Page 38 of The 1 Lawyer

He responded immediately. “About eight fifteen.”

“What did you do then?”

“I walked to my office, got in my car, and drove home. I got there at eight thirty.”

“Did you ever see Aurora Gates again?”

“No.”

“Did you have sex with Aurora Gates that night?”

“No.”

“Did you sexually assault her in any way?”

“No.”

“Did you wrap your hands around her throat and choke her?”

“No!”

“Did you kill her?”

“I did not. I did not.”

“Describe Aurora Gates’s condition the last time you saw her.”

“She was upset, angry. She’d been crying. But she was alive. I swear it.” Caro turned to the jury. His eyes were red; his face was marked with the strain of the testimony. “She was alive, I swear to God.”

He sounded sincere. It didn’t look like his anguish was manufactured. But I wasn’t a mind reader.

CHAPTER 29

DESPITE A grueling cross-examination by Gordon-James, Caro didn’t back down. When the DA was done, Caro joined me at the counsel table.

We had only one witness left. It was time to establish my client’s alibi.

Judge Walker chose that moment to push his chair back from the bench. “We’ll take a brief recess. Court will reconvene in ten minutes.”

The interruption came at an awkward point. I’d hoped that we could rest the defense case on a high note, and that Iris Caro would provide it. Both Jenny and I had worked with her; she was the only person who could establish an alibi for Caro at the time of Aurora Gates’s death. Iris was prepared.

As the courtroom emptied, my client said, “Where’s Iris?”

I turned around and scanned the room. “She’s probably out in the hall. I’ll find her. You stay here.”

Members of Aurora Gates’s family stood in a cluster just outside the courtroom door, Benjamin Gates at the center. It was his first day back since he’d created a scene and punched me. The black eye he’d given me had changed color, but it hadn’t faded.

I saw Iris emerge from the women’s restroom. When the door swung shut behind her, Gates broke away from his supporters and ran to her. I wasn’t fast enough to prevent him from reaching out and clasping her arm.

He said, “You don’t have to get up there.”

When I pulled her away from Gates, her eyes were wide with apprehension. I said, “Come on, Iris.” I put an arm around her shoulders and escorted her to the courtroom door. Gates followed right behind us. His voice was low, but I heard him clearly: “You know what he is, what he’s done. You don’t owe that man a lick of loyalty. He hasn’t done right by you.”

I shuttled her into the courtroom and down the aisle. When she slid into her seat, I moved to the prosecution table and bent over the DA’s chair.

“You said you’d keep Gates under control. He just accosted my client’s wife on her way out of the damned restroom.”

Gordon-James glanced over his shoulder at Iris. “She looks fine.”

---