were crying. It was horrible. Horrible. I sent Caitlin to her room, and Duncan went upstairs to Cyndi’s room.”
“What happened after that?”
“I called nine one one. The police came in a few minutes.”
“Please tell the jury how you were feeling.”
“Me? I was almost paralyzed with shock and grief. And then, unbelievably, everything got worse. Shall I go on?”
“Please do.”
The doctor nodded, swallowed hard, and resumed speaking.
“It was the routine end of a routine day. Suddenly — gunshots. Someone had come into my house and killed my husband. When the police arrived, they started questioning me. I had to leave my children at the most traumatic moment in their lives. I had to walk past my dead husband and get into a patrol car so that I could be interviewed at the police station.
“I was questioned for eight hours, then held overnight. In the morning, I was charged with a murder I didn’t commit.
“I was terrified then — and I’m terrified now. The fear never leaves me. Because I’m also afraid for my children and I’m not with them.”
Yuki thought, Holy crap. Candace Martin had had the jury at I
“Your witness,” Phil Hoffman said.
Chapter 70
YUKI RAN HER FINGER down the section of the transcript on Nicky’s laptop, her deposition of Candace Martin from a year before. Then she stood and walked toward the witness.
“Dr. Martin, did you love your husband?”
“Yes.”
“But you had been having an affair for more than a year before he was killed.”
“Yes.”
“How do you feel about Felix Ashton, your lover?”
“Objection. Relevance,” Hoffman said from his seat.
“Overruled. Dr. Martin, please answer the question,” said the judge.
“I have a lot of affection for Felix.”
Yuki said, “Mr. Ashton testified that he loves you. But you don’t return his feelings?”
“I don’t know how to quantify my feelings for Felix.”
“Did your husband tell you how he felt about you having an affair?”
“Not specifically.”
“Did it upset him? Did it make him angry?”
“I don’t think he cared if I had an affair,” Candace Martin said. “If he did, it would only have made him a hypocrite.”
“Well, your lover testified that your husband followed the two of you around. Is that true?”
“Yes. But, I don’t think Dennis cared that I was seeing Felix. He was just trying to get me to agree to a divorce.”
“And you wouldn’t give it to him?”
“I wouldn’t accept his terms.”
“So you subscribe to the theory that it’s better for the children if a couple stays together — even if they are both having affairs — than if they divorce?”
“Your Honor,” Hoffman said from his seat, “counsel is badgering the witness.”
“Sustained. Get to your point if you have one, Ms. Castellano.”
“Yes, Your Honor.” She walked to the center of the well, then turned back around to face the witness, the distance between them making it necessary for Candace Martin to speak loudly. Yuki said, “Ellen Lafferty testified that she was having an affair with your husband. Were you aware that they were involved?”
“Not until she testified.”
“Were you jealous of the attention your husband lavished on other women?”
“No. I was used to it.”
“So despite the fact that you loved him, his philandering in your own home didn’t infuriate you? That’s remarkable,” Yuki said.
“Don’t bother to object, Mr. Hoffman,” LaVan said. “Ms. Castellano, your opinions are out of order. Don’t do that again. Ask your questions, and let’s move on.”
“I’m sorry, Your Honor. Dr. Martin, let me make sure I understand your testimony.
“You were having an affair. You admit your husband was habitually unfaithful. And yet you maintain that you loved him. You were photographed with a known hit man. You found your husband’s gun —”
Yuki made a gun with her thumb and forefinger, moved in toward the witness, and from five feet away pointed her “gun” at Candace Martin, saying, “And when you had an opportunity to kill him, you shot him dead.”
Yuki squeezed the imaginary trigger and jerked the imaginary gun as if it were kicking back. And she ignored Hoffman, who was shouting his objections, and ignored the bang of the gavel — a sound as effective as if the bullets she’d fired with her hand were real.
She spoke over the commotion, saying, “And so, Dr. Martin, after your husband was dead, you fired a few rounds into the air to explain away the gunshot residue on your hands. Isn’t that true?”
“
“For God’s sake,” Candace Martin said, gripping the arms of the witness box, leaning forward, the cords of her neck standing out as she shouted at Yuki over her lawyer’s voice.
“If I were going to kill Dennis, why would I do it in my own home, where my children would see it? This travesty is the fault of bad police work and insane, rabid prosecution. Take a look at
Chapter 71
THE JUDGE SLAMMED down his gavel again and again, bellowing, “
Yuki stood in the well with her hands clasped in front of her, hoping the disturbance would rage on.
Even if her cross was stricken, even if she was fined, she had turned a blowtorch on Candace Martin’s cool demeanor. The doctor’s vehement protests that she wouldn’t kill her husband had lost their punch.
The motive to kill was there.
Her going ballistic had demonstrated to the jury that she could have lost her cool and gunned him down.
The judge banged his gavel once more, and at last the ruckus died down. He straightened his glasses, peered down at Yuki, and said, “Anything else, Ms. Castellano? Or have you done enough for one day?”
