The Truth of it All by Gwen Florio

Author:Gwen Florio
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

CHAPTER

23

STEVEN DALE WAS a redhead, like she was, and his skin mottled patchy and pink just as hers did when she was upset or angry.

The flush crawled up his neck as he raised his hand and swore to tell the truth.

She smiled at him, Tibbits forgotten, hoping to put him at ease. “This won’t take long,” she said, ignoring Susan’s snort. She walked him through the process, telling him all the things his lawyer had already explained to him, speaking in a low, reassuring monotone until his high color subsided.

“First, you’ll tell me a little bit about yourself. And then, please just describe what happened that morning. You can start with the time—as much detail as you can remember.”

She asked him about all the things she already knew, the things everybody who knew him knew, how to spell his name, and his age and year in high school and position on the soccer team. His lawyer listened, nodding—so far, so rehearsed—and turned his attention to the coffee that had been refreshed on his way in. Susan bent over her legal pad in a diligent approximation of note-taking, but if Julia had to guess, doodles probably looped across the yellow paper. The deputy, closer to Julia’s age and less adept at protocol, couldn’t resist the occasional eye roll, even once emitting a sigh.

Steven paused in his recital, a staccato series of answers, the briefest possible response to each question. The rehearsal had been thorough.

“You’re doing great. This is really helpful.”

Susan’s pen slid audibly across the page, possibly slashing an emphatic crosspiece for the “t” in “bullshit.”

“You were saying …,” Julia urged as she continued to elicit fact after useless fact from Steven Dale.

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