Page 77 of The Stone Secret

Deputy DA: Can you describe what he was doing when you saw him? Set the scene, if you will.

Miss Stone: Yes. He was in the kitchen, working on the cabinets—my mother hired him to help renovate the kitchen. She was upstairs, folding laundry.

Deputy DA: Where exactly upstairs?

Miss Stone: In her room.

Deputy DA: What room?

Miss Stone: Bedroom.

Deputy DA: Did you talk to Mr. Cohen when you entered the house?

Miss Stone: No.

Deputy DA: How did you know he was in the kitchen?

Miss Stone: The way the house is laid out—you can see the kitchen when you walk into the front door.

Deputy DA: So you did not go into the kitchen?

Miss Stone: Not then, no.

Deputy DA: Where did you go?

Miss Stone: I went upstairs to find my mom.

Deputy DA: What was the nature of your visit to her?

Miss Stone: I wanted to talk to her about a few things with my house.

Deputy DA: What specifically?

Miss Stone: I’d recently discovered termites, so I wanted to talk to her about getting that fixed.

Deputy DA: Does your mother know how to exterminate termites?

Miss Stone: No, I needed—was requesting—her help with paying for it.

Deputy DA: Ah, I see. Termite treatment can be very expensive, I understand. Did your mother seem different in any way, during this visit?

Miss Stone: No.

Deputy DA: She didn’t seem particularly nervous, or scared, or uneasy?

Miss Stone: No.

Deputy DA: Distracted, maybe? Like something was on her mind?

Miss Stone: No.

Deputy DA: Do you remember what she was wearing that day?

Miss Stone: Yes. A house dress. Long. She has—had—a lot of those.

Deputy DA: What color dress was she wearing that day?

Miss Stone: White, with daisy prints all over it.

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