Only The Trees Know by Heather Hansen

Author:Heather Hansen [Hansen, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

NOW…

Detective Sanchez walked through the gallery with his spine straight and his chest puffed out. The room quieted as he took the witness stand. He had the kind of presence that demanded believability and oozed authority. The entire room waited with anticipation.

I wanted to roll my eyes.

He sat back in the witness box, watching the jury while he stroked his synthetic tie, the look on his face polite and professional. He’d freshly buzzed his head making his bushy mustache appear overgrown. His court suit was more workingman’s chic than fashionable, at odds with the aura of confidence he projected.

Ms. Johnson stepped up to the podium. “Detective Sanchez, you were the lead detective in this case, correct?”

“Correct,” Sanchez agreed, his voice deeper, like a bigger version of himself.

“How did you come to be involved with the investigation?” Ms. Johnson asked.

“It originally started off as a missing persons case. I was brought on when it became a homicide.”

“Were you on the scene when the bodies of Mr. Crandall, Miss Adler, and Mr. Kirkpatrick were discovered?”

“Correct,” Sanchez said. “Mr. Kirkpatrick was located with the defendant, still alive at the time. It was evident that the situation was quickly changing pace to a homicide, so I was brought on prior to the discovery of the others.”

Ms. Johnson nodded, following along with his testimony. Her body language was open, agreeing with Sanchez. Leading him down the path she’d created for the jury. “Let’s go back a moment, Detective Sanchez. Please bring us up to speed on how your department first heard about the missing teenagers.”

Sanchez sat forward like he was about to tell a story. He turned directly to the jury, a pandering move that was so obvious I wondered how the jury could think it was genuine. “The parents of Liam Kirkpatrick called the ranger station to alert authorities that the teens were a day late checking in. A search party was quickly put into place. I arrived soon after.”

“Did the park know there were missing hikers prior to the Kirkpatricks’ phone call?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Ms. Johnson asked.

“It’s not required to leave a hiking itinerary with the rangers. Though it’s suggested and in a hiker’s best interest in case of accidents.”

“Did the teens check in prior to their hike?” she asked.

Sanchez looked directly at me. “They did not.”

He blamed me, like it was my fault we didn’t check in with the ranger. Just because I was the only one still alive didn’t mean that I had been in charge of the trip details. I hadn't even known we were supposed to check in with them.

And I doubted Liam had either, for all his insistence that he’d known what he was doing. Liam skipping out on safety procedures was laughable. He was such a Boy Scout. There was no way he'd purposely put us in danger. It didn’t matter. Once again, Liam’s decisions were biting me in the ass.

The insinuations and covert looks highlighted the injustice. This trial was a parade of people who blamed every circumstance on me, whether or not I had any choice in the situations.

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