Forrester read several pages while the courtroom waited. "Yes," he said finally,"this seems very much to me to be a set of notes, though an incomplete one."
"Does it appear in any way to be a diary?"
"Certainly not. It does not describe the relationship between man and wife that I saw in Las Palmas."
"After the Mannings sailed from Las Palmas, did you see them again?"
"Yes, on the island of Puerto Rico, to the south."
"Would you describe the occasion, please?"
"We were there gathering information for my article, my photographer and I, and I saw the yacht in the marina there. Paul asked me on board for a drink and told me that they were sailing almost immediately."
New information again. Stone wished that Forrester would stop elaborating on what he had said earlier. "Was Mrs.Manning present?"
"Yes, she was."
"Had anything in their relationship changed that you could observe?"
"No, they still seemed to be the same happy couple I had seen a couple of days before."
"Were you present when they left the harbor?"
"Yes, I was standing on the quay, watching them."
"Did they still seem to be a happy couple?"
"Yes, they were laughing as they sailed past the quay. They waved and called out a goodbye." "Did anyone but Allison Manning ever see Paul Manning after that?"
"No. I believe I was the last to see him."
"You have interviewed Mrs.Manning extensively about their experiences after leaving Puerto Rico, have you not?"
"Yes, I have."
"Did you question her closely about the events that Occurred on the occasion of Paul Manning's death?"
"Yes, I did."
"Did Allison Manning say anything to you about events that you found to be inconsistent with the you had formed of the couple in the Canar is?"
"No, she did not. Everything she told me had the absolute ring of truth."
"Thank you, Mr.Forrester; no further questions."
"Sir Winston?" the judge said.
"Thank you, Your Lordship. Mr.Forrester, do you consider yourself to be an expert on marriage?"
"No, hardly."
"Are you not presently involved in a divorce from your own wife?"
"Yes, I am."
"So do you think that, on the basis of two brief meetings, you could pronounce their marriage a happy and successful one?"
"That was my impression."
"I ask you again, do you think you are qualified to judge the Mannings' marriage, one way or the other after meeting them for only a few hours?"
"Well, I'm certainly no marriage counselor, but…"
"Mr.Forrester, I ask you again: are you qualified to judge the state of their marriage?" "Well, I'm certainly no marriage counselor."
"Answer the question: are you qualified? Yes or no?"
"No," Forrester admitted.
"Did you ever see the couple again after they sailed from the Canaries?"
"No, just Mrs.Manning."
"You were not aboard the yacht with them when it sailed, were you?"
"No, I wasn't."
"So you have no personal knowledge of what occurred aboard that yacht when Paul Manning died?"
"I have Mrs.Manning's account."
"But you have no personal knowledge of these events, do you?"
"No."
"I have no further questions of this witness." Sir Winston sat down.
Stone stood. "Your Lordship, I have a brief redirect."
"Proceed."
"Mr.Forrester, you saw Mr.and Mrs.Manning together in the Canaries, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did."
"And you were the last person alive to see them together?"
"Yes, I was."
"Relying on your judgment as a journalist and as a human being, do you believe them to have been happily married?"
"I certainly do."
"Do you believe Allison Manning's account of her husband's death to be true?"
"Yes, I certainly do."
"Thank you, Mr.Forrester, I have no further questions."
"You may step down, Mr.Forrester," the judge aid. "Mr.Barrington, do you wish to call any other witnesses?"
"Yes; Your Lordship. The defense calls Mrs.Allison Manning."
Stone watched Allison as she left the dock and walked to the witness box. She seemed relaxed, serene; she certainly looked beautiful. If I can just get her through this, he thought, and if she stands up under cross without losing it, I can win this case.
Allison took hold of the Bible and swore to tell the truth.
CHAPTER 55
Stone waited while Allison arranged herself in the witness chair and recited her full name and address. He began questioning her slowly about her family background and education, letting her settle down and deal with easy questions. She was following his instruction, making eye contact with the jurors as she answered. Then he began to get to the meat of the matter.
"Mrs.Manning, when and how did you first meet your husband, Paul?"
"It was a little over five years ago," she said. "I was working as an art director with an advertising agency in New York, and I was invited to dinner at the home of my boss. Paul was a guest, too."
"Did you hit it off immediately?"
"Yes, we did. Paul took me home in a taxi and asked me out for dinner that weekend."
"And did you begin to see him on a regular basis after that?"
"Yes, we began seeing each other two or three times and before long, we were spending most of our together."
"Was Paul working as a writer at that time?"
"Yes, he had given up his newspaper career and was his third novel when we met."
"Was he a very successful writer at that time?"
"No. He was earning a modest living at his craft, but he had not yet begun to sell books in large numbers."
"After you had been seeing each other for a time, subject of marriage come up?"
"The subject came up very early in our relationship," she said, "although we didn't actually set a date until we had been seeing each other for several months."
"And when did you marry?"
"A few weeks after that-about four and a half years ago."
"In what circumstances were you married."
"I gave up my tiny apartment and moved into Paul's. It wasn't much bigger; it was a three-room flat in Greenwich Village, a fourth-floor walkup."
"Would you describe it as a modest apartment?"
She smiled. "I would describe it as less than modest. We painted the place ourselves, but that didn't make the heating or the plumbing work any better."
"After you were married, did Paul's career as a writer become more successful?"
"Yes. His third novel became a bestseller, and that allowed him to get a much better contract for his next book. It also meant that his income increased sharply."
"Did your circumstances improve after that?"
"Oh, yes. We bought a house in Greenwich, Connecticut, a large, comfortable house. Greenwich is near enough to New York City that Paul could spend the day in town visiting his publisher and still be home by dinner."
"In what other ways did Paul's success change your lives?"
"Well, we both drove expensive cars, we ate out in restaurants a lot, and we entertained at dinner parties. I bought better clothes, and so did Paul."
"And did there come a time when Paul decided he wanted a yacht?"
"Yes. He had a small boat-a twenty-five footer-when we married, and we used to sail that a lot. Then, after the success of his fourth novel, Paul ordered a larger yacht to be built at a yard in Finland."
"How long did it take to build the larger yacht?"
"About a year and a half."
"Is this the yacht which is now moored at the English Harbour marina?"
"Yes."
"Was there anything unusual about this yacht, apart from its larger size?"
"Well, it had the best equipment Paul could find, and it was designed to be sailed singlehanded."
"By singlehanded, do you mean by one person alone?"
"Yes. When we were aboard together, Paul did all the sailing, and I did all the domestic chores-cooking and so forth."