After Anna

by Lisa Scottoline

No-ha, wanna meet me for a drink later?

  Why not?

  Come to my room at eight, number 317. I’ll bring the scotch. You bring the ha.

  Noah had felt an unaccountable thrill. Of course she’d remembered he drank scotch. She was what his mother used to call a man’s woman.

  Suddenly another group of doctors had come over, and he’d watched as Jordan’s expression had changed, the sexy warmth morphing to a cheery professionalism, and it had struck him that maybe there had been a face that she’d reserved only for him, that she did still love him. He’d left the trade floor and attended the afternoon session and the breakout, taking notes, sipping iced water from the ugly plastic pitcher, eating butterscotch candies, and checking his phone to see if Jordan had texted. She’d been an inveterate texter, being young.

  Noah had moderated the final panel feeling more alert than he had in weeks, on top of his game. He’d handled the question-and-answer session with dispatch, then had an obligatory beer with his buddies, but begged off going to the evening speaker. At eight o’clock, he’d knocked on the door of Jordan’s room, not completely surprised when she’d opened it wearing only a hotel bathrobe.

  I knew you’d come, Jordan had said, taking him by the arm, phone in hand, and Noah had let her close the door behind him, and she’d come fully into his arms, standing on tiptoe to kiss him and press herself against him, her breasts naked against the laminated name badge with its red satin Moderator ribbon.

  Ouch, Jordan had said, stepping back. Your name tag scratched me.

  Oh, sorry. Noah had spotted a red welt above her magnificent breasts, and it had broken the spell. He wasn’t a guy who cheated in a hotel room, surrounded by a cheap coffeemaker, a scummy remote, and Spectravision. He had a laminated name badge with a red ribbon. He was the Moderator of Panel 2508, Childhood Asthma & Environment; Problems at the Playground. He was the guy they counted on for order. The guy who made sure nobody monopolized the session. The most responsible guy of all. That guy.

  What’s the matter, No-ha? Jordan had asked, confused.

  I don’t know what I’m doing here.

  Yes you do. Jordan had stepped toward him, raising her lovely arms, closing her eyes and opening her mouth for a kiss, but Noah had caught her wrist, stopping her.

  No, don’t. I’m remarried. I’m a father.

  You were a father before. Jordan had slipped her right arm inside his jacket and pulled her body against him, but he’d held her off, his hand on her shoulder, more firmly.

  Jordan, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come. I can’t do this.

  Yes, you can. Nobody has to know, just you and me.

  Still I can’t. Noah had felt the words spilling out, he’d known he’d been talking to himself.

  Come on, No-ha. Just this once.

  No, I love my wife and Caleb. I have a new stepdaughter, Anna. We’re giving her a big party Saturday night, it’s a whole thing –

  But No-ha, I know how to make you feel good –

  I can’t. Noah edged back and reached for the doorknob. I shouldn’t have let you think this was going to happen.

  But you can’t walk out on me –

  I can’t stay. Noah had slipped out the door, but Jordan had grabbed it and held it open.

  Noah, you’ll regret this! Jordan had shouted, but he hadn’t looked back.

  ‘Dr Kapoor,’ Linda was saying, snapping Noah into the present. ‘How long would it take to strangle a young woman like Anna Desroches?’

  ‘It takes approximately two to five minutes to strangle a person by hand, unless that person had drugs or alcohol in their system, or was unconscious.’

  ‘Were alcohol or drugs found in Anna’s system?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What did you conclude about whether Anna was conscious or not, when she was strangled?’

  ‘I concluded she was conscious.’

  The jury fell silent. Noah could see them, curling their upper lips in disgust, imagining the scene.

  ‘Dr Kapoor, what findings do you expect if a person is conscious when they are strangled?’

  ‘There will be a struggle, and I would expect to find fingernail marks from the victim on their own neck, from where they were trying to pry off the hands of their killer.’

  ‘Did you find such fingernail marks in this case, on Anna’s neck?’

