From a Single Seed: A Novel
Page 23
“We dated during our junior and senior years of high school. Then, she decided to go to Masterson, and I decided to go to Columbia. We knew we would only be five hours away from each other, but we weren’t sure we wanted to have a long-distance relationship. We knew we would both be busy with studying, so we agreed to see other people during the fall term.”
“I’m going to show you what’s been marked as State’s Exhibit 1. Can you tell the jury what it is?” Dutton placed a photo on a machine and it appeared on the AV screen that was set up on the wall opposite the jury.
“It’s our prom photo. Shannon and me. Before we went to the senior prom.”
Barry had told him that the prosecutor would probably introduce a photo of Shannon early on to give them a face to go with the name, but the prom photo caught him off guard. It was almost as if the prosecutor was trying to legitimize Shannon’s relationship with Jake and paint Keenan as the interloper.
“Did you stay in contact with Shannon during the fall term?”
“I did. We texted a fair amount and FaceTimed a few times.”
“Did you see her?”
“Only once.”
“When was that?”
“Thanksgiving break.”
“Where did you see her?”
“In the city.”
“New York City?”
“That’s correct.”
“What happened when you saw her?”
“We had a great time. Did some sightseeing. Got caught up. We made love.”
The words stabbed. Barry had been clear that Keenan needed to be careful about the emotion he showed. The jury was watching him. What was the appropriate emotion for hearing that your girlfriend was making love with someone else? He took a deep breath and tried to keep his face blank, his eyes on Jake.
“At that time, did you know whether Shannon was seeing someone else?”
“I didn’t ask. She didn’t mention it. I assumed she wasn’t.”
“Did you see Shannon again after Thanksgiving?”
“No, I did not. She didn’t come home for Christmas.”
“Thank you, Jake. No further questions.”
Barry rose.
“When you saw Shannon in November, did the two of you drink alcohol?”
“No, we didn’t.”
“Did Shannon drink much in high school?”
“No.”
“Did she drink at all?”
“I remember she had a glass of champagne on prom night. She might have also had some at graduation.”
“But she wasn’t an experienced drinker, was she?”
“No, not at all.”
“And you said that Shannon never communicated to you that she was involved with another guy?”
“That’s right. She did not.”
“Did you talk to her during the week before she disappeared?”
“I believe we FaceTimed once.”
“Did you have any other communication with her?”
“Yes, there were some texts.”
“But, despite the fact that you had been communicating with her, she never gave you any indication she was in another relationship, did she?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“No further questions for this witness, Your Honor.”
“Any re-direct, Mr. Dutton?”
“No questions, Your Honor.”
Jake was excused and they moved onto the next witness.
“The State calls Amy Stevens,” the prosecutor said.
Keenan watched Shannon’s friend walk toward the front of the courtroom. He had met Amy only once, but he had heard a lot about her. It felt strange that she was testifying against him.
Amy raised her right hand and swore to tell the truth.
“Did you know Shannon Dawson?”
“Yes. We were friends.”
“Would you say you were close?”
“Yes.”
“How long had you known her?”
“We met at the beginning of last year, but we had a lot in common. We lived in the same dorm and we were both neuroscience majors.”
“Did you spend Thanksgiving with Shannon?”
“Yes. She came home with me for the holiday break.”
“Where is your home?”
“New York City?”
“How did you get there?”
“Shannon drove.”
“Anybody else travel with you?”
“No, it was just the two of us.”
“So you had a lot of time to talk?”
“We sure did. With the traffic, it took us about six hours to get there. The way back was closer to five.”
“Other than that trip, did you talk to Shannon?”
“A fair amount. She was probably my closest friend first semester of freshman year.”
“Did you talk to her about her relationship with Keenan?”
“I did.”
“How did she feel about him?”
“She loved him.”
“Did you talk to her about her relationship with Jake?”
“Yes.”
“How did she feel about Jake?”
“She loved him too.”
“She loved both of them?”
“Yes. When she was with Keenan, she loved Keenan more. When she was with Jake, she loved Jake more.”
“That’s a bit of a quandary. What did she do about it?”
“It was eating her up, so she asked a bunch of her friends for advice. She basically polled everyone.”
Barry stood. “I know the court has already ruled on this issue, but I would like my objection noted for the record. The witness is testifying about hearsay.”
The judge nodded. “The objection is noted. The prosecution may proceed.”
Fred lifted his chin and looked toward Amy. “I’m going to show you what’s been marked as Exhibit 2. Can you identify it?”
“It’s a Facebook group message I got from Shannon.”
“When was it sent?”
“December fifteenth.”
“When was that in relation to her disappearance?”
“The weekend before.”
“And what does it say?”
“It asks for advice about Jake and Keenan.”
