Page 51 of Buddy System

I wish I had his confidence. I’m still getting a lot of funny looks from people. Some look suspicious and others look like they feel sorry for me. I think.

Chapter

Thirty-Seven

Brooke

I’m sorelieved this trial is finally going on. Skyler has been a nervous wreck. Jack tried to come over about a week ago to speak to him again about doing a show in his gallery, and Skyler couldn’t even think about it. He said he needed to paint to relieve stress right now but couldn’t concentrate on business just yet. Being a good friend, Jack told him he understood, and he’d try again later when things settled down.

Also, when my birthday happened last month, they had a cake for me, but both Skyler and Levi told me they had something really special planned for me, but they decided we all needed to wait until after the trial for it. They figured we weren’t yet in a good enough head space for it. I have no idea what they meant, but they were so sincere, I told them it was fine. Levi promised, “When we do it, you’ll love it, babe. We promise.” They took care of me like I was their queen in bed that night, so I certainly had no complaints.

Now we’re into the second day of the trial, and it’s Skyler’s lawyer’s turn to provide his defense. The first thing he does isput a detective on the stand who was sent by the sheriff’s office to look for evidence in Mrs. Henshaw’s house. The findings were fascinating. There were traces of her blood, but not only on the fireplace as she’d claimed. They were also at the foot of the stairs on her carpet. I’d feel a lot sorrier for her for being injured like that if she weren’t trying to use Skyler as her meal ticket for the rest of her life.

Mr. Schroeder’s only question to the detective is, “Is it possible Mrs. Henshaw bled on her carpet near her stairs after being thrown against the fireplace bricks?”

He answers, “It’s possible, but the stains appeared to be ground into the carpet as if she’d fallen there or been pushed rather than just dripping blood while she was walking around.”

Schroeder looks disgusted with that answer and dismisses the detective from the stand.

The next witness is Deputy Blake Ogden, looking even grumpier than usual. That man would be a heartbreaker if he’d ever manage to crack a smile.

Mr. Hamilton doesn’t have much to ask, but he does pose the question, “Were you the officer who arrested Mr. Colfax?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And did you place handcuffs on him?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I suppose it’s safe to say you got a good look at Mr. Colfax’s hands. Do you remember seeing any signs of cuts, bruises, or blood on them that would be consistent with hitting someone really hard barehanded?”

“No, sir. His hands were in fine shape except for a few splotches of paint.”

“Are you sure the splotches were paint and not blood?”

“They were blue, sir.”

“Thank you. That’s all, Deputy.”

Schroeder has no questions for him, so Blake gets up and hightails it out of the courtroom.

The third witness is Doug Freeman, the private investigator that Deputy Blake recommended. He provides video that was time-stamped a month ago. It shows Mrs. Henshaw in her backyard mowing her lawn and hanging clothes to dry on a clothesline. She did not appear to be favoring any part of her body and certainly wasn’t using a walker. Some of the clothes are obviously a large man’s shirts and pants. He also shows photos of a large man going in and out of her house at various intervals. Furthermore, Freeman has copies of receipts Mrs. Henshaw paid to the local handyman for repairing a broken banister in her house.

When asked if he can identify the man in the photos, Mr. Freeman says, “Yes, sir. His name is Monty Henshaw, the ex-husband of Marjorie Henshaw. They were divorced nine years ago.” He produces documents to support all of that.

The plaintiff’s attorney has no questions. I doubt he could think of anything to refute Doug Freeman’s testimony.

The next witness Hamilton calls is Mrs. Henshaw’s next-door neighbor. She testifies that on the night she took Marjorie to the ER, she heard lots of screaming and yelling coming from the Henshaw house. When Marjorie ran to her door, she never mentioned Skyler by name, only said that she had been hurt and needed to get out of the house. When asked if she merely assumed the attacker was Skyler Colfax, her answer is, “Well, Marjorie did say he’d threatened her, but there was another possibility. I didn’t ask because it wasn’t my business.”

“And who was that possibility, ma’am?” Hamilton asks politely.

“Her ex-husband. I saw him there earlier that day. He’s a mean brute of a man.”

Mrs. Henshaw’s face goes red, and she scowls at her neighbor.

As the testimony continues, we discover it was the neighbor’s idea to take her to the hospital because Marjorie was beaten up and bloody. She also says that when the hospital released her after a few hours, they went back to the neighbor’s house for the rest of the night, not to Marjorie’s.

When Mr. Schroeder has his turn with the neighbor, he asks, “Who do youreallythink beat Mrs. Henshaw? It must have been Mr. Colfax, right?” Immediately, Mr. Hamilton objects, and the judge agrees that it is not the witness’s place to make assumptions. Schroeder has no further questions, and Mrs. Henshaw glares at him.

---