them, against the wall, sat the jurors. Dr. Farber and the court reporter sat on the right side of the bed. Gary Harmon sat behind Peter. Two guards stood against the wall. Another policeman was stationed outside the room in the hospital corridor.
Peter had his back to the jurors, but he had stolen a glance at them when he was setting up his notes on the bridge table the hospital provided. They seemed uneasy so close to a person who had been horribly burned.
Peter appreciated how the jurors felt. He remembered his temporary feeling of disorientation when he saw his father in intensive care for the first time. Hospitals were unpleasant places and patients were graphic reminders of human frailty.
'Mr. Booth, are you feeling well enough to talk to the ury?' Becky O'Shay asked with unctuous concern.
Booth nodded. It had been agreed that he could respond with a nod or shake of the head to questions that could be answered yes or no.
'Good. If you want to rest for a while please let me know and I'll ask the judge for a recess. Dr. Farber will also be here during the questioning. Do you understand that you can talk to him at any time, if you need to?'
Again, Booth nodded.
'Okay. Now, even though you are recuperating from your terrible burns in this hospital in Portland, you are technically a prisoner awaiting trial in jail on various charges relating to narcotics, are you not?'
Booth nodded.
'After your arrest, were you placed in the Whitaker County jail?'
Booth nodded.
'Was Gary Harmon in the same jail?'
Booth's head turned slowly until he was staring directly at Gary. Then he turned back toward the prosecutor. Though it took only seconds, the action seemed to take forever.
'Yes,' Booth rasped. Several jurors seemed disturbed by the way Booth's voice sounded.
'How long have you known Mr. Harmon?'
'High ... school.'
'Can you estimate the number of years?'
'Six ... seven years.'
'Were you friends in high school?'
Booth nodded.
'So, Mr. Harmon would trust you.'
'Objection,' Peter said. 'Leading.'
'That is a leading question, Mr. Hale. Now, I am going to permit more leading than I normally would because of Mr. Booth's condition, but I think this is too important an area to permit it. Why don't you rephrase the question, Ms. O'Shay.'
'Very well, Your Honor. Mr. Booth, describe your relationship with Mr. Harmon.'
'Gary ... was my ... friend.'
The effort to get out this halting sentence seemed to exhaust Booth. He closed his eyes and rested while O'Shay asked the next question.
'Dia Mr. Harmon appear to have other friends when he was in jail in Whitaker?'
'No,' Booth answered, his eyes still shut. 'Seemed lonely. Gary ... stayed by self.'
'Did you talk to Mr. Harmon in jail?'
Booth nodded.
'In the course of these conversations did he ever discusshis case?'
Booth nodded.
'Tell the jury how that happened.'
Booth took a deep breath. His eyes opened and he slowly turned his head toward the jurors.
'First time I saw Gary in yard, he seemed ... glad to see me. Excited. We just talked. When I asked about murder ... he said he didn't.. . didn't kill girl ..
Booth paused and sipped from a straw in a plastic water bottle. The jury waited. Booth turned back to them.
'I was ... a friend. He could trust me. He was nervous. Scared. Later, he told me the truth. He said ... he killed her.'
i 'Did he just come out and confess?'
'No. It wasn't ... first time. First time we talked, he said he didn't. Next day ... he was upset. I told him he didn't have to be afraid. If ... he wanted to get something ... off chest.. .' Booth took a deep breath. 'Gary was scared ... He needed to tell ... someone.'
'What did he need to talk about?'
'Mistake. Girl at bar insulted Gary. He was confused.
IJ He attacked wrong girl. Then ... too late.'
'So, the defendant thought Sandra Whiley was another girl who had insulted him in a bar and he told you he killed her by mistake.'
Booth nodded.
'Tell the jury the defendant's description of the I murder.'
Booth drank some more water and gathered himself.
His testimony was obviously exhausting him. Booth was ;1 'Ip' generating so much sympathy that Gary would be dead J. and buried by the end of the hospital session if something dramatic did not happen.
'Gary tried to get date with ... girl at Stallion. She said no. Gary .. . kept after her. She called him stupid ... Made him angry. Gary grabbed her. Yelled at her.
'Gary said he ... ran away. Still mad. Ran to his ... house. Got hatchet. Went back to Stallion.'
'Did the defendant say that anything happened on his way back to the Stallion?'
'He saw girl. Thought she was ... girl from bar.' -The one who insulted him?'
Booth nodded.
'Where did he see her?'
'Near entrance to ... park.'
'Was this the main entrance to Wishing Well Park that leads to the Wishing Well Memorial?'
Booth nodded again.
'What did the defendant say he did after spotting this woman?'
'He threatened her. She backed into the park.' Booth paused and took a sip of water. 'Gary grabbed her.
They struggled. She had ... necklace. Gary ... grabbed her .. . by the necklace. It came off. She broke away.'
Booth paused again. 'Ran to the well.'
'Who ran to the well?'
'The girl.'
'Then what happened?'
'Gary threw away ... the necklace. Ran after her.
Caught her.'
'Did he say what he did after catching her?'
Booth nodded. He stared at the jury'he killed her.'
'Did he say how many times he struck her or where?'
Booth shook his head. 'He was ... upset. Crying.
Gary just said he ... hit her. More than once.'
'What happened after the defendant hit Miss Whiley with the hatchet?
'She was ... dead. He stood over her. That's when he saw he killed the wrong one.'
'What did the defendant do then?'
Booth sipped some water before continuing his testimony.
'He was scared. Ran away.'
'What did the defendant do with the hatchet?'
'Put it in storm drain ... near college.'
'And after that?'
