Page 58 of Cuckoo

‘Sustained.’ The judge nods, raising her eyebrows in silent displeasure at Dodgson, who has the decency to look embarrassed.

‘Sexist pig,’ Grosvenor whispers to me.

‘No further questions,’ Dodgson concedes, looking much less smug than he did at the start of his examination.

Grosvenor stands, and strides up to Mads, her chin raised.

‘Hello, Miss Choi. I wonder… the phone number you have submitted to us, which Mr Coors gave you and contacted you on… were you aware that this was a burner phone?’

‘A burner?’ Mads repeats, eyebrows pinching together.

‘A secondary phone, a cheap one used separately from his main phone which he used for keeping in touch with friends and family.’

‘No, I wasn’t aware of that,’ Mads replies, pressing her lips together afterwards.

‘And were you aware of his partner, Lilah, with whom he lived in Chelsea?’ Grosvenor continues, twisting the blade further into Mads’s chest.

‘No, Noah made no mention of any other woman in his life. I had assumed, because he asked for my number and pursued me, that he was single.’

‘How often did you see Mr Coors, and over what timeframe?’

‘We were seeing each other for around four months in late 2024, just once or twice a week outside of when he visited the gym for a workout.’

‘What did you do together?’ Grosvenor asks.

‘Just normal things. We went to dinner a lot, drinks, the cinema once…’

‘And did you ever go back to his house?’

‘No, I didn’t. He…’ Here Mads trails off, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

‘Go on,’ Grosvenor encourages.

‘Well, we would go back to mine because all the dates were closer to my flat than his.’ She is turning pink.

‘And who organised the date locations?’

‘He did,’ she admits, her voice low.

‘So Mr Coors was always in charge of organising things and could plan dates close to your residence, to cover for the fact that he never invited you back to his home?’

‘Objection! Hearsay,’ Dodgson warbles, though he looks shaken.

‘I mean, I guess at the time I just thought it made sense, and sometimes he said he had an early work meeting so had to leave me in the evening, but also I work from five a.m. some mornings for pre-work sessions with clients so I didn’t always want him staying over…’ Mads’s voice trails off again.

‘I assume, but would like the jury to hear it confirmed, that you were having a sexual relationship with Mr Coors?’

I hold my breath.

‘Yes,’ Mads confirms.

I deflate.

‘And that you are the owner of the email address [email protected]?’

‘Yes, that’s me.’

‘And he sent you calendar invitations for these dates using his work calendar?’

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