by Shenda Paul
"I was constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering where and when he'd turn up next. I didn’t feel safe. My mom eventually persuaded me that it would be better for me to leave."
"You decided to leave your invalid mother?"
"We felt I had no choice," she admits, and from her voice, I can tell she’s upset.
"Tell the court about your interactions with the defendant in Boston, please," Jodi gently prompts.
"I first saw him outside the ballet studio where I taught. I convinced myself that I'd imagined it but, for days after, I had the feeling of being watched. I kept dismissing it, and then I returned home from work one evening to find him waiting." She describes, as she did to Jon and me on that night, how he emerged from a car. She’s shamefaced when admitting that he referred to her time at Liaison and that he expressed anger at the thought of her having been with other men.
"Do you remember exactly what he said, what he did?" Jodi asks.
"He wrapped his hand around my neck and told me I'd better get used to his hands on me…" Angelique’s voice quivers, and she takes a deep breath before continuing. "He said they'd be over every part of my body soon. He… he said he was going to punish me for betraying him…. and then make me forget every other man who’d touched me." She’s on the verge of tears, and my thighs tense in preparation for standing, but Cait places her hand on my knee, squeezing hard until I relax once more.
"Then what happened?" Jodi probes.
"I was frozen until he moved his hand lower. I shouted for help, but there was no one around, so I ran into the street and flagged down an oncoming vehicle. A gentleman and his wife stopped, and Dieter—he got into his car and drove off."
"Did he say anything before leaving?"
"He reminded me that I was his," she near-whispers.
"Ms. Bain, would you speak up, please," Judge Notley intervenes.
"He reminded me that I was his, but I'm not. I never was, and I never will be," she says, her voice stronger now.
Angelique’s testimony ends with an account of her call to the police, and how, on their advice, she applied for and was granted a protection order. She tells how Quandt turned up on her doorstep, and how the police arrived in response to her call and arrested him.
Jodi thanks her. "The Commonwealth has no further questions for the witness, Your Honor," she announces.
Purcell gets to his feet and slowly and deliberately smooths his tie before turning to Angelique.
"Ms. Bain, I'm sure you won't be surprised to find that my client's version of events differs from yours?" he asks, smiling benignly.
"All I've done is tell the truth," Angelique responds with quiet confidence.
"Your first meeting with my client occurred nearly eighteen years ago. How can you be so sure that your recollections are accurate?"
"I remember everything Dieter Quandt said and did because every meeting with him left me feeling uncomfortable."
"But you could have been mistaken, could you not? Childish imaginations can, over time, make things seem more ominous than they were, can they not?"
"Objection, Your Honor; calls for speculation," Jodi interjects.
"Your Honor, it is a well-known fact that children have a vivid imagination and often invent stories. I'm not suggesting that the witness is lying, and I'm not asking her to speculate. I'm merely asking if her recollection could have been colored by the passage of time."
"Overruled," Judge Notley decides.
"Ms. Bain?" Purcell prompts.
"I haven’t imagined the events I described; I’ve only stated the facts," Angelique replies, and my chest swells with pride at her composure.
"What about the night in your dressing room when, according to you, my client said he'd waited eleven years to tell you what he wanted from you? Could he not have been referring to what he expected from you as a dancer, as someone in whom he had invested a lot of time and money? Could he not have been referring to your career?" he asks, trying to rattle her.
"When I first overheard him and Ingrid…Ms. Svenska, arguing—when he objected to my friendship with Luke, I thought that was what he meant. I realized during the conversation in my dressing room that I’d been wrong. What he said then left little doubt in my mind."
"Your friendship with Mr. Grantham, you say. Were you and Luke Grantham not more than friends?"
"Objection, Your Honor; irrelevant," Jodi interjects. "Ms. Bain was an adult, her relationship with her dance partner has no bearing on this case," she adds, and Judge Notley finds in her favor.