“To your knowledge, did she come to a decision?”
“She told me she was going to tell both of them in person. She said she was going to tell Keenan before she went home for Christmas. She was going to tell Jake once she got home.”
Barry rose for cross-examination.
“Did Shannon have a habit of getting intoxicated?”
“No. She was too focused on her studies.”
“In the months that she was your closest friend at Masterson, did you ever see her intoxicated?”
“No, I did not.”
“Did you ever see her drink alcohol?”
“No.”
Barry paused and looked down at his legal pad for a few seconds, leaving the answer hanging in the air.
“Where were you on the Friday night after final exams that semester?”
“I was back in the city.”
“So, you don’t know for sure that Shannon told Keenan about Jake, do you?”
“I didn’t hear her, if that’s what you mean. I just know she was planning to tell him.”
“But, it’s possible that she chickened out, isn’t it?”
“I suppose.”
“Because she loved Keenan and didn’t want to hurt his feelings?”
“Maybe.”
When the judge announced the lunch break, Keenan couldn’t wait to get out of the courtroom. What he wanted more than anything was to go outside and run. And run. And run. And never come back. Instead, he ate lunch in a conference room with his family and his attorney, trying to listen as everyone congratulated Barry on his opening and commented on how the first two witnesses had not really done much damage. Keenan knew they were just trying to give him hope. That’s why he loved his family so much. They were sti
ck-by-you kind of people. The one-hour lunch break flew by, and it seemed like minutes later they were back in the stuffy courtroom.
Chapter 54
Monday, September 15, 2014
CASSIE AND Greg Brody sat behind their son, clutching each other’s hands. In her wildest dreams, Cassie had never imagined she would be watching her son on trial for manslaughter. Keenan had always been the more easygoing of her two boys. Not that she could imagine Liam killing anyone either. The whole thing was surreal. She studied the back of Keenan’s head. His dark blond hair still curled up a little at the ends. He’d had a mop of curly blond hair as a baby. Such a beautiful child, who became a handsome young man. At the moment, it felt like a curse. What if the jury somehow held his looks against him?
In high school, girls had always seemed to swoon around Keenan. Not that he seemed to notice. He was always more interested in playing hockey than chasing girls. Cassie had listened to her friends’ horror stories about their sons having sex in high school. Evelyn’s son had even gotten a girl pregnant. Cassie had felt so lucky at the time, maybe even a little superior. Her sons were both heading to top-notch colleges instead of dead-end jobs and teenage parenthood. Maybe God was punishing her for her sin of pride.
All she knew was that at that particular moment, she would gladly make a deal with the devil if she could get her son out of this mess. She knew Barry Densmore had a good reputation, but with her son’s life at stake, the devil might offer better odds.
Jenna Davidson had just been sworn as a witness.
“Were you with Shannon Dawson on that Friday night, the last day of final exams last fall?”
“Yes, I was.”
“What did you and Shannon do?”
“We hung out in the dorm for a while, then we went to a party off campus.”
“Were you drinking?”
“A little.”
“Were you drunk?”
“No.”
“Was Shannon drinking?”
“Some.”
“Was she drunk?”
“She said she wasn’t.”
“When was that?”
“When she offered to drive to the party.”
“Do you know what she was drinking?”
“I think she had a wine cooler.”
“Just one?”
“I really don’t know.”
“Where was the party?”
“It was on Maple Street.”
“And did Shannon drive to the Maple Street party?”
“Yes, she did.”
“When Shannon drove to Maple Street, who was in the car?”
“It was just Shannon, Greta and me.”
“Where did Shannon park at the party?”
“She found a parking spot a couple a houses down from the party.”
“What happened at the party?”
“We danced, talked to some people. Then Keenan showed up.”
“How long were you at the party before Keenan showed up?”
“About an hour.”
“Did Keenan and Shannon talk?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Well, he pulled her out on the back deck.”
“What happened when they were out on the deck?”
“They argued, and he grabbed her and shook her.”
Cassie felt herself tense at the description of violence. She hadn’t raised boys who were physically violent with women, had she? Of course, it’s hard to find out that your girlfriend is involved with another guy. Anyone would get upset at that. And grabbing is hardly the same as punching. She could remember grabbing the kids in anger when they were fighting and she just couldn’t take the bickering any more. Maybe that’s all it was.
“How hard did he grab her?”
“Pretty hard. It looked hard enough to hurt.” Cassie willed herself to keep her face blank.
“Could you hear what they were arguing about?”
“No, I could not.”
“Why?”
“Because I was inside and the door was shut.”
“If the door was shut, how did you know what was happening outside?”
“It was a glass door, a slider.”
“Did you see them leave?”
“Yeah.”
