“You never arrested Dane Fischer in connection with Ellie Luke’s case, did you?”
“No.”
“And why not?”
“Because there wasn’t enough evidence. The blood evidence was inconclusive. It was most likely his own blood. Although there were reports of animosity between Mr. Fischer and the victim, I had no proof he acted on it. There was no evidence they’d been in communication or that there was any ongoing feud. Then, after Ellie Luke’s body was found, there was no physical evidence connecting Dane Fischer to the crime.”
“Thank you. I have nothing further.”
“The witness may step down,” Saul said. Gus looked like he might actually be sick. I wanted to go to him. To console him, even though that wasn’t my job.
“Ms. Brent, please call your next witness. I believe we have time for one more today.”
I nodded. “The state calls Sabrina Wharton-Brent to the stand.”
22
Bree walked in wearing purple scrubs, having just gotten off work. She smiled as the clerk swore her in.
“Ms. Wharton-Brent,” I said. “I’d like to clear something up off the bat. Will you please tell the jury how you and I are related?”
“Technically, we’re not,” she said. “But my wife is Kathleen Wharton-Brent. Her brother is your former husband, Jason Brent. Your son is our nephew.”
“Thank you. And how were you acquainted with the victim in this case?”
“Ellie was my classmate. We went to nursing school together. We were friends.”
“So your connection to Ellie Luke predates you and I knowing each other.”
“Oh yes. By quite a bit. I didn’t know you back then. Kat and I have been married for just shy of two years. I’ve only known her and you for a little over four years. I met Ellie twenty-five years ago now.”
“Okay. And have you and I talked about Ellie’s case prior to today?”
“Yes. You were present when Detective Ritter interviewed me again a couple of months ago.”
“Is that the first time Detective Ritter interviewed you regarding Ellie Luke?”
“No. I, along with most of our friend group, was interviewed after Ellie went missing.”
“Thank you,” I said, hoping that would satisfy the jury and head off any attempts by Bennett Cutler to make something out of our relationship that wasn’t there.
“Sabrina, how well did you know Ellie?”
“We were close,” she said. “I wouldn’t say she was my best friend, you know, in life. But she was certainly one of my closest school friends.”
“How often did you see each other?”
“During the school year? Almost every day. We were in a cohort together. Took the same classes. And we did a clinical rotation together at the same hospital. We were in a weekly study group together that we formed early on.”
“Who else was in the study group?”
“Well, there were seven of us initially. We met freshman year. It was me, Ellie, Paul and Sarah Mansfield, Lisa Gorman, Shante Jones, and Jamie Simmons.”
“Jamie Simmons,” I repeated. “So you were also acquainted with the defendant?”
“We were. Initially.”
Bree took me through the basic history of her college friends’ group, how Ellie had always been the most serious and studious. How she was viewed as the most responsible. The mother of the group, in a way. She then described what she’d told me earlier about how Jamie began to make others in their original group uncomfortable.
