“And how would you ensure that?”
“I’m a light sleeper,” I say, starting to get nervous again.
“How do you know?”
“Objection, speculative.”
“Overruled,” the judge says. “Continue.”
Sweat gathers in my armpits while goosebumps from the cold air shiver up my arms.
“How do you know you’re a light sleeper?”
I glance at Ro, then his attorney, whose eyes are narrowed. I don’t know what that means.
“Uh, well, I have a cat,” I glance at Ro again, who is now grinning in triumph, then continue. “And my cat is an indoor-outdoor cat, so, um, I have to be able to let them in or out when they want. Mostly they’re wanting to come in during the night, and they’ll tap on the window or meow, but it’s pretty quiet, so I sleep lightly, and any little noise wakes me up.”
The prosecutor’s lips pinch, which I assume to mean that was a good answer.
“No further questions, your honor,” he says.
“Defense?” the judge asks.
Ro’s attorney stands again, nods her head to the judge, then faces me once more. She told me she’d ask more questions if she felt anything needed clarifying after the prosecution’s cross-examination, and I assume that’s what this is.
“Ms. Seren,” she says. “Can you please clarify? You said any little sound would wake you up, correct?”
“That’s correct,” I say.
“So, we can assume that if Mr. Cromwell got up to use the bathroom or get a snack in the middle of the night, you would hear that?”
“Objection, leading the witness,” prosecution says.
“Overruled.”
She tips her head to me that it’s my turn to answer now, and I nod.
“Yeah, actually, that has happened before,” I say.
Meanwhile, I’m kicking myself internally. We literally practiced this exact scenario and it flew right out of my brain. Why did I think the cat was a good example? This is much better evidence.
“Please explain,” Ro’s attorney says, her stance relaxing slightly now that we’re on the same page again.
“Yeah, he’s spent the night before and had to get up to use the bathroom. I always wake up as soon as he gets out of bed. If somehowthatdidn’t wake me up, my door creaks, so I’m sure that would have woken me up too.”
She nods at me with a tiny twitch of her lips before turning to the judge.
“No further questions.”
I’m escorted back to my seat and I slump into it, tuning out the rest of the proceedings. Our attorney submits video evidence that Ro’s motorcycle was outside my apartment the entire night. She vehemently opposes their “evidence” from a witness who says they saw Ro shooting fire from his fingers into thewarehouse, claiming it’s circumstantial based on the fact they previously described the arsonist to be wearing a black mask, and therefore unidentifiable.
I’m starting to think we’re actually going to win this.
24
DOWN BAD FOR HER
Ro
