Page 71 of After Anna

“No, that isn’t what happened,” Noah answered, consistent with his testimony in the PFA hearing.

“Didn’t you take Anna driving on the night in question?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t Caleb your ten-year-old son?”

“Yes.” Noah felt a deep pang, thinking of Caleb. He only saw his son twice a month, when Maggie’s best friend, Kathy, brought him to MCCF. They kept the conversation light, but Caleb was always nervous, wide-eyed at the other inmates in the visiting room, who would cry or even fight with their families. Worse, Noah could tell that Caleb saw him differently, acting more guarded, which was understandable. It tore Noah’s heart out to think of what he had done to Caleb, and his only consolation was that the boy was home with Maggie, who loved him to the marrow.

“Dr. Alderman, isn’t it true Anna requested that Caleb come along on the driving lesson, but you declined, saying she had to concentrate?”

Noah hadn’t been asked that in the PFA hearing. “Yes, that is true. But the real reason I didn’t ask Caleb is because my wife asked me to take Anna out alone, so we could spend time together.”

Linda’s eyes flew open. “Your testimony is that you took Anna driving alone at yourwife’srequest?”

“Yes.” Noah ignored the spectators in the gallery, turning their heads to look at each other.

“You didn’t testify as to that in the PFA hearing, did you?”

“No, because I wasn’t asked specifically.”

Linda frowned in an exaggerated way. “So you may have been asked, but it wasn’t specific enough, is that your testimony?”

“Yes,” Noah said, knowing it was the wrong answer but the only one he had.

“So you’re testifying now that the reason you took Anna driving without Caleb was because your wife asked you to?”

“Yes.”

“But that’s not what you told Anna, is it?”

Noah blinked. “No.”

“Dr. Alderman, when Anna asked you if Caleb could come, you told her that he couldn’t because she had to concentrate, isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

“So you lied to Anna, isn’t that right?”

“Yes.” Noah heard shifting behind him in the jury box, not that he needed that to let him know how badly his testimony was going. And Maggie was in the courtroom.

“Isn’t it true that you put your hand on her thigh?”

“No, that’s not what happened.”

“Dr. Alderman, please answer yes or no. Did you or did you not put your hand on Anna’s thigh?”

“It’s not susceptible to a yes or no answer, and I can explain.” Noah spotted Thomas looking at him in disapproval, but it couldn’t be helped. “What happened was I put my hand on her leg, maybe on her thigh but certainly not under her dress, because her phone dropped from the console and fell in her lap. She said, ‘Oops, my phone fell,’ and I went to get it. My hand may have been in her lap, but I was reaching for the phone and I didn’t get it, so I stopped.”

“So even though Anna told the truth about Caleb, she was lying when she said you put your hand under her dress?”

“Yes.”

“And even though Anna told the truth about Caleb, she was lying when she said that you told her that you could teach her for her first time?”

“Yes.”

“Dr. Alderman, weren’t you referring to her virginity?”

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