Just Take My Heart (13 page)

Loaded for bear, I hope."

Emily looked up. It was seven thirty a.m. on Monday morning and she was in her office. Detective Billy Tryon was standing in the doorway. One of my least favorite people in the world, she thought, irritated at what she perceived to be his condescending tone.

"Is there anything I can do for you this morning, Emily? I know it's a real big day for you in court."

"I think I'm pretty well set, Billy. But thank you."

"As Elvis would say, 'It's now or never.' Good luck with Aldrich today. I hope you destroy him on the stand."

Emily wondered whether Tryon really wished her well, or hoped that she would fall on her face. At the moment she didn't care. I'll think about that later, she decided.

Tryon was not about to leave. "Don't forget you're fighting it for Jake and me, too," he said. "We put a lot of legwork into this one. And that guy Aldrich is a killer, and we all know it."

Realizing that he was fishing for a compliment, Emily reluctantly replied, "I know you and Jake really worked hard and I certainly hope the jury thinks the way you do."

You finally got a haircut, she thought. If you knew how much better you looked, you'd visit your barber more often. She had to admit that when he didn't look sloppy, Tryon had a sort of a tough-guy, swaggering manner that some women probably considered attractive. Word in the office was that he had a new girlfriend who was a nightclub singer. Why was she not surprised?

It became immediately apparent that he was looking her over, too.

"You sure got all dolled up for the camera today, Emily. You look great."

In a superstitious moment earlier that morning, Emily had rejected the jacket and skirt she had been planning to wear. She had reached in her closet for the charcoal gray pants suit and bright red turtleneck that she remembered having on when Ted Wesley assigned her the case. "I'm not dolled up," she said sharply. "This suit is two years old and I've worn it any number of times to court."

"Well, I'm trying to pay you a compliment. You look great."

"Billy, I guess I should thank you, but as you can obviously see, I'm going over my notes and in a little more than an hour, I'm going to go into court to try to get a murderer convicted. Would you mind?"

"Sure, sure." With a smile and a wave, he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Emily felt rattled. I didn't dress for the camera, did I? she asked herself. No, I didn't. Is the red turtleneck too bright? No, it isn't. For-get it. You're getting wacky, like Zach. She thought again about the missing mums. He must have spent most of Saturday planting them. They looked beautiful. Then when I walked Bess yesterday morning they were gone. Nothing but dirt where they had been. But when I got home at five o'clock his walkway was lined with asters and pansies. I liked the mums better, she thought. But that guy is really strange. Looking back, it's probably a blessing that I found him lounging in-side my house at ten o'clock at night. What a wake-up call!

Dismissing any further thought about her wardrobe or her odd-ball neighbor, Emily looked down and once again perused the notes she would use when she crossexamined Gregg Aldrich.

*

The trial resumed promptly at nine a.m. Judge Stevens indicated to Gregg Aldrich that he should return to the witness stand.

Aldrich was wearing a charcoal gray suit, white shirt, and black and gray tie. You'd swear he was going to a funeral, Emily thought I'll bet Richard Moore put him up to wearing that outfit. He's trying to convey the image of the bereaved husband to the jury. But if I have anything to say about it, it won't do him any good.

She glanced quickly over her shoulder. A sheriff's officer had told her that the corridor had been packed with would-be spectators long before the doors to the courtroom opened. It was clear that even seat was taken. Katie Aldrich was sitting in the front row directly be-hind her father. On the other side of the aisle, Alice Mills, accompanied by her two sisters, sat just behind Emily.

Emily had already greeted Alice before she took her place at counsel table.

Judge Stevens noted for the record that the witness had been previously sworn, then said, "Prosecutor, you can now begin your cross examination."

Emily stood up and said, "Thank you, Your Honor." She walked over to the ledge at the far end of the jury box. "Mr. Aldrich," she began, "you have testified that you loved your wife, Natalie Rain, very much. Isn't that correct?"

"That is correct," Gregg Aldrich said quietly.

"And you have testified that you were her agent. Is that correct?"