“What happened?”
“Shannon left and Keenan followed her.”
“How did she leave?”
“She walked off the back deck.”
“How was she moving?”
“Quickly, like she wanted to get away from him.”
“Did you see Shannon again after that?”
“No, I did not.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“No, but I wish I had.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“At first, I was upset that she’d left us without a ride. Later, I was just too busy, what with going home and seeing old friends.”
“For the record, can you identify the person you saw arguing with, grabbing, and shaking Shannon Dawson on that evening?”
Jenna pointed at Keenan. “It was him.”
“Let the record show that the witness has identified the defendant, Keenan Brody,” the prosecutor said.
“So noted,” the judge said.
Cassie wished the girl would put down her hand. She kept her finger pointed in obvious blame until Barry began his cross-examination.
“What’s your understanding of the Masterson College policy on underage drinking?” Barry said.
“It’s not allowed.”
“During the hour that you were at the party before Keenan arrived, you said you danced and talked to people. Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“You also drank, didn’t you?”
“A little.”
“But when Officer Shores interviewed you on January ninth, you denied drinking, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Because you didn’t want to get in trouble, right?”
“Yes.”
“The party on Maple Street was a keg party, wasn’t it?”
“There may have been a keg.”
“There was other alcohol, too, wasn’t there?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What were you drinking?”
“I think I had a beer.”
“Was Shannon drinking?”
“Yes.”
“In fact, she was drunk, wasn’t she?”
“I don’t think so.”
“But you weren’t paying attention, were you?”
“I don’t know, maybe.”
“Just like you weren’t paying attention when she was out on the deck with Keenan, right?”
“No, I was paying attention for that.”
“You guys were planning a road trip, weren’t you?”
“No.”
“But you talked about driving to Maine, didn’t you?”
“It was a joke.”
“What’s funny about driving to Maine?”
“You had to be there.”
“It was funny because you were drinking and lots of things seemed funny, right?”
“It was just conversation.”
“Drunken conversation, right?”
“No, just conversation.”
“When was the first time you talked to the police about Shannon’s disappearance?”
“I talked to an officer on the phone a few days after the party.”
“At that point, you knew that Shannon had been missing for several days, right?”
“Yes.”
“That her family was worried about her?”
“Yes.”
“That the police were looking for any and all leads as to what might have happened to Shannon, right?”
“Yes.”
“You knew that the police were interested in whoever might be responsible for Shannon’s disappearance, true?”
“Yes.”
“And yet, you didn’t mention that you had seen any sort of altercation betwe
en Shannon and Keenan, did you?”
“No.”
“You didn’t mention that you saw Keenan grab Shannon, did you?”
“No.”
“You didn’t mention that Keenan may have hurt Shannon, did you?”
“No.”
“You didn’t mention that Keenan followed Shannon, right?”
“No.”
“Those are all important facts, aren’t they?”
“I suppose.”
“So, why didn’t you mention them the first time you talked with the police?”
“I guess I didn’t remember until later.”
“You have a Facebook account?”
“Yeah, doesn’t everyone?”
“There was a lot of speculation on Facebook about what happened to Shannon in the first days and weeks after her disappearance, wasn’t there?”
“Objection, hearsay.” Fred Dutton shot out of his chair.
“It’s not being offered for the truth, but the effect on the witness.”
“I’ll allow it. The witness can answer.”
“Yeah, it was a big deal.”
“And you read what people were saying, right?”
“Yes.”
“Nothing further for this witness.”
Cassie felt like the girl had stood her ground. Cassie looked toward the jury as the girl exited the courtroom. Several of them were studying Keenan. She wished she could see his face and know what they might be seeing.
The next two witnesses were more of the same. Heather Turner and Greta Paraiso both claimed to have seen Keenan grab Shannon forcefully. Heather saw him slap her. They both pointed at her son. Barry cross-examined both girls the same way he had with Jenna, but the damage was done. Three witnesses had seen Keenan assault Shannon the night she disappeared.
Barry managed to score a minor point with Greta on cross-examination.
“You got a Facebook chat message from Shannon the Saturday before she disappeared, right?”
“Yes.”
“Asking for relationship advice, correct?”
“Yes.”
“What did you advise Shannon?”
“I’m not sure exactly.”
“Let me show you what’s been marked as Defense Exhibit A. Do you recognize that?”
“It’s a copy of my response to Shannon.”
“You wrote those words to her?”
“Yes.”
“What do they say?”
Greta blushed. “It says: Whatever happened to ‘Don’t kiss and tell.’ I say keep it to yourself until you’re ready to decide. That’s what a guy would do.’’
“So, if Shannon had followed your advice, she wouldn’t have necessarily told Keenan about Jake, right?”