Moment Of Truth

'Crystal meth.'

Mary leaned toward the captain. 'It was given to her by her boyfriend, Trevor Olanski. He was present at the crime and can substantiate everything she says. We've

been trying to locate him but we can't. I have reason to believe he was in New York last night.'

Walsh turned to Paige. 'Please go on.'

'Well, I never took meth before and I was so mad, like raging. It's hard to remember. I grabbed the knife off the table and I… I… stabbed her.' Tears of guilt sprang to Paige's eyes but she didn't cry, and Mary felt proud of her. 'I didn't even know I was so angry inside, but I got out of control and I stabbed her. I finally stopped and calmed down, and I dropped the knife. My mother was… on the floor, so my boyfriend picked me up and got me out of there. Well, then my dad came home and he must have found my mother and figured out what happened. He confessed, but he didn't do it. He didn't.' Paige managed to hold back her tears, and Mary squeezed her hand. It was over. Paige had come through. Jack would be set free.

But Walsh still looked grim. 'You know, Ms Newlin, it's not unusual for a family member to come to us and try to cover for one of their own, especially in a homicide case.'

Mary nodded. 'We know that. That's why her father did it.'

Walsh raised a palm like a traffic cop. 'I'm talking to Ms Newlin, Ms DiNunzio.'

'I understand that.'

'So let me talk to her without interfering. If there's anything you don't want her to answer, you can tell her. But don't answer for her, understand? I muzzled my boy Donovan here, and if you think that was easy, you're nuts.'

'It's not the same thing. Captain.' Mary remained unintimidated, an act of will. 'Detective Donovan isn't exposed to criminal liability. Paige is, and I'm her lawyer.'

'And you were also Mr Newlin's. Now, I don't know a lot about legal ethics, but I don't get how you can be his lawyer and her lawyer when their interests are in conflict.'

'I'm no longer Mr Newlin's lawyer and I know from my investigation on this case that what Paige is saying is true.' Mary glanced at Kovich, against the credenza. 'And before you question my ethics, look to the department's. It's all over the newspapers that you've broken ranks over this case. Yet your only response has been to punish Brinkley, not to release an innocent man.'

'We haven't established that Newlin's innocent, Ms DiNunzio. Maybe if you let me talk to his daughter, we can make some progress.'

'Go right ahead,' Mary said. She found herself respecting Captain Walsh, even as they fought.

'I'm so glad.' Walsh hunched over his desk, closer to Paige. 'Ms Newlin, as you know, your father confessed to this crime and that's why we charged him. He confessed to nine-one-one, he confessed to the detectives, and we have it all on videotape. Nobody beat it out of him or made him say anything. He came in and told us what happened. You understand that?'

Paige nodded. 'But he was lying, to protect me.'

'You may not know that there was a substantial amount of physical evidence against your father. He had your mother's blood on his hands and clothes. We just received the coroner's report and he says it took a substantial amount of force to make those knife wounds. I wonder if a skinny girl like you could have done it.'

'I did do it. I stabbed her,' Paige protested, but Mary was getting a sinking feeling.

There were a number of stab wounds, too. Do you know how many?'

'I think maybe two or three. I remember… two or three.'

Captain Walsh shook his head. There were five.'

'Okay, whatever, there were five/ Paige said, testy in a teenage way. 'I don't know how many I did. I was high, I told you.'

'I understand that.' Walsh paused. 'But five stab wounds

into a chest takes time and effort. It's work. You wouldn't forget something like that.'

'I was high, I told you.' Paige was getting frustrated, and, standing behind Walsh, Donovan folded his arms.

'What about the cut on the hand, Cap?' he asked.

Walsh glanced back in annoyance, then returned to Paige. 'You know, typically when a knife is used in a murder, the person doing the stabbing gets a cut or two on their hand, because the knife is so slippery. It almost always happens that way. Your father had a cut on his hand. Do you have any cuts on your hands?'

Paige looked down at her hands, spreading her fingers. They were pink and lovely, with not a scratch on them, and Mary felt stricken. She knew where this was heading. They weren't going to believe Paige. She wondered briefly if she should take Paige to confront Jack, but he would just deny it.

'But I did it, I'm telling you,' Paige protested. The softness had vanished from her voice in her determination to be believed. 'Do you honestly think I would make this up? Pretend I killed my own mother when I didn't?'

'Yes, of course.' Captain Walsh nodded, his expression somber. That's what you're telling us your father did.'

Kovich shifted uneasily against the credenza. 'I'm wondering about something, Captain. May I?'

'Can I stop you?' Walsh asked, with a stern smile, but Kovich wasn't taking no for an answer.

'Paige said her mother was kicking her stomach, hard. You saw the coroner's report, Cap. The mother's toe was broken, on the right foot. She could have done that kicking someone. We thought it was a defensive wound, but maybe it wasn't.' Kovich's eyes sharpened behind his gold-rimmed glasses. 'If Paige is telling the truth, she should have bruises on her stomach.'

'Yes, she should,' Mary said, eagerly. Kovich was helping them, obviously at some professional cost, and she nodded to him gratefully.

Walsh turned to face Paige. 'Ms Newlin, do you have any bruises on you?'

'I guess so, sure. My stomach hurt the next day. I was worried about the baby and I called Planned Parenthood. They said it should be fine, since it was so early.'

'You understand, we can't take your word for it,' Walsh said, his tone still heavy with doubt. 'We'll have to see the bruises. Photograph them, too.'

'Fine,' Mary said. She wished she'd thought of it in her office, but she hadn't known about the broken toe. The prosecution hadn't had to disclose the coroner's report yet. 'If you gentlemen will clear out of the room, maybe I can take a look at Paige's stomach.'

The captain and the detectives rose and left. Kovich shot them a backward glance as he went out the door, which Mary read as encouragement. He must have realized that Brinkley had been right. With his information and Mary's, Jack would be exonerated. Mary jumped to her feet as soon as the police had closed the door behind them. 'Paige, let me see your bruises.'

'Sure.' Paige began to unbutton her blouse, her long red hair tumbling forward. 'I do have them. I mean, I didn't think to look, but I know I do. My stomach was killing me.' Her fingers fumbled to open the middle button, then the next and finally the third and fourth. She parted her blouse. A lacy white bra peeked out and below it lay one of the flattest, prettiest stomachs Mary had ever seen. There wasn't a bruise or a blotch on her.

Mary's mouth went dry. 'There's nothing,' she said, stricken, and Paige looked down in confusion.

'I don't get it. Where are the bruises? She was kicking me and kicking me. I know it. I remember it.'

Then how could they not be there? How could you not know?' Mary tried not to sound accusatory, but it dashed her hopes for Jack's release. 'Don't you look at your own body?'

'Not since that night, I guess. I've barely had time to

shower. But she kicked me, I remember. I was worried she was going to kill the baby. She said she was going to kill the baby!'

Mary didn't know what to say or do. What was going on here? The captain would never believe Paige now, but she had been telling the truth. Her account was exactly the way she'd told it in Mary's office and all of it made sense. But Kovich, who had been trying to help them, had also been right. If Paige had been kicked with enough force to break a toe, she would have bruises to show for it. So the only logical conclusion was that she hadn't been kicked.