Body of Evidence (Marcus Douglas 2)

“I only have a few questions for you this morning, and then you’ll be free to go.” Marcus turned quickly and looked in Paxson’s direction. “That is of course unless Mr. Paxson has more questions for you.”

Paxson nodded his head graciously toward Marcus, and with that, he continued.

“Yesterday, Mr. Long, you told this panel that Mrs. Daniels arrived at your house at eight-thirty, and then you changed it to sometime after nine-thirty,” Marcus said and waited for Wade to respond.

“I did.”

“So Mrs. Daniels arrived some time after nine-thirty. What time did she leave your house?”

“Mrs. Daniels left my house a little before eleven.”

“So she was there for almost an hour and a half. When Mrs. Daniels got there, how was she dressed?”

Wade didn’t answer right away; he paused and had to think about it. “I know it was a long time ago. Take your time, Mr. Long.” Marcus began walking toward Panthea.

Wade looked over at Panthea. “I think she had on a green dress.”

Marcus stood behind Panthea and put his hands on her shoulders. Panthea felt herself getting wet from that simple touch. “Was the dress tight, Mr. Long?”

“I’d say so.”

“Did she have on heels?” Marcus asked.

“Panthea Daniels always got on some pumps,” Wade said and smiled in Panthea’s direction. She let out a little giggle.

“Was her hair done?”

“Yeah.” Wade laughed.

“I hope there is a point to this line of questions, Mr. Douglas,” the judge interrupted.

“There is, your honor,” Marcus assured the judge and walked back to the witness booth.

“More than just you being the fashion police, I’m sure.”

“Most definitely, your honor,” Marcus said and returned to questioning Wade. “What about her makeup? Was her makeup done?”

“For sure—I mean, yes, sir, Mrs. Daniels’ makeup was done.”

“So when Mrs. Daniels arrived at your house at nine-thirty, she was wearing a tight green dress and pumps, her hair was done and her makeup was fierce. What kind of mood was Mrs. Daniels in when she arrived?”

“She was kind of sad, upset.”

“Did Mrs. Daniels look like she’d been in a fight?”

“No, more like she was on her way out.”

“While she was there, Mrs. Daniels told you she’d found out from an investigator that Scott was cheating on her, and she showed you the pictures. You said she was upset, was she mad, angry, could you be more specific?”

“She wasn’t mad or angry or nothing like that. It was more like she was hurt than anything.”

“Did she cry?”

Wade shook his head before answering. “Yeah she cried. Panthea gets real emotional sometimes.”

“Thank you, Mr. Long,” Marcus said and walked away. “One more thing,” he said and sat down next to Panthea. “When did you find out that Abril Arrington was dead?”

“That same night on the news after Mrs. Daniels left,” Wade said.