Mark of Justice by James Robin

Author:James, Robin [James, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, thriller, Suspense
Amazon: B08WCYJ1JB
Goodreads: 57148734
Publisher: Robin James Books
Published: 2021-08-28T07:00:00+00:00

25

“We call Valerie Emmons to the stand, Your Honor,” Reilly said, calling his first witness for the defense.

Valerie wore a floral print blouse and blue skirt. The pretty woman I’d always known with too much makeup had taken some style advice. Today, she wore none. Her skin was remarkably pale, her lips almost invisible. In fact, the only color on her face were the dark-gray circles beneath her eyes.

“Mrs. Emmons,” Reilly started. “Can you explain to the jury how you’re related to the defendant?”

“He’s my husband,” Valerie said. Reilly then had to remind her to speak up so the jury could hear.

“How long have you been married?”

“Since right after college,” she said. “I went to the University of Toledo. Cal worked as a mechanic at one of the Ford dealerships in Toledo. I think it was my sophomore year, I had to take my car in to fix something with the transmission. That’s when we met. He was so good-looking. And he knew how to do things, you know? Like he could fix anything. He could just ... handle stuff. Men like that are hard to find anymore.”

“Sure,” Reilly said. “What do you do for a living now?”

“Well, I got a psychology degree. But I didn’t pursue that. Cal and I got married just as soon as I graduated. I didn’t have the greatest home life. We’d already moved in together and that caused a lot of problems for me with my parents. Anyway, Cal was making good money. He told me I could do anything I wanted. He was always a little old-fashioned. A throwback. He was fine if I stayed home while he went to work. He gave me space to figure out what I wanted.”

“Where do you live now?”

“Oh, it’s been fifteen years now. But Cal’s grandfather passed away and left the family farmhouse to Cal and me. It was a shock. By that point, Cal wasn’t working for the Ford dealership anymore. His grandpa, Ralph Emmons, he’d taken Cal into the family business. Small engine repair. By the time Grandpa Ralph passed on, Cal was pretty much running it.”

“Where is that business located?”

“It’s out on Kidman Road. We live in the house, and Cal’s garage is on the property. Emmons Garage. He’s got a lot on the other side of the barn.”

“How close are the garage and barn to the house where you live?”

“It’s a thirty-acre plot of land. We don’t farm it anymore. We’ve got some woods in the back and a pond. A yard right behind the house. The business property sits about a hundred yards away from the main house. But I can see it from the kitchen.”

“To be clear, you’re saying the barn is in sight of the main house?”

“It sure is. The garage too. The house sits up by the road. The barn’s behind us. The garage is on the other side of the barn but set back a little ways. But you can see it from the windows on the west side of the house.

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.