Purcell is unperturbed, and I understand why. He's made his first inference about Angelique’s relationships with men. I have no doubt that it’s only a precursor to his real objective, raising her past at Liaison.
"But you could have been wrong about my client's meaning, could you not?" he continues.
"I was there; I heard his undisguised threat and innuendo. I was not mistaken." Angelique’s voice may be soft, but there can be no mistaking its sincerity or determination.
"You say you left New York fearing for your safety, but my client did not approach you there, did he?"
"No, he didn't," she concedes.
"You had no real reason to leave that city, did you, Ms. Bain?"
"I believed I did."
"But the fact remains; my client gave you no reason to leave New York, did he?" Purcell persists.
"Asked and answered, Your Honor," Jodi interjects.
"Sustained. Move on, Counselor," Judge Notley responds.
"Ms. Bain, did you not, after your arrival in Boston, start working at Liaison, a brothel?" he asks. Whispers erupt in court, and Judge Notley calls for order.
"I worked there, yes." Angelique appears unruffled by his change in tactic, but I now know her well enough to have noticed the indiscernible shift in her bearing and tone. She's uncomfortable.
"You left New York because you wanted to find a more lucrative way of earning money. You couldn't do so under the noses of your mother and friends, so you moved to Boston and became a highly paid escort. That is the real reason you moved. It had nothing to do with you being afraid of my client, did it?"
Angelique’s cheeks flush with embarrassment, but she holds her head high. I want to rip Purcell's tongue from his mouth.
"Objection, Your Honor. Inflammatory, move to strike," Jodi’s voice rings out.
"The jury will disregard Counsel’s last question and remarks," Judge Notley orders.
"Ms. Bain, could my client not simply have wanted to help a former student? Could you have mistaken his intent?"
"I felt threatened by Dieter Quandt. He had, on more than one occasion…"
"A simple yes or no. Could you have been mistaken about my client's motives in approaching you?" Purcell interjects.
"No. I was not mistaken," Angelique answers.
"No further questions, Your Honor," he announces. I can't help feeling elated that Angelique, with her quiet strength, has withstood Frank Purcell’s onslaught.
"Ms. Bain, will you tell the court why you are convinced that the defendant’s offers of help had not been altruistic?" Jodi asks under redirect.
"Dieter Quandt targeted me when I was a child; he behaved inappropriately toward me when I was a student of his. He followed me to Europe, intimidated me and caused the accident that ended my career. He paid someone to find me and then followed me to Florida and later, Boston. He touched me without my permission on more than one occasion. He made lewd and threatening comments. I sought legal protection, but he disregarded the law. Those are not the actions of someone who wants to help.
Excused, Angelique rises and smooths down her skirt before stepping from the witness stand. Her hand, I notice, is trembling. I'm already standing when she reaches us and, wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I lead her to sit among our family. I cup her face and move a wayward tendril of hair into place. "I am so ver
y proud of you," I whisper, kissing her on the forehead.
Mom leans across to touch her hand, and, in a gesture of solidarity, Cait lays her hand on top of Mom's. Angelique’s face relaxes; her eyes glisten with emotion as she gives them a grateful smile. I wrap her hand firmly in mine and return my attention to the events in court. Quandt, I can’t help noticing, is turned in his seat, his gaze riveted on Angelique. I lean forward, doing my best to obscure his view of her, but he continues to stare and turns away only when Purcell draws his attention.
Mandi takes the stand next and confirms Angelique’s account of the day in the park. "I don’t think I was scared for myself, but I do remember that I didn't like the way he looked at Angel. That's why I decided we should run," she says.
She testifies that she'd personally only set eyes on Quandt that once, but relates how scared Angelique had been on the night she saw him in New York. "She tried to put on a brave face, but both Sammy and I saw how scared she was," she says. Mandi also confirms that Grace had been the one to suggest that Angelique should leave New York.
"Her mom wanted Angel to have a life of her own, to not always be afraid," she says and brooks no argument when Purcell, under cross, suggests that it had been Angelique who’d wanted to get away.
