Ashley’s recovery took a step backward on the morning of the preliminary hearing. She woke up frightened and nauseated, passing on a morning run because nerves and fear sapped her energy. She had gone to the mansion for breakfast but she could only eat toast and tea. As usual, Henry Van Meter tried to distract her from her troubles with tales of far-off places, but she only half-heard him. None of his stories could stop her from imagining what it would be like to face Joshua Maxfield later in the day.
Detective Birch picked up Ashley from the Academy dormitory at nine and drove her to the courthouse. He asked her how she was feeling and she told him that she was nervous, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him how truly frightened she was at the thought of being in the same room with the man who had killed her parents and come within moments of murdering her. Birch said that it was natural to be nervous, and he assured her that Delilah Wallace was a nice woman who would make sure that her ordeal was as painless as possible. Ashley pulled into herself after that, and there was very little conversation during the rest of the ride.
Jerry Philips was sitting in the reception area with his nose in a book when Ashley entered the DA’s office. He smiled and stood up when she came in. Birch placed himself between Ashley and the attorney.
“Do you know this gentleman?” the detective asked Ashley without taking his eyes off of Philips.
“Yes. He was my parents’ lawyer.” She looked at Jerry. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m your lawyer, too, Ashley. I’m here because I thought you might need some moral support. I’ve already spoken to Ms. Wallace. She seems very nice, and she’d prefer to talk to you alone, but I’ll go with you if you’d feel more comfortable with me sitting in. She has no objection.”
“That’s okay. I’ll go by myself.”
“Okay. I’ll be out here when you’re done.”
Ashley was very tense at the start of the interview, but Delilah calmed her down in less than five minutes. Delilah told Ashley that she would not keep her on the stand for long. She was only going to ask questions about what Ashley had seen in the boathouse. Maxfield’s lawyer would have a chance to cross-examine, but Delilah did not expect him to ask her anything that would embarrass her. And Delilah assured her that she would be right there in the courtroom to object if Maxfield’s attorney got out of hand.
“Will I have to see Mr. Maxfield?” Ashley asked.
“You’ll be in my office until I call you, so you won’t see him until you testify. When you’re in court he’ll be sitting across from you at the defense table, but there’s going to be extra security, so you don’t have to worry. I picked my meanest officers to guard you. They’ll beat Maxfield to a pulp if he so much as breathes in your direction,” Delilah said sternly. Then she broke into a smile. “And I’ll sit on that weasel when they’re through, and really put the fear of God in him.”
The thought of this massive woman crushing Maxfield under her tremendous weight made Ashley laugh. She covered her mouth, embarrassed, but Delilah broke out laughing, too, and, for a moment, they were girls together, giggling over a private joke.
Delilah spent the rest of their time together going over the questions she was going to ask Ashley and listening to her answers. Every once in a while, the prosecutor would comment on an answer and suggest different phrasing, but she never tried to make Ashley say anything that wasn’t true. Finally, Delilah subjected Ashley to a mock cross-examination. She told Ashley that the best way to handle cross was to tell the truth. She advised her not to rush, to listen to each question before answering and to make her answer to the point and as short as possible.
“Admit you don’t know an answer if that’s true and don’t be afraid to say that you aren’t sure,” Delilah instructed her.
After the mock cross, Delilah told her that she had held up pretty well. By the time the interview was over, Ashley was less frightened and she was convinced that she would get through her ordeal.
When Delilah escorted Ashley back to the reception area, Ashley’s lawyer was still waiting for her.
“Mr. Philips,” the deputy DA said, “Ashley will be my second witness so I’d like her at the courthouse, ready to go, at one-thirty.”
“Not a problem. I’ll get her some lunch and have her there on time.”
“Thank you.” Delilah turned to Ashley and put a hand on her shoulder. “You feed yourself, girlfriend. You ain’t got enough meat on your bones.”
Ashley smiled. She felt safe around Delilah. The DA smiled back, turned and walked down the hallway to her office.
“Are you hungry? Shall we get something to eat?” Philips asked.
Ashley hadn’t eaten much for breakfast and she was famished, but she’d seen lawyer shows, so she felt she had to ask Philips something.
“Are you going to be with me this afternoon?”
“Would you like me to be?”
“Yes, but I know that lawyers charge a lot and I can’t pay you. I don’t have any money.”
“Actually, you do. Remember I told you about the insurance, and there’s been an offer on the house. We’ll discuss that at lunch. But you don’t have to worry about my fees for today. It’s on the house.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
“We’re both in the same boat, remember? I know how alone I felt when Dad died, so I have some idea how you’re feeling. I just don’t want you to go through this alone.”
Chapter Fourteen
A guard let Barry Weller into the visiting room in the courthouse jail, a cramped, broom closet-sized cubicle divided in two by a grille through which attorney and client talked. Weller wanted Maxfield to wear a business suit for the preliminary hearing. The jail commander had refused because no jury was present, so Joshua was wearing an orange jail jumpsuit. Weller expected his client to complain. Most clients wanted to be dressed nicely if their hearing was going to be in open court and TV cameras and photographers were going to be present. Maxfield didn’t seem to care how he was dressed. The only thing he’d insisted on was a haircut, which Weller had been able to arrange. Maxfield had cut his hair short. It dawned on Weller that he and his client looked vaguely similar.
“Ready for the prelim, Joshua?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be. What do I do?”
“Nothing. Most of the time only the state puts on witnesses at a prelim.”
“Why is that?”
“The arraignment is the court appearance where the judge tells you your charges. It’s held in district court, where misdemeanors-the less serious crimes-are prosecuted. Murder is a felony. Felonies can only be tried in circuit court. A preliminary hearing gives the DA an opportunity to convince a judge that there’s enough of a case to warrant a trial in Circuit Court.”
“And when will the trial take place?”
“In a couple of months.”
“Why don’t you try to win the case today? Then we wouldn’t have to go to trial.”
“It doesn’t work that way. At the preliminary hearing the prosecution doesn’t have to convince a judge that you’re guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, like she does at a trial. Delilah just has to show that a reasonable person would conclude from the evidence that the crime of murder had been committed and that there is a reasonable possibility that you committed the murder. That’s not much of a burden. It’s not even fifty percent.