Chapter 24 - NATALIE TESTIFIES
Natalie wore a charcoal dress.
Lucy stayed home with her sister.
I sat behind the prosecution table but not beside Natalie.
She did not need my face every time she answered.
The prosecutor asked:
“Why did you go upstairs?”
“Bathroom.”
“Why did Ryan follow?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he say?”
“He said I was isolating Daniel.”
“Did you threaten him?”
“No.”
“Touch him?”
“No.”
“Raise your hand?”
“No.”
“Did you tell him he could never see the baby?”
“No.”
“What did you say?”
“I said visits to our new house would be by invitation, like anyone else.”
There.
The outrageous boundary.
Then:
“What happened at the stairs?”
“I walked away. He shoved me.”
“How do you know?”
“I felt both hands in my back.”
Then defense.
“Mrs. Mercer, you disliked Ryan before the party?”
“Yes.”
Good.
“Had you called him a bully?”
“Yes.”
“Had you told Daniel you wanted less contact?”
“Yes.”
“Did you access Ryan’s private cloud account later?”
“For several seconds accidentally through a saved password, yes.”
The jury looked interested.
She continued before counsel could dramatize.
“I stopped, called my lawyer, and did not use what I saw.”
Good.
Then the family clips.
“Did Ryan’s recordings capture real statements you made?”
“Yes.”
“You did tell Daniel you wanted to leave his father’s birthday?”
“Yes.”
“You did tell Thomas he needed to call before visiting?”
“Yes.”
“You did refuse an out-of-town family weekend?”
“Yes.”
“So Ryan did not invent those words.”
“No.”
Then:
“Was he wrong that you wanted Daniel spending less time with his family?”
Natalie thought.
“I wanted Daniel spending less time doing things he didn’t want to do because he was afraid his family would be angry.”
Silence.
Different answer.
Then counsel asked:
“Did you want to move farther away?”
“Yes.”
“Did you benefit from that?”
“What does benefit mean?”
“More distance from Ryan.”
“Yes.”
No hiding.
Then:
“Could the jury conclude you had reasons to want Ryan in trouble?”
Natalie looked at him.
May you like
“I wanted him away from me after he pushed me down stairs. That doesn’t change what the phone recorded.”
Nothing more needed.
