a bit different. She was tired all the time.’

‘Tired?’

‘Yes. She wasn’t getting much sleep. She’d do all the night feeds. Shay was rarely there and on the rare occasion he was, it was still all left up to her. I think Shay’s idea of having kids was old-school and traditional. He thought his role as a father was to genuinely just assume that the mother did everything.’

‘Objection.’ Bracken shouts.

‘It’s pertinent,’ the judge says, staring down at me again.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.