  ‘No, because the victim’s fingernails were so short, bitten to the quick on some fingers. In addition, typically in a strangulation case, I would be able to take scrapings from under the fingernails of the victim and I would expect to find DNA of the perpetrator underneath the fingernails, in the form of skin cells. Because of the shortness of the victim’s fingernails in this case, I was not able to obtain any such scrapings.’

  ‘What, if anything, do you typically find on the hands of the perpetrator in a strangling case?’

  ‘Typically, I would expect to find fingernail marks from the victim on the perpetrator’s hands, unless the perpetrator was wearing gloves.’

  ‘Do you know if any such fingernail marks were found on the defendant?’

  Thomas half-rose. ‘Objection, Your Honor. This witness did not examine Dr Alderman.’

  Linda frowned. ‘Your Honor, I said, “if she knows.” ’

  Judge Gardner nodded. ‘Overruled.’ He turned to Dr Kapoor. ‘You may answer, if you know.’

  ‘I do not believe fingernail marks were found on the defendant.’

  ‘Dr Kapoor, did you draw any conclusions from that fact?’

  ‘I concluded that either the victim’s fingernails were too short to scrape him or he was wearing gloves.’

  Thomas jumped up. ‘Your Honor. Objection, speculation.’

  Linda scoffed. ‘That’s within her expertise, Your Honor.’

  Judge Gardner shook his head. ‘Overruled.’

  Thomas sat down with a heavy sigh, and Noah kept his game face on.

  Linda returned her attention to the witness. ‘Dr Kapoor, based on your autopsy, did you reach an expert medical opinion with respect to how Anna was strangled?’

  ‘Yes. My opinion is that she was strangled by another person, most likely an adult male.’

  ‘What is the basis for your expert medical opinion?’

  ‘My examination and expertise tells me that the pressure applied to the throat sufficient to cause death would have been in the range of strength possessed by most adult men.’

  ‘Would you place the defendant in that range?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What, if anything, could you determine about the perpetrator’s hands from the bruising on Anna’s neck?’

  ‘I was able to rule out people with larger or smaller hands. The size of the hand that caused the bruising was average, and there were no distinctive fingermarks that would identify it, so the majority of the adult male population would match it.’

  ‘Again, would you consider the defendant’s hands to be within the average range?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Thank you, I have no further questions.’ Linda faced Judge Gardner, who turned to Thomas.

  ‘Cross-examination, Mr Owusu?’

  ‘Yes, thank you, Your Honor.’ Thomas rose and strode toward the witness stand. ‘Ms Swain-Pettit, I won’t be needing the autopsy photo.’

  ‘Whoops, I forgot.’ Linda motioned to her paralegal, though Noah didn’t believe for a minute that she’d left it up by accident.

  Thomas stopped in front of the witness stand. ‘Dr Kapoor, you testified that your office performs about 220 autopsies per year. How many of those have been on homicide victims?’

  ‘Probably ten.’

  ‘Ten total?’ Thomas lifted an eyebrow.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you aren’t the only assistant coroner who performs autopsies, are you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘How many others are there?’

  ‘It varies, two or three.’

  ‘How many homicides generally occur in Montgomery County, per yea
r?’

  ‘It varies between three and five. Except last year, we had eleven.’

  ‘So in fact, the overwhelming amount of your experience is not on homicide victims, isn’t that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’ Dr Kapoor frowned.

  ‘And even so, how many of those homicides were by manual strangulation?’

  ‘I’d have to think about that. Most are by gun or knife.’

  ‘Would you say less than five are by manual strangulation?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Would you say less than three are by manual strangulation?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Thomas stood taller, and Noah could read his mind. He had hit paydirt. ‘Dr Kapoor, how many autopsies have you personally performed on victims where you found the cause and manner of death as homicide by strangulation?’

  ‘One.’

  Thomas allowed himself a theatrical frown. ‘So the opinions you gave during your testimony regarding what you expected to find in a manual strangulation were not based on your actual experience, isn’t that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’ Dr Kapoor pursed her lips unhappily.

