Page 99 of Defend Me

“She helped him?”

“Yes.”

“So he could easily feel a sense of devotion to her?”

Russell shifts uncomfortably. “I suppose.”

“Noah Patterson had been to your house many times, had he not?” Wilbur asks.

“Yes,” Russell says gruffly.

“He was well acquainted with your wife’s garden, and the secret entrance to the back of the house?”

“I imagine so. I didn’t show it to him personally so I can’t say with certainty.”

“But it was something people close to your family were aware of.”

“Yes.”

“So, if we take this knowledge of the house, combined with the devotion you say Noah felt toward your wife?—”

“I never said that,” Russell snaps. “The only obsession Noah had was with being a decent cop.”

My stomach sinks as Wilbur pounces on the word. “He was obsessive then?”

“No, I—that’s not what I meant,” Russell stammers. Von’s jaw tics, but otherwise she gives no sign of irritation with her father. I’m feeling hot and panicky.

“Your words, sir,” Wilbur points out. “If he had one obsession, he could have had others. With your wife, perhaps.”

“Objection,” Von says again. “Calls for speculation.”

“Overruled,” the judge says again.

Wilbur looks triumphant. “No further questions.”

My heart pounds in my chest as Von stands and faces down her father.

“Mr. Everton,” she begins, ever the professional. “Did you see Noah Patterson on the morning your wife—my mother—was shot?”

“No,” Russell says.

“You did not see him on the grounds? Or in the pottery shed?”

“No.”

“Did Marion ever tell you Mr. Patterson was stalking her?”

“No.”

“Did you have any reason to suspect he was stalking her?”

“Of course not.”

“This obsession you mentioned—what did you mean by that?”

Russell looks at the jury. “I misspoke. I shouldn’t have said obsession. Noah—Mr. Patterson—had a passion to become amember of law enforcement. An admirable goal, and one he pursued with the utmost dedication. He wasnotan obsessive person.”

I hope that’s enough to clarify things for the jury.

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