"That is correct."

"And as her agent, you were entitled to fifteen percent of her in-come. Isn't that correct?"

"That is correct."

"And would it be fair to say that Natalie Raines was an acclaimed actress and achieved major celebrity status, both before and during your marriage?"

"That is correct."

"And isn't it a fact that if Natalie had lived, there is every indication that she would have continued to be very successful?"

"I am sure she would have been."

"And isn't it a fact that if you weren't her agent anymore, you wouldn't be getting a portion of her income?"

"That is true, but I was a successful agent for years before I married Natalie, and I continue to be a successful agent."

"Mr. Aldrich, I am only going to ask you one more question in this area. Did your income substantially increase when you married Natalie and became her agent? Yes or no?"

"Yes, but not substantially."

"Well, are any of your present clients as successful as Natalie Raines was?"

"I have a number of clients, particularly recording artists, who make a great deal more money than Natalie did." Gregg Aldrich hesitated. "We are talking about a different kind of success. Natalie was well on her way to assuming the mantle once held by the late Helen Hayes: 'First Lady of the American Theatre.' "

"You wanted very much to have her viewed in that light?"

"She was a magnificent actress. She deserved that accolade."

"On the other hand, you were saddened when, to further her ca-reer, she went on the road for extended periods of time, weren't you, Mr. Aldrich? Isn't it a fact that you constantly badgered her by wanting it both ways?" As her tone began to rise, Emily stepped closer to the witness stand.

"As I have testified here and will now tell you again, my concern was that Natalie insisted on accepting roles that I felt could hurt her career. Of course I missed her when she was away. We were very much in love."

"Of course you were. But isn't it a fact that you were so angry and frustrated at the frequent separations that Natalie became tormented, so much so that she finally gave up on the marriage?"

"That was absolutely not the reason she decided to separate."

"Then if you were so accepting of Natalie's schedule, aside from your professional opinion about the roles she was taking, why did she hire another agent? Why did she beg you to stop calling her? Why did she end up demanding that you stop calling her?"

As Emily pounded away at Gregg Aldrich, she could sense that there was an awareness in the courtroom that his composure was beginning to break down. His answers were becoming hesitant. He kept looking away from her.

"Natalie phoned you for the last time on Saturday morning. March 14th, two and a half years ago. Let me quote to you exactly what you said under oath about the call." She looked down at the paper she was holding and then read: "'I received a message from her on my cell phone, saying she had gone up to Cape Cod, that she would be at our scheduled meeting on Monday, and asking me not to call her over the weekend.'"

Emily stared at Gregg. "She wanted to be left alone, didn't she. Mr. Aldrich?"

"Yes." A thin bead of perspiration was forming on Gregg Aldrich's forehead.

"But instead of respecting her wishes, you immediately rented a car and followed her to Cape Cod, didn't you?"

"I respected her wishes. I did not phone her."

"Mr. Aldrich, that's not what I asked. You followed her to Cape Cod, didn't you?"

"I didn't plan to talk to her. It was necessary for me to see if she was alone."

"And it was necessary to drive a rented car that nobody would recognize?"

"As I explained last week," Gregg answered, "I wanted to go there quietly and I didn't want to upset her or confront her. I just wanted to see if she was alone."

"If you wanted to find out if she was seeing anyone else, why didn't you hire a private investigator?"

"That never occurred to me. I made a spontaneous decision to drive up to Cape Cod. I would never have hired anyone to spy on my wife. The thought is revolting to me," Gregg said, his voice quivering.

"You testified that, by Sunday evening, you were satisfied that she was alone because you didn't see any other cars in the driveway. How do you know that she didn't pick up someone before you got there? How could you be so sure that there was no one else inside?"

"I was sure." Gregg Aldrich's voice was rising.

"How could you be so sure? This was the most important issue in your life. How could you be so sure?"

"I looked in the window. I saw her sitting alone. That's how I knew."

