“No,” she said, and then she reached across herself with her left hand to scratch her shoulder, in effect shielding her heart.
“You realize you’re under oath,” Naomi said. “And you understand the penalty for perjury in a capital crimes case?”
“No…I mean, yes.”
“Objection, Your Honor,” Strong said. “The defense is badgering the witness.”
“Sustained,” Varney said, patting his brow with a handkerchief.
Naomi paused, and then said, “Did Coach Tate ever come to you asking about your uncle? Marvin Bell?”
Lawrence looked confused. “If he did, I don’t remember.”
“Funny,” Naomi said, returning to the defense table. “We talked to Lacey Dahl, a good friend of yours, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Ms. Dahl will testify that she heard Coach Tate ask you about Marvin Bell a few days before you claim the rape occurred,” Naomi said. “She heard it outside the women’s locker room at the high school. Do you remember now?”
Lawrence fidgeted. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“What did he ask about?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Did he ask whether your uncle was involved in the drug trade in Starksville?”
“What?” Lawrence said, offended. “No, that never—”
Before she could finish, Judge Varney let out a howl like he’d been stabbed. His contorted face turned beet red, and his entire body went rigid. Then he moaned like a wounded animal and pitched forward onto the bench.
Chapter
51
“Three days?” I said later that afternoon, standing outside the track stadium at Starksville High School with Bree. We were talking to Naomi with my cell phone on speaker.
“Maybe five,” my niece replied. “Judge Varney’s riddled with kidney stones and passing two. Strong says resuming trial Friday is the best we can hope for, but more likely Monday.”
“It’s probably a blessing,” Bree said.
“Why’s that?” Naomi asked.
I said, “Unless you and Stefan aren’t telling us something, Bree and I have both looked at the evidence, and other than Stefan’s suspicions about Marvin Bell, we don’t see anything that links him to drug trafficking.”
“There’s circumstantial evidence,” Naomi said.
“That’s not good enough,” Bree said. “We need to prove it.”
I said, “If we can peg Bell as a drug lord threatened with exposure, suddenly his niece Sharon’s story feels dubious, and we have a strong motive for his framing Stefan.”
“Still leaves the DNA evidence,” Bree said.
“I think I’ve got that covered,” Naomi said. “Stefan and Patty used condoms. I’ve got an expert witness willing to testify that it is entirely possible that the semen found on Rashawn and on those panties was stolen from the trash and then planted.”
“Put both those things together and there’s your reasonable doubt,” I said.
“But we don’t have Bell,” Bree said. “And Patty Converse a no-show in court today didn’t help.”