Presumption of Guilt by Marti Green Page B

outside the room.
    “I was afraid you’d forgotten about me,” Molly said, a shy smile on her face.
    “I was in a car accident and laid up for a bit. But I’m back at work now.”
    “And you’re okay?”
    “I’m fine now.” Dani took out her notepad and pen. “When I was here last, we started to talk about the Hudson County jail your dad built.”
    “I remember. But I was just a teenager then. I didn’t pay too much attention to what my father did. As long as he stayed out of my business, I was happy.”
    “There were a lot of articles in the newspaper about the cost of the jail. Do you recall that?”
    Molly shrugged. “I only read the paper when one of my teachers assigned it.”
    There was nowhere to go with this line of questioning. If Joe Singer had been skimming money from the jail contract, Molly didn’t know anything about it. She’d change gears.
    “Molly, I hope you don’t mind if I ask you some personal questions. It’ll help me get to understand you better, especially since your memory of that night is blank.”
    “Sure, ask me anything.”
    “Tell me about your daughter.”
    Molly’s body seemed to deflate in her chair. She swallowed and looked down at the floor. “She was such a beautiful baby,” she said at last, in little more than a whisper. “She was with me her first year. I shouldn’t have been allowed in the nursery program here. Usually only mothers convicted of nonviolent crimes are accepted. But I think the warden felt sorry for me because I was so young.”
    Dani knew that the nursery program at this prison was the oldest in the nation and the model for other prisons throughout the country. Mothers with their babies were housed in a separate section of the prison.
    “When they took her away from me, I wanted to die,” Molly continued. “I couldn’t bear being parted from her.”
    “Do you still see her?”
    “For a few years, Finn brought her every Saturday. There’s a special visiting room here stocked with books and games. Sophie would sit on my lap and I’d read to her. At the end of our visit, when she had to leave, she’d cry so hard.” She took a deep breath and went on. “After Finn married Kim, they convinced me it would be better for Sophie if she stopped visiting me, that it was traumatic for her to be wrenched from me each week. I never saw her after that.” Tears began to roll down Molly’s cheeks. “I still get blue every Saturday. I’ll never stop missing her.”
    “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you to give her up.”
    Molly wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. “If it’s been better for Sophie, then that’s all that matters.”
    “Has Finn written you about Sophie’s progress? Sent you pictures, maybe?”
    “No. He thought it would be better to cut off all contact.”
    This was such a bleak statement that it took Dani a moment to figure out how to proceed.
    “I was surprised that Finn testified against you at your trial,” she said at last.
    “He didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”
    “Still,” Dani said, “he was your boyfriend. No one but him would know what you told him. If he said nothing, no one would be the wiser.”
    “He felt tremendous guilt about testifying. He told me his father pressured him and he relented. I forgave him a long time ago.”
    Dani made a mental note to schedule her interview with Finn soon. Something didn’t seem right.
    “Do you mind if we talk about your sister?”
    Molly stiffened. “There’s nothing to talk about. I haven’t seen or spoken to her since I came here.”
    “She’d like very much to visit you.”
    Molly stared stonily at Dani. Her body language made it clear that her sister was unwelcome.
    “If we’re able to uncover new evidence that would justify a retrial, it’s helpful to have family members in the courtroom,” Dani said. “It humanizes the defendant.”
    “I don’t want her help now. It’s too late.”
    Dani knew