  ‘And, you testified that in your opinion, whoever killed the victim by strangulation was most likely an adult male, isn’t that what you said?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Isn’t it true that you have no idea of the age of that male?’

  ‘Yes.’ Dr Kapoor pressed her glasses higher on her nose with an unpolished fingernail.

  ‘The killer could also have been any size or weight, could he not?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Furthermore, the killer could have been a very fit woman, couldn’t she?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘In fact, you can’t tell from the bruising whether the murder was committed by a man or a woman, can you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Dr Kapoor, isn’t the most you can say for certain is that Anna was strangled by a person who was strong enough to strangle her with their bare hands?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you testified, did you not, that you could not determine the size of the killer’s hands by the bruises on Anna’s neck, isn’t that true?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘The most you could say for certain is that the hand was average in size, isn’t that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What is the average hand size for men?’

  ‘Between six and eight inches.’

  ‘I would assume that women’s hand sizes are generally smaller than men’s, isn’t that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And isn’t there an overlap between hand sizes for men and women?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So in fact, you could not say for certain whether the hands of the killer belonged to a man or woman, isn’t that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Dr Kapoor, you also testified that there were no fingernail marks from the victim found on the defendant, isn’t that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you further testified that because there were no fingernail marks on the defendant, you concluded that either the victim’s fingernails were too short to make a mark or that the defendant was wearing gloves, isn’t that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But isn’t it possible that there were no fingernail marks on the defendant because he did not commit the murder in question?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Thank you, I have no further questions.’ Thomas strolled back to counsel table and sat down with a satisfied smile, and Noah contained his happiness, because Thomas had warned him not to react. It was one of the best moments the defense had had, and Noah felt a surge of new hope. The jury was nodding, and VFW Guy lifted his grayish eyebrows in surprise.

  ‘Your Honor, I’d like to call my next witness,’ Linda said quickly.

  Chapter Fifty-four

  Maggie, Before

  Maggie felt excited that the barbecue was finally here, especially after the week she’d had. She’d been on her own with Caleb, who’d gotten a bad cold, then Anna, who got the same cold but had tons of homework. Maggie had been busy at the office, then at night had gone shopping, driving herself crazy to find paper plates that were nice enough and heavy plastic forks, not the flimsy white ones. She realized she was worrying more than usual because of what had happened with Noah before he’d left for the conference.

  He’d stayed in only light touch with her through the week, texting at night and calling only once, toward the end. He’d said he’d been too busy to call, but there was a rift between them. They were tacitly agreeing to table the conversation, the way married people do after more serious fights, but that left her only with an uneasy feeling that there was a disturbance in her field. Noah had remained remote even after he’d gotten home late Thursday night, and she had spent Friday and Saturday setting up the tables, chairs, tablecloths, and box lanterns to string from the trees, which looked artsy instead of cheesy.

  The party started with the sun dipping behind the treeline and the garden looking perfect. Everybody arrived on time, and Kathy helped Maggie refill platters and pour drinks throughout the evening. Noah had manned the grill as if it were his fiefdom, but kept a distance from Maggie and Anna. There was plenty of wine and beer, and Maggie made sure everybody had champagne to toast Anna, overjoyed that the welcome was unalloyed happiness, despite the past.

  Maggie would have felt like everything was falling into place, if only Noah had been in sync, but he wasn’t. She noticed him drinking, which typically made him frisky later, though she doubted they’d be having sex tonight, or if they did, it would be one of those big-talk-then-sex sessions, which she liked more than he did. Either way, Noah didn’t have much to say to Anna and only once did Maggie see him hand her a drink, so he was making an effort.

  Darkness fell as the meal was served, everybody ate their fill, and the approved playlist went into its umpteenth loop while the guests went home, leaving Maggie, Noah, Caleb, and Anna. Noah had wanted to scour the grill, so Maggie had taken Caleb up to bed, and Anna had said she would clean up the kitchen. Maggie had been coming downstairs when she heard Anna shouting in unmistakable distress.

