Chapter 55
1012words
I smiled, "And why exactly did you remember?"
"He gave me a large tip."
I nod, "One last thing, what time did you deliver the pizza?"
"Sometime after nine."
I nod, I walked over to my desk and picked up the piece of paper that would make this case. I walked over to the jury and lifted up the paper. "Who can tell me what this is?"
One of the jurors raised his hand, "It's a receipt."
I nod my head and smile. "It is indeed."
"Ms Jones, take that to me." Judge Brown said.
I walked over to him and place the receipt in front of him.
He nods, "You can continue."
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the court, I'm going to read what's on the receipt for you." I took a deep breath then continued, "One large Pepperoni Pizza with Pineapple topping and extra cheese. Date, Wednesday, June 6, 2018, at 9:53 pm."
I walked over to Aaron who was still sitting patiently at the stand, "One last quest for you, When is the receipt printed."
"Well, Mr Benjamin used his debit card and so it was printed after I gave him his pizza."
"And he gave you cash for your tip right."
"Yes, he took it out of his wallet the same time he took out his debit card."
I nod. I was making sure I covered all the aspects. I could not afford Seth questioning my witness, especially not after what happened with Grace.
"Thank you, Aaron. No further questions."
"Would the prosecution like to cross?"
"No, Your Honor," Seth answered.
I had the urge to smile but I didn't.
"Does the defence have any more witnesses to call?"
"Yes, Your Honor. The defence would like to call Grace Benjamin to the stand."
When Grace was seated I started, "I only have one question for you. Why was Mr. Benjamin alone the night of Harrison Samuels death?"
"I went out of town for a conference and when I was to return by nine but my flight got cancelled and so Benjamin didn't have to pick me up that nine, he was home alone."
"Thank you, no further questions."
"Would the prosecution like to cross?"
"No, Your Honor."
I was content that the prosecution didn't have anything to say on the matter. It seemed like they realized that they were going to lose.
"Does the defence have any more witnesses to call?"
"Yes, Your Honor. The defence would like to call Mariam Samuels to the stand." In regular cases, a witness wouldn't come to the stand twice but if I had asked Mariam the questions that I wanted to ask her how it would have probably ruined the case that I had stayed up all night just to work on.
Mariam entered the courtroom a second time and was read her rights a second time. I walked over to my briefcase and took out some files from it. "Ms. Samuels where were you on the night of your husband's death?"
"I was at home. The police asked me those questions already."
"And I'm asking again. Do you have an alibi?"
She nods, "Yes, my friend Carmen."
"And was Carmen in the car with you when you were speeding on the freeway?"
"Pardon?"
I opened the folder that it's in my hand and placed it in front of her. "These are pictures of your car speeding down the freeway at 10:15. By the looks of the picture, you were the only one in the car unless you Carmen was at the back and I highly doubt that. Let's not forget that the freeway is the same one that goes straight to the harbour. Do you know what's the weird thing is? The time of death for your husband was 10:09 pm?
"Objection!" Seth finally decided to shout.
"Sustained."
I laughed a little bit, "You what's even weirder?" I took up the photos from in front of her and walked over to the jury with them. "If you look at the picture at the back you will see pictures of the same car at 10:29. At 10:29, your car passed Mr. Beta's hone? Who is Mr. Beta? Well, he is Mr. Benjamin's neighbour who recently installed security cameras on his property because some high school students were vandalising his vehicles. And you know what's the weirdest thing? I turn to look right in Mariam's green eyes. "Your car passed Mr. Beta's home at 10:33 which meant it took you about thirty minutes to find the perfect hiding place for the weapon you had used to kill your husband. Now the real question is did you really let go? Earlier you said you didn't to let go, Harrison, because you loved him so much. Is that why you pushed a knife in his chest, not once, not twice but three times."
"Ms. Jones." Judge Brown warned.
I looked at Mariam waiting for her to deny all the claims that I just made but she bent her head the tears falling from her eyes. "He didn't love me anymore. He loved that whore! He chose her after all the things I did for him, he wanted her."
"And is that why you killed him because if you can't have him no one can."
"Precisely." she laughed. "Loving is cruel, especially when they don't love you back."
Her words hit me but killing isn't the answer.
Especially since you loved them.
Just let them go.
I looked at myself in the mirror and forced a smile.
You can do this Karishma.
You have to.
This is your best friend's surprise engagement party. Put yourself together. Be happy and if can't then fake it.
Iris has been my best friend for years, tonight is her night. After avoiding marriage for so long the couple deserves to have this beautiful night together without someone like me feeling sorry for myself.
I couldn't let anyone see how sad I really am, not even the reason for my sadness.
