As Time Goes By

by Mary Higgins Clark

  A bombshell had landed late last evening. A woman in Milwaukee had posted on her Facebook page a picture of an obviously pregnant teenage girl holding up a dress. Beneath the picture the woman had written this caption, “Almost fainted after realizing that Betsy Grant is the Betsy Ryan who worked in her aunt’s dress shop in Milwaukee twenty-six years ago. I knew her aunt from high school and I met Betsy several times. She was a very sweet girl. I snapped this picture of her after she helped me pick out this dress for my sister’s wedding. There’s no way she killed her husband. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

  The jury remained in the jury room when the proceedings began.

  Prosecutor Elliot Holmes stood up. “Your Honor, we are all aware of the Facebook post that was made at 10 P.M. last night and widely reported on the eleven o’clock news an hour later, and also in the newspapers this morning. I believe that there are two issues before this court.

  “As to the first issue, we submit to the court that this photograph is highly relevant evidence. We ask Your Honor to recall Peter Benson’s testimony that he dated Betsy Ryan in their junior and senior years of high school. But shortly after graduation her parents told everyone they believed that she was too young to attend college away from home, and that she would spend the year in Milwaukee working at her aunt’s dress shop. Mr. Benson testified that he lost contact with her after that.

  “Your Honor, it is very obvious that the real reason she delayed college was that she had become pregnant, and went to Milwaukee to keep this pregnancy secret. If the defendant did give birth to a child, I assume the child was put up for adoption.

  “Your Honor, ordinarily a pregnancy of the defendant twenty-six years ago would have no relevance in this trial. But we submit strongly that we should be able to inquire of the defendant during her testimony if Peter Benson was the father of this child. As I have argued in my opening statement, and intend to argue in my summation, the state asserts that the primary motive for the defendant to kill her husband was her desire to start a new life with Peter Benson. If he is in fact the father of this child, that would be powerful evidence of an even deeper bond between the defendant and Mr. Benson.

  “Finally, with respect to this first issue, if the defendant changes her mind and does not testify, then we will seek to recall Peter Benson on rebuttal and question him about this information.”

  The prosecutor continued: “Your Honor, as to the second issue, even though we seek to admit this evidence, we believe it would be appropriate for the court to individually question each juror as to whether they have seen this information, and if so, whether the caption that ‘she wouldn’t hurt a fly’ would impact their decision in this case.”

  Judge Roth turned to Robert Maynard. “Your thoughts, sir?”

  “Your Honor, of course, I have spoken to Betsy Grant about this Facebook post. Like everyone else, we learned about it late last night when it was on the television news. We strongly object to this very late evidence being submitted to the jury.”

  Delaney watched as Maynard made his brief and rather feeble argument. It struck her that he did not indicate whether Betsy Grant would admit or deny that Peter Benson was the father. He sounds as if he knows his argument is a lost cause and that the evidence will be heard by the jury, she thought, as she looked over at Betsy Grant, who was staring straight ahead and showing no emotion.

  Today she had chosen to wear a blue and white tweed jacket, a navy blue skirt, and black patent leather high heels. A single-strand pearl necklace, small pearl earrings, her wide gold wedding band, and a narrow silver-band watch were the jewelry she had chosen. Throughout the trial she had been wearing her hair pinned back, but today, probably on Robert Maynard’s advice, she had let it fall loosely on her shoulders. The result was that she looked even younger, as if she were in her early thirties, and absolutely beautiful.

  What on earth can she be thinking? Delaney wondered. If it turns out that Peter Benson is the father of her child, the prosecutor is right—it will show an even deeper bond between them. That could bury her in the minds of the jurors.

  Then Judge Roth spoke. “Counsel, this is certainly late evidence, but it is potentially highly relevant. This is obviously not a circumstance in which a prosecutor previously knew about evidence and didn’t turn it over to the defense. If that were the case, I would certainly prohibit it. But this Facebook information was posted late last night. I will question each juror individually as to whether he or she is aware of this information, and if so whether the juror can evaluate the information fairly and make up his or her own mind about the verdict, notwithstanding the comments in the caption.”

  Judge Roth spent the next hour and a half separately calling jurors into his chambers. Every one of them had seen or read about the story. Every one of them assured the judge that they would consider the evidence fairly and not be affected by the comment in the caption.

  The judge ruled that all jurors could remain, and that if Betsy Grant still wished to testify, this information could be referenced. If she chose not to testify, the prosecutor would be permitted to recall Peter Benson on rebuttal.

  Maynard stood up again. “Your Honor, Betsy Grant is going to testify.”

  Judge Roth ordered that the jury be brought back into the courtroom. When the last juror was seated, Robert Maynard spoke. “Your Honor, the defense calls Betsy Grant.”

  All eyes in the courtroom were upon her as she rose from her chair and walked to the area in front of the bench. The judge directed her to raise her right hand to be sworn in by the clerk. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” In a low, but firm voice she answered, “Yes.”

