After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 17

December 7, 1992. 1:03PM.

Court resumed at 1:00 PM for the duration of the afternoon. Marine Officer Nichols returned to the stand for the defense's cross-examination. Ralph watched from his seat as Jeremy Reynolds stood from behind his table to approach the witness box.

"Officer Nichols, I have a few follow-up questions for you. First of all, I'd like to thank you for your honorable service. My first question this afternoon pertains to the observation you made about Jack Merridew and Roger Conroy at the airport. Did you hear any of the phrases or words the two boys whispered to one another?" the defense attorney questioned.

"No" the Marine officer confirmed.

"Just to recap, did you observe any of the other twenty boys whispering once you were all gathered in the airport?"

"Yes, I did."

"How were the other boys acting at the time? How would you describe their behaviour?"

"They were whispering and talking in muffled voices. Most of them seemed reluctant to speak loudly. The situation itself caused the tension to be high among all of them, as expected" Nichols answered.

"Is it fair to say that the situation itself played a significant role in the boys' reluctant behavior, as you described it?"

"Yes, I'd say so."

"So why are you holding Jack Merridew and Roger Conroy to a higher standard than the others, officer?"

"I don't believe I am" Nichols combatted.

"You said yourself that the situation caused high tensions in and of itself. You said that there were also other boys who were reluctant to speak loudly enough to be heard. What set Jack and Roger apart, if anything? Did they really give you a reason to separate their actions from the others' or are you just making assumptions about their behavior based on the charges filed against them?" Reynolds forced him to consider.

"Objection! That is a compound question, your honor, and it is argumentative" Barnes rose from her seat to declare.

"Sustained, in part. One question at a time, councilor Reynolds. The second question needs to be phrased in a non-suggestive way" Judge Eldeson intervened to decide.

"Understood, your honor" Reynolds agreed, "Officer Nichols, did Jack Merridew and Roger Conroy do anything that clearly set their behavior apart from the other boys while at the airport in Virginia?" he rephrased.

"I sensed that they were trying to hide their conversation from the adults in the room. They were shut down when myself or another officer came into earshot" the officer claimed.

"Can you say for certain that Jack and Roger were the only two who didn't want the Marine officers listening in on their conversation?"

"I didn't see anything that suggested otherwise in the other boys' behavior."

"But you just said that they were all speaking in hushed tones. Isn't it possible that they were doing so because they too didn't want the officers listening to them?" Reynolds posed.

"I suppose it is" he was forced to consider.

"So there isn't anything definitive to separate Merridew's and Conroy's behavior from the others' at the airport, unless you can confirm for certain the nature of their conversation. Can you do that, officer?"

"No" Nichols admitted.

"Thank you. I have no further questions for this witness, your honor" Reynolds declared.

Judge Eldeson dismissed Officer Harold Nichols from the courtroom. Each time Jack's name was spoken throughout the officer's questioning, Ralph felt his heat rate spike. He had to try too hard to keep himself from looking over his shoulder to see how Jack was responding. Zoey had prepped Ralph for how tense and uncomfortable the testimonies would be. She trained him to keep his head facing forward, to not be having any wordless conversations with the other defendants in the courtroom. Juries would be paying attention to how they responded to testimony. Constantly looking to the other defendants, fidgeting, avoiding looking up or at the front, hiding, whispering, and more little behaviours were on the list of things that could even subconsciously make up a juror's mind about guilt or innocence. All Ralph had to do was keep his head up, look at who was speaking, and not react. That, Ralph was coming to realize, was a lot harder than it initially sounded.