“Then I will take the test. I am not a crazy woman, I swear to you, I did not see . . . bodies. And I am not lying. I saw Mr. Jamison, Mr. Joel. He was running, and there was blood all over him. I never went back to look in on the children. That is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life. For that, I will never forgive myself. I may not be a smart and educated woman like Miss Tessa and Miss Jill are, but I do not say things that are untrue. I admit I was very wrong not to come forward to the police. I told you why, and I have never had a peaceful day since.”
Is she telling the truth? It was so bizarre, Tessa had a hard time wrapping her mind around the implications if she was telling the truth. It made absolutely no sense at all. How could Joel be in two places at once? And this other man, who was he? Was Rosa sure of her description of him? Tessa didn’t know. How could she? All she did know was that she was more confused than ever, and almost wished she were back in prison. At least there, her days were predictable.
“I can arrange for the polygraph first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll send a car for you,” Sam told Rosa. “That is, if you’re sure you want to do this. You may want to consult with an attorney, talk this over with your family first.”
“No! I will say what I saw. I did not come forward ten years ago. That is my crime, and I will go to jail for that. I deserve whatever punishment the court decides. I did not imagine what I saw. The image is very, very clear to me today, the same as it was then. I have agreed to help Miss Tessa now. I will do whatever I have to do for her.”
Tessa, who had taken her seat again as Rosa spoke, couldn’t remain quiet any longer. “Rosa, how could you see Joel? He died at the same time the girls did. Is it possible it was Liam you saw? Or the other man who you said looked like Joel?” Tessa tried to speak as calmly as she could, but it was very difficult, almost impossible.
“I have told you exactly what I saw, and I will take the test Mr. Sam mentioned. It was not Mr. Liam. He has that dark hair, not like Mr. Joel. And it was not the other man, either. By that time I had known Mr. Joel for ten years. There is no way I could mistake someone else for him.”
“Sam?” she asked. “What do we do with this?” She shifted her head toward Rosa.
“Let me call Lee. I’ll be right back.” Sam went to the kitchen, leaving the three women alone.
An awkwardness permeated the room. Tessa could not wait until Sam returned before resuming her questioning. “Rosa, I know that you’re not . . . crazy. But I know from personal experience when you see something that is so violent, the mind does strange things. It took me years before I could completely remember the day I came home and discovered the bodies in the swimming pool. It was the worst day of my life, and there is nothing I can do or say to bring my family back. They’re gone forever, but I can see to it that they get justice. I did not murder my family.”
Tessa said this without tears. “I loved them with my entire heart and soul. They were my life, my reason for living, you know that. I understand you might have been confused at the time. I certainly was when I found them, and I believe it’s part of the reason I went to prison. I was so stunned, Jill’s diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder is probably accurate. I should have spoken up in my own defense. People can have this and not even be aware of it. I wasn’t sure I had this for several years. It was not until I had lots of shitty prison counseling, and did a lot of reading, that I realized I’d suffered from this, and probably still do. It’s not a crime to admit you were wrong,” Tessa pleaded, hoping to make an impression on Rosa. Tessa was most likely in shock the day she found her family butchered in the pool, too, so at least that part she could identify with. Rosa’s not telling the police what she had seen that day, well, that wasn’t quite as easy to understand.
Rosa’s hair had come completely unraveled now, the long gray strands nearly reaching her waist. “I am so sorry, Miss Tessa. You know I . . . No, you have lost your family. I cannot ask you to forgive me, or understand. But I will do what I can to make this right. I will take the test, then I will go to jail. I deserve to.”
“You’re not going to go to jail, Rosa. Even if you committed a crime by not coming forward to tell the police what you saw that day, it was more than ten years ago. That is way beyond the statute of limitations for whatever crime you might be guilty of. So you are not going to jail.”
“What is this statute of limitations you just referred to, Miss Jill? I do not understand. I am guilty of a crime and should be punished.”
“The statute of limitations says that after enough time has passed since a crime was committed, the guilty person cannot be tried for that crime. There are some exceptions, like murder, for which there is no such thing as a statute of limitations.
“All we’re trying to do is bring new evidence to trial, though we’re hoping this doesn’t