  ‘Mom, help!’

  ‘Anna!’ Maggie almost tripped as she ran down the stairs, reaching the bottom just as a disheveled Anna came running toward her, the front of her sundress revealing her bra strap.

  ‘Mom, this has to stop, I can’t take it anymore, I just can’t!’ Anna burst into tears, running into Maggie’s arms.

  ‘What?’ Maggie hugged her tight, dumbfounded. ‘Honey? What happened?’

  ‘Babe?’ Noah came out of the powder room, stricken, and Maggie realized that he had been in there with Anna.

  ‘Mom, you have to stop him! He tried to kiss me! He keeps coming on to me –’

  ‘What?’ Maggie asked, astonished. Her mouth went dry. Her heart hammered. She looked at Noah in shock. ‘What is going on?’

  ‘Maggie, listen –’

  ‘Mom, you have to know the truth!’ Anna let her go, tears spilling from her eyes. ‘You have to get him to stop! I can’t take it anymore, I can’t!’

  ‘What did you say?’ Maggie said, still unable to believe her ears. Noah stepped back against the open door of the powder room, and Anna headed for the stairwell, grabbing the banister.

  ‘You ask him, Mom! Ask him about the driving lesson, what he tried to do! I can’t live with him!’

  ‘Anna, wait!’ Maggie felt her mouth hanging open. She couldn’t close it, she was so thunderstruck. She whirled around to face Noah in disbelief. ‘Is this true?’

  ‘Maggie, she’s crazy. I don’t even know what she’s talking about.’

  ‘Noah, what’s going on here?’ Maggie tried to get a grip. ‘What’s she talking about with the driving lesson? What happened?’

  ‘You can’t believe any of this –’

  ‘I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know what to believe! She’s saying you cam
e on to her? Did you come on to her? To Anna?’

  ‘Of course not!’

  ‘Then what happened? Did you try to kiss her?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘What happened during the driving lesson?’ Maggie found herself backing toward the stairway. She couldn’t believe it was true, but he’d been behaving so strangely. ‘Is it possible? Are you lying?’

  ‘No, of course not, it’s not!’ Noah raked his hands through his hair. ‘This is insane!’

  ‘Is that why she doesn’t want you to take her anymore?’ Maggie didn’t believe it, but what if she was in denial? She had made the same mistake with Florian, before. He’d been cheating on her, but she hadn’t believed that either.

  ‘Maggie, I swear, I don’t know what she’s talking about.’

  ‘What happened in the bathroom?’ Maggie struggled for emotional footing. ‘Just tell me!’

  ‘She told me the toilet was running, and I went to fix it and when I turned around she said I was trying to kiss her.’

  ‘Did you try to hug her or anything?’

  ‘No, nothing. Nothing like that.’

  ‘Have you been drinking?’ Maggie knew the answer. She had seen him.

  ‘I had a few, yes, but –’

  ‘Did you have too many? Are you out of control? Are you drunk?’

  ‘Of course not!’

  ‘But you know how you get when you drink.’

  ‘Not ever, never, with Anna. She’s a kid! Your kid!’

  ‘She’s not a kid, she’s a young woman.’ Maggie thought of Jordan, down at the conference. Jordan had been young, too. ‘Did something happen at the conference? Did you see Jordan in Miami?’

  ‘No, she wasn’t there.’

  ‘Did you go to the AstraZeneca booth? Did you go to the trade floor?’

  ‘Yes, but I didn’t see her there.’

  ‘Was she registered?’

  ‘How do I know? I didn’t look up the registrations.’

  ‘Who was there for AstraZeneca? We know those reps. Were ours there? Michelle and Chase?’

  ‘I have no idea.’

  ‘But you like younger women.’ Maggie’s mind raced, and she felt dumbfounded and appalled, both at once. Fresh eggs, isn’t that what Kathy had said? But Noah with her own daughter?

  ‘Maggie, I love you. I’m married to you.’