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“Yes.” It was a whisper.
“Would you speak up, please?”
Loudly. “I said yes.”
Keith stared at the jury, at the reporters, at me, and at the judge before whirling around and jabbing his finger in the direction of Victor’s chest. “Why did you kill Annabelle Murray?”
“I respectfully wish to exercise my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.”
Keith asked several more questions and got the same answer from Victor each time.
The state and the defense rested and my case went to a jury. It took them only half an hour to come back with a verdict of “not guilty.”
The reporters went running for the door with pads and pencils in hand. I gripped the edge of the defense table, practically unable to breathe.
I didn’t jump up and down, cry, or show any reaction at all (the media later analyzed this fact ad nauseam) because there were just too many people like Mama and Craig
who were in pain—their image of the people they loved had been shattered and it was going to take a long, long time for their hurt to subside.
39
THE ROAD AHEAD
Murder is a crime against God and humanity, and the only reason Victor committed such a heinous act was because Annabelle Murray was through with him. He loved her but the affair was over. It was a case of, if I can’t have you, nobody can. He went to trial and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His mother is fighting for custody of Dora, who is living with her Aunt Sarah Jane, and Keith is watching that legal wrangling with great interest. He says the fight among Craig, Victor’s family, and the Welburns will raise all sorts of interesting scholarly issues, and the verdict will create a gigantic legal precedent.
Craig Murray offered me my old job back at Welburn Books, but it felt too weird and I graciously declined. He kept insisting that he wanted to do something for me, so I asked him to cancel the publication of All About Moms. He reluctantly agreed.
After the trial, I needed somewhere to live, and staying on at Keith’s place was not an option. Apparently, the brownstone only worked as a tax shelter if it were used for business purposes, and I was no longer his client.
Paul asked me to move in with him and I did. He makes me feel safe, secure, and protected. I also respect and admire my fiancé. Even though that is not the same as head-over-heels romantic love, it is a better foundation for marriage.
It felt good to witness Mama’s transition from poverty to wealth. I gave her all the advance money that I received for the book and watched the worry lines disappear from her forehead and around her mouth like a magician had erased them.
How will Paul and I spend our days? Keith offered us a two-million-dollar loan to start our own publishing house and we gratefully accepted. Elaine Garner heard about my business plans and called to remind me that I owed her a story before taking on anything else. Well, this book is done now. I hope it lands on the best-seller lists and gets Elaine the big-time job that she trained for at Harvard.
