Hypnotised by drums (TW fanfic - Book 2/4)

Part Forty-Nine

Maria’s POV

“Well I was just sitting in my house, minding my own business, when I heard screaming coming from outside” the witness starts. It’s Stacy; she lives a couple of houses away from Tom’s. I don’t like to be judgemental, but she seems a bit dodgy to me and I swear I’ve seen Norman hanging around there in the past. “So I decided to go outside and see what was going on. I don’t like to think of anyone in pain so I felt like it was my duty to see” says the woman that has a fight every other day. “And when I got out there, I saw Tom standing on the door step with Jude and they were arguing and then I noticed Maria storming off down the street, so I don’t know what had happened. Anyway after a while, I saw Tom push her away from him and he was all like ‘You’ll regret ever crossing me. You just wait and see!’ and then she walked away and just before he went into his house he said ‘you’re dead’”

“What?” Tom shouts in both shock and disgust. “I never said that!”

“Silence in the court” the judge shouts at Tom.

“But I didn’t say that. She’s lying” Tom insists, but right now I don’t know what to believe. I don’t know what happened after I left, but I don’t think I heard shouting after I left. I heard voices, but not shouting, but maybe that was just because I was further away.

“Tom” Peter says in a stern voice, which causes Tom to be quiet.

“Please continue Miss Jones” the judge tells her.

“Well then he just stormed into his house and I didn’t see him come out until later that night. I wondered where he was going, but I just assumed he was going to apologise to Maria or Jude” she says and by the look on Tom’s face, that’s a lie too.

“But even if Tom did say those things, it doesn’t mean he actually put them into action” Peter explains.

“Is that all, Miss Jones?” the judge asks.

“Yes, it is” she says, before throwing Tom a bitter look. The judge then asks Peter whether he has any questions for Stacy and by the looks of things, he has more than enough.

“Were you worried that Jude was at risk, whilst Tom was arguing with her?” he asks.

“Yes a little bit. You never know when Tom’s going to snap” she answers.

“What do you mean by that?” the judge asks.

“Well I’ve seen him when he’s drunk and stuff and it’s not a pleasant sight. He can’t exactly handle his drink”

“But Tom wasn’t drunk, was he?”

“Not at the time no, but when he left he left that night he was staggering a little” she says.

“I didn’t even leave that night” Tom mutters.

“But he wasn’t drunk when the pair were arguing, so why would you think she was at risk?” Peter enquires.

“Well I suppose I could just sense something at the time” she tells her and that just about confirms my suspicions. She’s lying to cover for someone and I can tell she’s about to give it away to the judge.

“So why didn’t you intervene? There was enough opportunity” Peter says and for a second I think she’s going to give up and admit that she made everything up.

“Because I didn’t think it was my place” says the liar.

“But you say you saw him stagger to his car and then pull off. Why would you let a drunk man, who you thought was a threat to someone’s well being, going off into the darkness after having a drink?”

“Because before I even had time to process the thought, he was gone”

“So you’re telling me that a drunken man pulled off so quickly that you couldn’t even make it from the window to the door in time?”

“No I couldn’t” she tells him.

“Can I ask, what were you doing looking out of the window anyway? It’s a bit of a coincidence that you would see this, isn’t it?”

“Well I was waiting for my friend to come round, so when I heard a car door buzz open, I thought I better see what was going on, but when I looked, there was no one there. Just Tom staggering to his car”

“So we now know that Tom left his house and he was drunk, therefore he was already committing a crime without even having to go to Jude’s house” the other lawyer says.

“Tom tells the story a lot differently to Miss Jones. He says that after he argued with Jude he went back into his house and he started to drink, but he never left the house. He just sat in and watched TV” Peter says.

“But if he was drunk, he might not have been able to remember everything that happened that night. It is possible that he could have gone to Jude’s house, killed her and then went home and returned to the TV. Then when he woke up the next morning he would have thought he’d been there all night” the woman lawyer says. “He has both a motive and a way in which he could have committed the murder and as he had been drinking that night, his alibi is not reliable due to the fact that he had been drinking” and with that the judge dismisses the court, so they can make their decision. We all make our way out of the gallery and it’s fair to say, the atmosphere isn’t a happy one.

“You don’t think he could have actually done it but he doesn’t know, do you?” Max asks, as soon as we get outside.

“No, he always remembers things even when he is drunk. Do you remember that time when we all went to Siva’s birthday party and none of us could remember what happened, so Tom had to explain to us all what happened and it turned out Jay got off with Rheanna’s grandma?” Nathan says.

“Don’t remind me” Jay says rolling his eyes.

“Or me” Rheanna says.

“I miss him so much. I just hope they see how nice and amazing he actually is” I say, as I look down at the floor. I can’t imagine my life without him and even if he did kiss Jude, I’m sure he didn’t mean it or he didn’t mean to hurt me.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine” Rheanna says, as she puts her arm around me, but how can she be sure. I know she’s only trying to comfort me, but I would rather her not treat me like a little kid. She should know by now that I have been through worse things and I’m going to be ok no matter what happens. I would just rather I have the love of my life in my arms, rather than in a cell.