How to Kill a Man in Thirty Seconds

Chapter 45: WITNESS

Vaguely, I felt Adrian's hand find mine and squeeze. I realized then that his eyes were still on me and they had softened. The prosecutor resumed speaking then and Adrian's gaze flickered forward once more, but he didn't let go.

A witness was called to the stand. She was a young, slightly overweight woman with a glistening nose ring to match her pointy gold stilettos. Her name was Sandra Williams.

The prosecutor jumped right into it, "How close would you say you and the defendant are?"

William's reply was confident, "Very close. We've been best friends for years. We told each other everything."

"Did you see Mary at all on the day that Anthony Green died?"

Her head shook, "No. We had plans for the night, but she cancelled at the last minute."

"Did she give any reason why?"

"No," Sandra replied instantly, "She wasn't at her house. She didn't even answer her phone that night, which was odd. I had no way of knowing."

The man glanced down at his paper, "But you did see Mary the next morning. Did anything seem out of the norm?"

Sandra didn't so much as spare a glance at the defendant seated across the room. The cold look on her face informed me she felt nothing but repulsion towards her former friend.

"Yes. For starters, Mary wouldn't tell me what had happened the night before. She seemed uncomfortable when I asked her," she added, "And there was a big bruise on her face that she couldn't explain."

The prosecutor appeared satisfied with the answer, "Had she ever mentioned Anthony Green to you before?"

The woman finally cast a glance towards Mary Clark, as if acknowledging her presence for the first time. Sandra's eyes burned with distrust as their gazes met.

"She had, actually," she replied, "She had mentioned that her sister Amanda worked for him. On the day Amanda was fired, Mary told me that Anthony had been hard on Amanda. That he'd been emotionally harassing her at work and that Amanda had been afraid that... things would escalate."

I swallowed, clenching my jaw tightly in silence. Escalate? What did she mean by that?

Sandra William's voice broke me out of my thoughts, "A week later, when Amanda killed herself, Mary told me she believed it was Anthony's fault." Her words dripped with certainty, "She told me she wished he had never been born. Mary has to be guilty."

The prosecutor turned to the jury, his face solemn, "Members of the jury, it's evident beyond doubt that Mary Clark did feel anger towards Anthony Green. And that she had incentive to hurt him."

My gaze flickered towards Mary, giving her a once over. The redhead wasn't large or built. How could she have taken on my father?

"The poison was vital," the prosecutor announced suddenly, as if he had been reading my mind, "Mary knew she couldn't take on a man of Anthony's size. She needed something to weaken him, because that was the only way she could overpower him and do what she did."

I noticed the jurors had their ears peeled to his every word. My heart sank as I realized they seemed to agree with his sentiments. He grabbed the golden opportunity.

"You might be wondering; how did she get away completely unscathed?

"But you see, she didn't. We have four witnesses that will testify to seeing the defendant at the Red Hills Motel, with no apparent bruise on her face. No bruise, that our witness Sandra Williams just admitted to having spotted on Mary's face the next morning.