Page 54 of The Better Sister

Nunzio suddenly shifted gears, turning to a series of questions about the security alarm at the house.

“Isn’t it true that you and your family regularly set the alarm each time you entered and exited the house?”

“Not every time, I’m certain of that.”

“More often than not?”

“I wouldn’t think so.”

I had practiced this subject area with Olivia and made Nunzio earn every piece of information. He was, however, eventually able to establish that I had twice told the police that we rarely used the alarm, but that records from the alarm company demonstrated routine use. He had already brought in an employee from the security company to establish that on the night of Adam’s murder, the alarm had been set shortly before I left for dinner, disarmed when Adam was dropped off, rearmed shortly after 9:30 p.m., and then disarmed once again at 11:10, about twenty minutes after Kevin Dunham claimed to have dropped Ethan off at the beach.

“So despite your claim that your family rarely used the alarm except when you were in the city or sleeping out at the home alone, that very night, it was turned on and off four times in a matter of a few hours.”

“Yes, apparently.”

“You say that as if you’re surprised, Ms. Taylor. Are you claiming not to have known that your own security alarm was used regularly?”

“Of course not. In hindsight, after seeing the records, I realize it’s one of those things that has become so routine that I don’t even think about it anymore.”

“When you came home and found your husband murdered, and your home apparently broken into, didn’t you wonder why the alarm never sounded?”

“I assumed it wasn’t set.”

“Isn’t it true, Ms. Taylor, that you lied to the police about rarely using the alarm because you yourself wondered why an intrusion hadn’t set off the alarm?”

I looked at Olivia and then the judge. “I’m not sure I even understand that question.”

“I’ll be more clear. Isn’t it true that you suspected your stepson Ethan from the moment you first spoke to the police?”

“No, that’s absolutely false.”

“Let me ask you this, Ms. Taylor. Who other than you, Adam, and the defendant knew the code to your security system at the time of the murder?”

“The housekeeper and a handyman.”

“And after your husband was killed, did you change the security code?”

It seemed like a silly question until I was about to answer it. No, I hadn’t changed it. Someone had broken into my house, killed my husband, and disarmed the alarm, and I was still using the same code. Why hadn’t I changed it? I shot a quick glance at Olivia. Her expression was blank. There was no way to avoid the question. I had to answer.

“No,” I said.

Before I could figure out whether the jury would read into my failure to change the alarm code, Nunzio had shifted gears again and was asking me about Adam’s intention to send Ethan away to military school.

“He never mentioned that to me,” I said. “My guess is he wasn’t serious about—”

Nunzio objected to my speculation, and the judge directed me to answer only the posed question.

“Is it fair to say that your husband and stepson had a tense relationship before the murder?”

Olivia objected on the basis of vagueness.

“Would you say that your husband and stepson were close?” he asked instead.

I answered affirmatively even as Olivia was objecting.

“Did they argue?” he asked.

“Of course, all kids argue with their parents. But it was normal stuff—was he doing all his homework, how late could he stay out, that kind of thing.” I looked over at Ethan. He was gripping the edges of his chair’s armrests.

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