Jodi calls on Samuel next. When asked, he states his occupation as a sports physiotherapist.
"Mr. Beauvais, you once served in the Marine Corp, did you not?" Jodi asks.
"I did. I qualified as a sports physiotherapist after."
"We thank you for your service, Mr. Beauvais. Would you tell the court how you and Ms. Bain met, please?"
He says he was referred to Angelique by one of her consulting surgeons. He explains her medical prognosis, how every specialist who attended her ruled out her ability to dance professionally again. They also predicted that she’d walk with a limp, Samuel says. He tells, how, after reading the press reports of her debut and then meeting Angelique, he couldn't accept that so much talent could just be snuffed out. He resolved then, to do whatever he could to ensure she wouldn't walk with a limp.
"What made you think you knew better than those more qualified than yourself?" Jodi questions.
"I've seen, first-hand, how the strength of the human spirit can defy medical prognoses," he replies matter-of-factly.
Jodi asks about the events in Angelique’s garage in Florida. "I didn't have to hear what he was saying, and I didn't have to wait for an explanation to know he was threatening her. His body language said it all," he tells. The rest of his testimony collaborates Angelique’s account of the event.
Under cross-examination and in an attempt to have him falter in his assertion that Quandt had threatened Angelique, Purcell bombards Samuel with question after question, but he remains resolute. "When Angelique asked him to leave, he refused to go. I had to help him on his way. He left, saying he wouldn’t give up," he replies with finality. Purcell, recognizing defeat, excuses him.
Jon then provides an account of the night of Quandt's arrest. He relates how we arrived to witness him resisting arrest. He tells that Angelique’s neighbors, when interviewed, corroborated her account of Quandt's verbal threats. He says that, when questioned, Quandt would say nothing other than that he’d wanted to help Angelique. He did, however, acknowledge the existence of the protection order, and that he knowingly contravened it. ‘The law doesn't understand our relationship, he said,’ Jon informs the court.
"Detective Holmes, you were in the company of Assistant District Attorney Adam Thorne when arriving at Ms. Bain’s residence, were you not?" Purcell asks during cross-examination.
"I was."
"Is it usual for a public prosecutor to accompany you on a call out?"
"It is extremely unusual, yes," Jon responds impassively.
"Then why would you have contacted him?"
"I'm not sure what you're inferring, Counselor, but I didn't contact Mr. Thorne. I happened to be in his office when I received the call from the precinct."
"Why would the precinct call a senior detective about what would be considered a routine matter?"
"I left instructions to be notified should Ms. Bain ever call looking for help."
"Again, why would you do that?"
"I followed up the case when Ms. Bain first contacted the precinct about an encounter with the defendant outside her apartment. I felt bad that there was nothing we could do to help her then."
"So your concern had nothing to do with your friendly relationship with the assistant DA, who also happens to have a personal relationship with Ms. Bain?" Purcell asks.
"Objection, Your Honor. Irrelevant," Jodi interjects.
"Your Honor, I’m trying to ascertain whether the witness had an ulterior motive for arresting my client," Purcell counters.
"I’ll allow," Judge Notley rules.
"Detective Holmes?" Purcell asks.
"It's Senior Detective," Jon replies coolly. "My concern was solely for a distressed and very scared young woman who’d just been informed that the police, her first line of protection, could not help. It may surprise you to know, Counselor, that Ms. Bain is not the first, nor will she be the last, victim I give my business card to or ask someone at the precinct to watch out for."
"What about your relationship with Mr. Thorne?"
"Mr. Thorne and I met during the Cordi trials. I admire and respect his integrity and tenacity in doing his job. We have a lot in common and became friends, but that doesn't, in any way, impact on our professionalism.
