I See You by Patricia MacDonald Page B

descended from the box and approached the map which sat on an easel. She leaned forward, and squinted at it.
    ‘It’s little bitty on this map,’ she said, but then she placed a pudgy index finger on a spot over which it had been hovering. ‘Right there.’
    The D.A. gallantly swept an arm toward the witness box and Vera resumed her seat, wiggling herself into a comfortable position.
    ‘Now on the night in question, the eighth of March, did you hear the explosion at that house?’
    ‘Oh my, yes,’ said Vera. ‘You couldn’t miss it. It shook my whole house. I ran down there. The front of Mr Petty’s house was blown apart. The rest of it was on fire. I called nine-one-one.’
    ‘Did you see anyone else in the vicinity?’
    ‘No, I did not,’ said Vera. ‘But I saw her leaving just before I heard the blast.’
    ‘Who did you see?’ asked the D.A.
    ‘I saw the defendant. I was putting the cover on my cockatiel’s cage and I glanced out the window and saw her. She was driving fast away from his house.’
    ‘And you’re sure it was the defendant?’
    ‘It was her. I know her car, and I recognize her. She’s been down our road many times before.’
    Hannah sighed with anxiety as Marjorie rose, pulled down on the peplum of her suit jacket and smiled at the witness. She walked toward the witness box.
    ‘So, Mrs Naughton, did you see any other cars on your road that night?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Do you normally sit and look out the window all evening?’
    ‘No, of course not,’ she scoffed.
    ‘So any number of cars could have come and gone, and you just didn’t see them.’
    ‘It’s possible, I suppose,’ Vera admitted. ‘I just know that I saw her. I’d seen her come to visit Troy. Sometimes with her little girl.’
    ‘Now, the explosion occurred at eight o’clock, according to the police reports. At what time did you see Lisa go by in her car?’
    ‘It must have been about seven,’ said Vera. ‘But I could see her clearly. It wasn’t dark yet. In the spring it’s still light at that hour.’
    ‘Well, actually,’ said Marjorie, ‘on the eighth of March it
was
dark at seven. Daylight Savings didn’t begin until the tenth of March.’
    Vera looked chastened. ‘I’m pretty sure …’
    ‘So it must have been closer to six o’clock,’ said Marjorie. ‘A full two hours before the explosion.’
    Vera frowned. ‘Well, maybe. I’m sure it was still light,’ she admitted sheepishly. ‘Otherwise I wouldn’t have been covering the bird’s cage. They need darkness to sleep.’
    ‘No further questions,’ said Marjorie.
    Hannah and Adam glanced at one another and Hannah nodded slightly. Marjorie Fox had made the woman sound as if she had not really thought about the time until she was on the stand.
    ‘This case is falling apart,’ said Adam in her ear.
    ‘God, I hope so,’ Hannah whispered.
    The next witness, Dr Joan Ferris, was from the forensics team who examined the crime scene. The pretty, young explosives expert wore a dark suit and her hair in a no-nonsense knot which bespoke confidence and seriousness. She testified that the explosion occurred because someone had turned on the gas in an old-fashioned propane heater, and had failed to light the heater. There were illuminated candles in the room and, when the room filled up with gas, it was ignited by the candles. The heater was recovered, the knob still turned to the ‘on’ position.
    ‘Could this heater have been turned on by accident?’ the D.A. asked.
    ‘No, that wouldn’t be possible,’ said Dr Ferris.
    When Marjorie had a chance to cross-examine, she asked the forensics expert if there were fingerprints on the on/off knob.
    ‘Impossible to lift after the explosion and all the water damage in the house from the fire being extinguished,’ said Dr Ferris.
    ‘Now, Dr Ferris, you testified that this heater could not have been turned on by accident.’
    ‘That’s correct,’ said the young scientist. ‘You have to push down