Emily, stunned at this new revelation, recognized instantly that Gregg Aldrich had just made a big mistake. Richard Moore knows it, too, she thought.

"Did you get out of your car and walk up her lawn and look in her window?"

"Yes, I did," Gregg Aldrich said, defiantly.

"What window did you look in?"

"The window on the side of the house that looks into the den."

"And what time of the day or night was it when you did this?"

"It was just before midnight on Saturday night."

"And so you were hiding in the bushes outside her home in the middle of the night?"

"I didn't think of it that way," Gregg answered, the defiance gone, his voice now hesitant. He leaned forward in the witness chair.

"Can't you understand that I was worried about her? Can't you understand that if she had found someone else, I knew I had to go away?"

"Then what did you think when you saw her alone?"

"She looked so vulnerable. She was curled up like a child on the couch."

"And how do you think she would have reacted if she had seen a figure in the window at midnight?"

"I was very careful not to let her see me. I did not want to frighten her."

"Were you then satisfied that she was alone?"

"Yes, I was."

"Then why did you drive past her house again several times on Sunday?" Emily demanded.

"You admitted it in your direct examination."

"I was worried about her."

"So let me get this straight," Emily said. "First, you tell us that you went there in your rented car just to find out if she was alone. Then you tell us that you were satisfied that she was alone after you peered in her window while you hid in the bushes at midnight. Now you tell us that on Sunday, even though you believe she's alone, you're driving around her neighborhood a good part of the day and into the evening. Is that what you're telling us?"

"I'm telling you that I was worried about her and that's why I was there on Sunday."

"And what were you so worried about?"

"I was worried about Natalie's emotional state. The way she had been curled up like that said to me that she was very upset."

"Did it occur to you that the reason she appeared to be upset might be your fault, Mr. Aldrich?"

"Yes, it did. That was why, as I testified on Friday, on the drive home from the Cape, I think I made my peace with the fact that it was over between us. It's hard to explain but that was my thinking. If I was the cause of whatever was upsetting her, then I had to leave her alone."

"Mr. Aldrich, you did not find your wife with another man. Then on the way home, to quote you, you decided that Natalie was one of those people who are 'never less alone than when alone?' Aren't you telling this courtroom that either way you had lost her?"

"No, I am not."

"Mr. Aldrich, isn't it fair to say that she simply didn't want to be with you anymore? And if something else was troubling her, she didn't turn to you for help. Isn't it true that she wanted you out of her life?"

"I remember feeling on that drive down from the Cape that there was no point in hoping that Natalie and I would get back together." "That upset you, didn't it?"

Gregg Aldrich looked into Emily's eyes. "Of course I was upset. But something else was happening, a feeling of relief that at least I knew it was over. At least I wouldn't be consumed by her any longer."

"You wouldn't be consumed by her anymore. Was that your resolution?"

"I guess that's one way of putting it."

"And you didn't drive out to her home the next morning and shoot her?"

"Absolutely not. Absolutely not."

"Mr. Aldrich, immediately after your wife's body was found, you were questioned by the police. Didn't they ask you if you could give them the name of even one person who might have seen you jogging in Central Park between, and I quote you, '7:15 or so and 10:05 when I returned the rental'?"

"I wasn't looking at anyone that day. It was cold and windy. On days like that everyone who is jogging or running is bundled up. Some people have headphones on. The point is it's not a social get-together. People are into themselves."

"Would you say that you were into yourself for two and a half hours on a cold, windy March day?"

"I used to run the November marathon. And I have clients were professional football players. They tell me that no matter how frigid the weather, the adrenaline would start pumping when they were on the field and they simply didn't feel the cold. I didn't either on that morning."

"Mr. Aldrich, let me ask you if this scenario is true. I suggest that your adrenaline was pumping that Monday morning when, by your own admission, you had decided that your wife, Natalie Raines, lost to you. I suggest that knowing she would be home at sometime that morning, you got in that rental car, made the thirty-minute drive to Closter, picked up the hide-a-key you knew was there, and waited inside her kitchen. Isn't that what happened?"