“I was in the back room looking out through the curtain, very frightened. Mr. Vang, he pulled out the gun from under the cash register and he shot this man, Song Thoj.” Dr. Mai translated her words carefully, without emotion.
“What about the other man?”
Mrs. Vang looked troubled. She obviously didn’t want to talk about the other robber. She looked at Dr. Mai, who frowned.
“There was another person at the store that night, wasn’t there?” Jack said. “Mrs. Vang, you have sworn to tell the truth.”
She spoke. Dr. Mai’s frown deepened. He hesitated. A long moment passed before he translated her answer. “How did you know that?”
“Just answer the question,” Judge Brock told her.
Jack was already satisfied. He had established his new arson suspect but he forayed further, just as Nina would have done.
“Yes, there were two of them,” Mrs. Vang said quietly.
“And what happened after Mr. Vang shot one of them? What did the second person do?”
“Ran away.”
“And, to your knowledge, was this person ever arrested in connection with the robbery or arson?”
Struggling with herself, she shook her head. She did not want to say anything but did not want to commit perjury either.
“Speak up,” Brock said again, and she answered, “No.”
“So to your knowledge, this second robber saw his partner shot by Mr. Vang and he got away.”
“Yes.”
“Then your store burned to the ground some two months later?”
“Yes. Completely destroyed.”
“During the night of July fourth and into the following morning?”
“Yes. Independence Day it started burning. The fire went on for many hours.”
She spoke without rancor but Nina could hear the emotion camouflaged by her impassivity.
“And you were where during that entire night?” Jack asked.
“I worked at the store until five. Mr. Vang worked until twelve and then closed up. He came home by twelve-fifteen A.M. I was awake. We went to bed. About four A.M. the fire department called us to say the store was on fire. We went there right away without even taking the time to get dressed. Our Blue Star Market had already collapsed. Everything gone.”
Jack said, “Now, Mrs. Vang, was Mr. Vang with you that whole night between the time he got home and the time the fire department called?”
“Yes. We were in bed.”
“And you were present in Ms. Reilly’s office during the time of the first consultation with her?”
“Yes.”
“Did you or your husband ever tell Ms. Reilly that he started the fire himself?”
“No. We never said anything like that.”
“Thank you. Nothing further.”
Jack sat down, smiling.
Nina whispered, “You should have asked-”
“I got what we needed. Shh,” Jack said.
Nolan started in on Mrs. Vang. “So let’s see. Mrs. Vang, you’re telling us that your, um, ex-husband had nothing to do with this fire. Right?”
“Yes.”
“And you collected, or tried to collect, between the two of you, two hundred ten thousand dollars as a result of this fire.”
“I have collected nothing. The company took the money from me.”
“Ex-actly. And the company’s suing you, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you of course deny that your husband had anything to do with it? And he’s conveniently absented himself from court process so he doesn’t have to speak up?”
“Objection! What’s this ‘of course’? These editorial comments are improper, Judge.”
“Let’s move on,” Brock said. Nina was sick of the judge’s now stock response, which evaded so many issues.
“So you have all that money at stake, though?”
“Objection!”
“The point is taken, Ms. Nolan. Move on.”
Nolan took a breath, then pointed her finger at Mrs. Vang. “Did Ms. Reilly help you cook up this story about there being two robbers?”
“Objection!”
“Rephrase that, Counsel.”
“That testimony you just gave, that you saw a second robber, that’s untrue, isn’t it?”
“No.”
“You still claim a second person was present?”
“Yes.”
“Then, Mrs. Vang, why oh why didn’t you mention it in the police report? Why did you and your husband in fact tell the police that only one man, the man your husband killed, came to the store that night?” Nolan asked. She pushed her pointing finger closer to Mrs. Vang as she spoke, triumphant.
Mrs. Vang looked down. She spoke in a low voice. “I am ashamed to say we lied.”
“You lied then? Or you’re lying now?”
“No, there were two men.”
“Come on, Mrs. Vang. What reason could you possibly have to lie to the police when you had just gone through such a terrible event? Why would you lie to the police?”
Mrs. Vang began to weep. Dr. Mai looked distressed.
“Well, Mrs. Vang?” said Nolan.
In a voice punctuated by weeping, Mrs. Vang spoke, drawing out a large cotton handkerchief to hold to her eyes. “I can’t say,” she said.
“Can’t? Or won’t?”
“I can only admit, there was another man. Because it is true.”
Nolan shook her head in disgust. “I have nothing further from this witness.”
“You may be excused,” Judge Brock said, but Jack was already saying “I just have a few questions on redirect.”
“Remain seated,” Brock told Mrs. Vang.
Jack bent his head toward Nina. “Well? Do we do this to her?”
“She won’t lie,” Nina said. “And the details are important, why the second man was motivated to commit arson. Ask her-ask her if she knew him.”
“Mrs. Vang,” Jack said, “had you ever seen this second man before?”
“I can’t say.” Jack glanced at Nina and she nodded.
“You knew this man, didn’t you? Mrs. Vang, you are in a court of law and you have sworn to tell the truth.”
“Yes. This is the land of the free,” Mrs. Vang said.
“You must speak the truth.”
“I am ashamed.” She wept.
Jack gave her a second. “You knew this man?”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
“Moua Thoj.”
“Same last name as the man your husband shot in his store?”
“Yes. Song Thoj’s brother.”
“Tell us about it, Mrs. Vang,” Jack said kindly.
Mrs. Vang spoke at some length this time, haltingly, in Hmong. Eventually Dr. Mai held up his hand to stop her. Nolan sat at her table, disdainful but also taking furious notes.
“She says-excuse me. Moua and his brother, Song, belonged to a gang in Fresno together. We told our daughter she cannot ever see Song, but our daughter lied to us and she saw him one day after school. We found out later. He was angry that we would not consider him to be our daughter’s husband. He and his brother, Moua, they came to the store and robbed it and shot my husband.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police who did this?”
“Because my husband said no. In our country a girl who lied to her parents and saw a boy alone is considered not a good person for a marriage. She dishonored our family. My husband almost died because of this dishonor. Better to try to handle it ourselves. So we made our daughter stay home from school, and my husband wanted to take her back to Laos.”
“But then there was a second robbery.”
“I believe the brothers came back to the store again to kill Mr. Vang, not to rob. Because still he would not allow the marriage. Their family-they had lost face. They came in and I was watching. And Song said, ‘You fool!’ to my husband. He had a gun. And Kao Vang reached under the counter and shot Song and killed him. Moua ran away.”
She spoke with the despair of a person telling the truth.
Judge Brock had awakened and pricked his ears. Nolan had stopped writing and gripped the side of the table as though she wanted to jump up.
“Then came the fire,” Jack said.
“My husband and I were having great trouble. He was very bitter that our daughter had brought all this harm to us. He insisted that she go back to Laos. I couldn’t let that happen. It is no good for women in Laos. She would have a terrible life. I thought, we must take our chances here. And so, after the fire, I left my husband and I took my daughter and son. I could not have done that at home. But in this country, women are free.”
“Are we just going to let this witness rattle on forever with her stories?” Nolan said.
