Page 172 of In the Air Tonight

“Did you report the incident to anyone?”

“No, I was afraid to. He was so popular, and I… well, I wasn’t.”

“Did you ever hear anyone else say he was aggressive or inappropriate with them?”

“Objection!”

“Overruled. Please answer the question, Mrs. Silvia.”

“A few people said things here or there, like he wasn’t as devoted to Louisa as he wanted everyone to believe, he was flirty and wasn’t afraid to touch them if he wanted to… That kind of thing.”

“Objection!”

“Nothing further. Thank you, Mrs. Silvia. You’re dismissed.”

The courtroom descends into chaos that has the judge repeatedly banging her gavel and demanding order in her courtroom.

I simply cannot believe what I’m hearing about the man I thought I knew so well. I’d never known of Ryder to be inappropriate or out of line with any woman. But I believe Ramona. What reason would she have to lie? What reason would anyone have to testify under oath about something like that if it wasn’t true?

After Ramona is excused, Blaise Merrick is called to the stand.

She raises her right hand, which is supported by a splint, and swears to tell the truth.

“Ms. Merrick, would you please explain your obvious injuries to the court?”

“I was involved in a car accident on the Mount Hope Bridge earlier this week.”

“Was this accident intentionally caused by someone else?”

“I was hit from behind by truck, which forced me into oncoming traffic, where I was hit head on. I was later told the license plate of the truck that hit me was tied to Mr. David Elliott, the defendant’s father.”

Josh delivers several papers to the judge. “I would ask the court to note that Mr. Elliott has been the subject of an intense manhunt that now includes the U.S. Marshals. He remains at large. When he’s arrested, he’ll be charged with two counts ofattempted murder of Ms. Merrick as well as arson, after the cottage where she was staying was burned.”

“So noted,” the judge says with a frown.

“Will you please tell the court what you saw on the night in question?”

The details are no less excruciating the second time I hear them.

“What did you do after Miss Sutton was assaulted?”

“I did all the wrong things. I was worried about myself when I should’ve been worried about Denise. I should have gone to her, offered help and told the police what I’d seen. I did none of those things because I was afraid everyone would hate me if I told the truth.”

“Why were you so afraid?”

“Everyone loved Ryder. He was a star in our class. I was afraid no one would believe me. And he was my brother’s closest friend, which made it that much harder to believe what I’d seen.” Blaise glances at Arlo, who has his head down. “I love my brother. I didn’t want everyone to hate me, so I stayed quiet, and that nearly killed me.”

“How so?”

“I had so many health problems. Anxiety, depression, eating disorders. I was literally sick with guilt.”

“And you’d had none of these issues prior to witnessing the attack?”

“None of them. I withdrew from my life as a high school senior, and as soon as I was able to, I left for college out of state and never looked back. I’d been back to Rhode Island only once before I returned recently, and that was when my father died.”

“When you were growing up together in Hope, did you ever know of Ryder Elliott to be inappropriate or aggressive with girls or women?”

“Objection!”

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