Page 111 of Dead Mountain

“The first was a lie, the second is the truth.”

“You saw your brother making the video?”

“Yes.”

“The sheriff knocked you down trying to stop him?”

“Yes. He hit me like a linebacker.”

“The sheriff testified that the ground was dangerously hard and stony, correct? So you might have been seriously injured?”

“Yes.”

“Were you in fact injured?”

“No. Actually, yes, I was. I got a scratch and a bruise—very similar to the injuries that sent the sheriff rushing to the emergency room.”

This elicited a flurry of titters from the audience.

“Your brother then grabbed the sheriff and threw him down?”

“He sort of checked him with his shoulder and pushed him down.”

“Why?”

“I believe he was trying to protect me.”

“What happened to the phone?”

“The sheriff got up and confiscated it.”

“So the sheriff wasn’t lying on the ground, stunned, as has been asserted?”

“No. He jumped right up.”

“When the phone was returned to you several days later, was the video your brother took still on it?”

“No. It was gone.”

“Did Skip try to run away when the sheriff apprehended him?”

“No.”

“Did he resist arrest in any way?”

“No. He cooperated fully.”

“No further questions,” said Lightfeather. “The defense rests.”

Nora returned to her seat, glancing over at the jury with apprehension. It was clear they were astonished by what had just transpired. But what were they thinking?

Scowsen gave a thunderous summation that focused on the heroism of Hawley and the lying, craven, prevaricating, unreliable, compromised nature of his deputy, Baca. In contrast, Lightfeather’s summation was calm, quiet, and so brief it lasted less than five minutes. He reminded the jury of Baca’s testimony, asked them to consider which of the two stories they believed, and requested they decide Skip’s fate accordingly, as was their duty under the law. The judge then charged the jury, and they filed out of the courtroom. At that point, the judge called for a break. He seemed to expect a quick verdict.

And he was not wrong. Twenty minutes later, before Nora had even been able to finish the lousy cup of coffee she’d ordered in the courthouse cafeteria, the jury came back in and declared Skip not guilty on all counts.

EPILOGUE

CORRIE HAD SLEPT late, as she always did on vacation. What made this particular vacation unusual, however, was that she woke to find a cappuccino on the bedside table and a copy of the Albuquerque Journal propped next to it. She saw the headline and sat bolt upright, suddenly wide awake.

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