  She stepped up to the witness stand and was seated. The sheriff’s officer adjusted the microphone in front of her. Robert Maynard initially went through her marriage to Dr. Edward Grant, the details of his lengthy illness and her efforts to give him the best possible care. Then he focused on the major areas that he knew would strongly impact this verdict one way or the other. During the questioning, he always referred to her as “Mrs. Grant.”

  “Mrs. Grant, on the evening prior to your husband’s death, did Dr. Grant have an angry outburst during dinner and forcefully slap you across the face?”

  “Yes, he did.”

  “And did you fall back into your chair sobbing?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “And did you say a number of times, ‘I can’t take it anymore’?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “And would you tell this jury what you meant by that?”

  Betsy turned in her chair and directly faced the jury. “I had done my best for the more than seven years of my husband’s illness to take good care of him. I loved him very deeply. Two years prior to his death, I took a leave of absence from my teaching position and eventually eliminated all of my volunteer work, to stay home and be there for him full-time. But during the last year of his life he assaulted and verbally abused me on several occasions.”

  Betsy’s voice broke. After a sip of water she continued. “My own doctor, seeing the impact this was having on me, advised me to put Ted in a nursing home. I had always resisted that advice because I knew it would only add to Ted’s depression and anxiety. But after he hit me that last evening, I knew I could not endure any more. I knew in that moment it was time to make that decision.”

  “And what decision was that?”

  “I knew the time had come to do what I never wanted to do. I was going to put him in a nursing home.”

  “Mrs. Grant, before you went to bed that evening, did you turn the alarm system on?”

  “I was so upset that night that I simply don’t remember. I don’t think I did. I couldn’t check that because we had an old alarm system that did not keep an electronic record of when it was on or off.”

  “Did you normally put the alarm on at night?”

  “Normally, either Angela or I turned it on.”

  Mrs. Grant, after the caregiver, the houseke
eper and your guests left, did you look in on your husband before going to bed?”

  “Yes, I went into his bedroom to check on him. He was in a sound sleep. I knew Angela had given him a sleeping pill after his outburst.”

  “What time was that?”

  “Around 9:45 P.M.”

  “What did you do then?”

  “I went into my bedroom, which is down the hall on the ground floor. I immediately went to sleep.”

  “When was the next time that you saw your husband?”

  “The next time was at about eight o’clock the following morning, right after Angela Watts came into my room and told me that he was dead.”

  “Mrs. Grant, evidence has been presented in this trial that the alarm was on when the caregiver arrived that morning. The evidence has also shown that when everyone left the prior evening, you were alone with your husband. Did you hear anyone come into the home that night?”

  “No, I did not. But I was so upset that since Ted seemed to be in a deep sleep, I also took a sleeping pill, which I rarely do. I fell into a very deep sleep.”

  “Apart from you and the caregiver, who else knew the code to the alarm?”

  “Carmen, my housekeeper, of course knew the code. And even though he was very ill, up until a couple of years before he died there were times when Ted would start mumbling the numbers of the code. We had never changed it since the day we moved into the house.”

  “Did you ever give Alan Grant the code?”

  “I never did, but I don’t know if Ted ever told him, or if Ted ever said the numbers in Alan’s presence.”

  “Who had a key to your home?”

  “Of course, Ted and I. Also Carmen and Angela.”

  “Did Alan Grant ever have a key?”

  “I don’t know. I never gave him a key, and Ted never indicated he had given him a key. And I know Angela and Carmen never would have given anyone a key without our permission.”

  “As of the time of your husband’s death, where was his key?”

  “In the last two years of my husband’s life, he did not go anywhere on his own. His key was hanging on a hook in the kitchen. Once in a while Ted would take that key off the wall and I would find it on the shelf in the library that had become his bedroom.”

  “What would you do with the key when you found it in his bedroom?”

  “I would simply put it back on the kitchen wall.”

  “When was the last time that you saw that key?”

  “Three or four months before Ted died I noticed it was not on the kitchen wall. I expected to find it in the library but I didn’t.”

  “Did you ever find that key?”

  “No, I didn’t. Carmen and I looked everywhere, but we never found it.”

  “Were you concerned about this missing key?”

  “Not particularly. I assumed it was somewhere in the house, or that he had thrown it in the trash and it was gone.”

  “In the last several years of your husband’s life, was Alan Grant ever alone with him?”

  “Many times. He would sometimes take him for a drive. Sometimes they would just sit by themselves in the den and watch television.”

  “Now, Mrs. Grant, I’m going to ask you some questions about the Facebook posting. Let me show you this exhibit. Is that you in this picture?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Are you pregnant in this picture?”

  “Yes, I was. About six months pregnant.”

  “At that time were you working in your aunt’s dress shop in Milwaukee?”

  “Yes, I was.”

  “When did you go to Milwaukee?”

  “I went to Milwaukee in mid-July, after I graduated from high school.”

  “When did you become pregnant?”

  “In late May, the night of my senior prom.”

  “Before you became pregnant, had you planned to go to college that September?”