"I was, as I've already said, in the DA's offices to discuss another case when I was informed of Ms. Bain’s call. Mr. Thorne, as I'm sure everyone knows by now, is engaged to Ms. Bain. It's natural that a man would want to be by the side of his fiancée in her time of distress. I was going to the scene, and I offered him a lift; that's the simple truth. Isn’t there anyone in the police department or the DA’s office you would call friend, Mr. Purcell?"
"I ask the questions around here, Senior Detective, and I'm still waiting for a response," Purcell returns frostily.
"Your Honor, asked and answered," Jodi objects.
"Sustained."
Purcell moves on. His attempts to find inconsistencies in Jon’s responses or illegalities in the execution of Quandt’s arrest fail, and he eventually exhausts his line of questioning. Jodi redirects briefly before tabling the written testimonies of Angelique’s neighbors.
Judge Notley calls for lunch recess, and I turn to address Angelique. "Andrew’s arranged for the use of a room and sandwiches; he'll show you and the others the way. I'll join you once I’ve talked to Jodi," I explain, kissing her cheek and then motion for Andrew to lead them away before Quandt's escorted out.
"You did extremely well," I tell Jodi.
"Thanks." She gives me a satisfied smile. "Angelique was great, wasn't she?"
"Magnificent," I agree. "So was everyone else."
"I know. I think Defense Counsel is slightly irritated," she says, unable to hide her pleasure.
"Well, in his defense, pardon the pun," I joke, "his client's actions don't provide him with much to work with."
"True."
"I wanted to check whether you need help in setting up for the next session?" I ask.
"No, Duncan and I have it covered, go and spend the time with your family."
"Okay, see you after lunch," I say and leave.
"I'm just glad it's over," Angelique replies when, after rejoining the group, I repeat just how incredibly proud of her I am.
"Not quite, Darling. We have this testimony to listen to after lunch. You may find it distressing," I warn.
"I know…" she murmurs, "but the truth needs to come out."
"It does," I reassure her with a kiss on the temple.
"What happens next?" Dad asks.
"Jodi will call two more witnesses and then rest. Defense, strangely, has listed only two witnesses, but
I doubt we'll get around to hearing their testimonies today," I reply. Conversation turns to lighter matters when Cait asks Samuel about Flynn. Angelique and Mandi join in, regaling us with tales of his amusing antics of the night before, and before we know it, Andrew’s back to inform us that it's time to return to court.
Chapter Twenty-Two
"All set," Jodi mouths as we take to our seats, and a short while later, when called on by Judge Notley, she stands to address the court.
"Your Honor, the Commonwealth calls Frederick Quandt. The witness will deliver his testimony via video conference from Germany."
"Mr. Quandt, can you hear me?" she asks when a man’s image appears onscreen. Despite his somewhat gaunt appearance and gray speckled hair, Frederick Quandt’s resemblance to his older brother is unmistakable. He looks around apprehensively and then, as his gaze sweeps the defense table, leans forward almost eagerly. Dieter Quandt shows no such emotion; in fact, he appears decidedly untouched by the sight of his brother.
"I can," Frederick affirms, and Jodi thanks him for testifying. "Would you state your full name and occupation for the court please?" she asks.
"My name is Frederick Gunther Quandt. I am a headmaster."
"Mr. Quandt, how are you related to the defendant?"
"Dieter is my brother."
"He is older than you, is he not?"
"By two and a half years, yes."
"Do you have any other siblings, Mr. Quandt?"
"There was only Dieter, our sister Caterina and myself."
"Your sister is deceased, is that correct?"
"Caterina died in the same accident that claimed our mother's life and crippled me."
"I'm so sorry for your loss," Jodi commiserates. I steal a glance at Quandt, and for the first time since his brother's appearance, he appears moved— furrowed brow, and a spasmodic ticking nerve in his jaw.
"How long since their deaths?" Jodi enquires.
"They died thirty-five years ago."
"During our interview, yesterday, you revealed that Caterina was born three years after you and that she was twelve when she died. So you would have been fifteen going on sixteen and your brother almost eighteen at the time?"