Chapter 20 - LUCIA TESTIFIES
The criminal case reached preliminary hearings before Emilia’s birth.
Lucia testified about the staircase.
Pregnant.
Visible.
That made everyone emotional.
The judge cared about evidence.
Good.
Prosecutor:
“Did Adrian push you?”
“Yes.”
“Had you taken the medication found in your blood knowingly?”
“No.”
“Did you consent to being given it?”
“No.”
“Did you ask Adrian to record you during dizzy episodes?”
“No.”
Then defense.
“You and Adrian had discussed divorce before the fall?”
“Yes.”
“You had threatened to leave?”
“I had said I might leave.”
“Had you later denied saying things during arguments?”
“Sometimes we remembered arguments differently.”
Good.
No pretending marriage memory was perfect.
Then:
“You deleted messages from your phone?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was embarrassed and afraid of my father finding out.”
“You altered evidence?”
“I deleted my own conversations before any criminal investigation.”
True.
Still relevant.
Then:
“You moved personal jewelry from the Costa residence before the incident?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was considering leaving.”
There.
Defense suggested Lucia was preparing a financial attack.
She answered:
“I moved jewelry my mother left me.”
Then:
“You wanted your father to destroy Adrian?”
Lucia looked toward me.
“No.”
“Did you tell Salvatore Adrian pushed you?”
“Yes.”
“Did he slap Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“Did you expect that?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
That hurt.
Then:
“Did that expectation influence whether you told him?”
Lucia thought.
“No. I told him because it was true.”
Good.
Then the hardest question:
“Why didn’t you tell your father earlier that Adrian frightened you?”
Lucia looked at me again.
“Because both families taught me that leaving my marriage would create consequences bigger than me.”
The courtroom became quiet.
May you like
No one objected.
There was nothing to object to.