  “Yes, I had been accepted at George Washington University, in Washington, DC.”

  “What was your parents’ reaction to your pregnancy?”

  “They were both extremely upset and embarrassed. My father in particular was very angry at me.”

  “Did you change your plans for college?”

  “Yes. My parents insisted that with the exception of my mother’s sister in Milwaukee, no one should ever know about my pregnancy. My parents told everyone they had decided that I was too young to go away to college and that I should spend the year working with my aunt in Milwaukee.”

  “Did you give birth to a child?”

  “Yes, I did. A little girl. My daughter was taken from me immediately. On her deathbed my mother admitted to me that my father had sold the baby to the highest bidder. He got forty thousand dollars. It has been a source of intense pain for me since that time.”

  “Did you ever tell Dr. Grant that you had had a child?”

  “Absolutely. Before we were married. I felt strongly that it was only fair for him to know.”

  “What was his reaction?”

  “He offered to help me try to find my child.”

  “And what did you do?”

  “I didn’t do anything. I was embarrassed and ashamed. My father had sold my baby. On her deathbed more than twenty years ago, my mother told me that she thought that the money was going to be put toward my college education. Instead, my father used that money to court his present wife, even though my mother was still alive.”

  Betsy choked back sobs. “I have missed my daughter every moment of every day, since her birth. As a teacher I was constantly around students who were the same age as my daughter. I have always wondered where my daughter was.”

  “Mrs. Grant, who is the father of your child?”

  “Peter Benson is the father.”

  “Are you absolutely certain that he is the father?”

  “Yes, I am absolutely certain. Peter was the only boy that I dated in high school.”

  “Did you ever tell him that you were pregnant?”

  “No, I did not.”

  “Did you ever tell him that you had given birth to a child?”

  “No, I did not.”

  “Why didn’t you tell him?”

  “Because my parents had banished me to Milwaukee. They did not want Peter, or anyone else, to know about the child. They did not want her, and they did not want Peter’s family to possibly seek custody of her. And as I have already told you, my father sold my baby.”

  “So you are telling us that from the time you realized you were pregnant to the time this Facebook picture was posted last night, you never told Peter Benson about this child?”

  “No, I did not. I am beyond distressed that he has probably seen these reports and knows I gave birth to his daughter.”

  “Mrs. Grant, you do not deny that you met Peter Benson for dinner once or twice a month in the couple of years before your husband died?”

  “No, I do not.”

  “Were you having an affair with Peter Benson?”

  “No, I was not.”

  “Tell us about this relationship.”

  “It was exactly as he explained it when he testified. I bumped into him in a museum in New York a couple of years before Ted died. We were both at a very low point in our lives. He was grieving over the loss of his wife and I was grieving over the loss of the wonderful husband I had had. We were a great comfort to each other.”

  “Did you develop strong feelings for Peter Benson?”

  “I would be lying if I did not acknowledge that as time went on, my affection grew very deep. As he testified, he felt the same way.”

  “Did you discuss the feelings you had for each other?”

  “Yes, we did. I told him that I would never be unfaithful to Ted and I would never abandon him.”

  “Mrs. Grant, did you do anything to harm your husband on the night of March 21st into March 22nd of last year?”

  “Absolutely not. It is certainly true that on that last evening I finally made the decision to put hi
m in a nursing home. But I would never have harmed him.”

  “No further questions, Your Honor.”

  “Prosecutor, you may cross-examine.”

  Elliot Holmes stood up and walked toward the witness stand. “Mrs. Grant, there is no doubt that as of 9:45 P.M. on March 21st of last year, you were alone in that house with your husband. Is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “And during the night, you never heard anyone come into the home. Is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “And when the caregiver arrived the next morning at 8 A.M. the alarm was on. Is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “And your husband was found dead a couple of minutes later. Is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you are aware that the police found no sign of an intruder breaking in, such as a broken window or a broken door lock?”

  “Yes, I am aware of that.”

  “Mrs. Grant, you have basically admitted that for the couple of years before your husband’s death you were regularly seeing Peter Benson?”

  “Yes, I was. I have already said that.”

  “Did you ever have dinner in New Jersey?”

  “No, we did not.”

  “Why not?”

  “I wanted the comfort of his friendship, but I knew how it could be perceived if I was seen with him by anyone I knew. I do not deny that I wanted to keep our friendship private. I had enough on my plate. I didn’t need gossip as well.”

  “Mrs. Grant, isn’t it a fact that you killed your husband because you were weary of his illness and all that went with it and you wanted to be with Peter Benson?”

  “Mr. Holmes, I was weary. I was sad. I could have accomplished everything you just talked about by putting my husband in a nursing home. If my husband had been in a nursing home, I could have seen Peter Benson much more frequently than I actually did.”

  Betsy leaned forward in the witness stand and pointed her finger at the prosecutor, her voice rising.

  “If I had put him in a nursing home, I would have introduced Peter to my friends and they would have understood.”

  “How long has it been since you have seen or talked to Peter Benson?”