Eyes of a Child (62 page)

For a moment, Caroline wondered again if Terri had murdered her husband and that
this
was what Chris knew.

Those damned fingerprints.

There was a knock on Caroline's door. ‘Come in,' she called.

Teresa Peralta stood in the doorway.

Softly, Terri closed the door behind her. In the light-and-shadow of Caroline's office, she looked somehow remote. ‘Did you ask Monk those questions I gave you?' Terri asked.

Caroline nodded. ‘Yes.'

‘Good.' Terri walked closer to the light. ‘Because I have an answer for you. The one Monk
didn't
have.'

Caroline looked up at her. Quietly, she asked, ‘Is it the truth?'

Chapter
10

When Terri took the witness stand, she turned to Christopher Paget and smiled.

It was a good smile, hopeful and loving and filled with confidence in the man she gazed at. But the smile was for the jury: like Caroline and Paget himself, his lover had become an actress.

‘They're looking at you,' Caroline whispered.

Paget contrived a smile of his own. The jury could not know how it felt to remember Terri grinning across the table and amid the gardens at the Splendido, just before the concierge appeared with Rosa's message. And then Terri turned, hands folded and shoulders squared, to await Salinas's questions.

She had taken care with her appearance. Gone was the crisp, almost severe look of the young professional woman; today Terri wore gold earrings, her makeup was applied with special care, and her black dress was simple but a little softer. The effect was to make her prettiness and youth more obvious, her poise a little less so. Paget was quite certain that she had discussed all this with Caroline; he was not sure what else they had discussed.

But only Paget, he was confident, knew that Tern's folded hands were a sign of nerves.

She turned to him once more: for a fleeting moment, she looked serious and sad. And then she smiled again for the jury, fingers tightening a little more, and Paget silently wished her luck.

Quickly, Salinas cut to the core. ‘How long. Ms Peralta, did you know Ricardo Arias?'

Terri's voice was quiet but clear. ‘Nine years.'

‘How many years did you live together?'

‘Over seven. And married for six.'

‘And your daughter is
how
old?'

Terri gave him a level look. ‘Six.'

Salinas's voice rose slightly. ‘During all those years, did Mr Arias ever discuss the possibility of suicide?'

‘No.'

‘Did you ever suggest to
anyone
, in words or substance, that Mr Arias might kill himself?'

Terri was still quiet. ‘No.'

She was making a good witness, Paget thought; not sparring with Salinas, her dignity a contrast to the way he used his voice to underscore a point.

‘Did you ever see or hear anything which, in your mind, raised the concern that Mr Arias might take his own life?'

Terri seemed to consider this. ‘That's so hard to say, Mr Salinas. I came to believe that my former husband was emotionally unstable. I'm not sure I wanted to think about everywhere that might lead.' She paused. ‘Do you remember the poem they made us read in high school, “Richard Cory”? It was about a wealthy man who seems to have everything and then shoots himself for reasons no one can explain. That poem came back to me when a law school classmate killed himself, and I realized that we can never really look into anyone else's heart. Even when we tell ourselves we know everything about them.'

Paget could feel the simple beauty of the answer even before Luisa Marin leaned forward, turning her face to Terri. But Paget knew that Terri had rehearsed these words with Caroline; his only question was whether her last sentence was about Paget himself.

Salinas had stopped to look at her. ‘Did you speak to Ricardo Arias that night before you left for Italy?'

‘Yes.'

‘For what reason?'

‘To beg him to let me raise Elena – in person, if I could. I was scared for her, Mr Salinas.'

The answer, with its faint reproach, reminded the jury that Terri was a mother. Marian Celler gave her a look of sympathy: by exposing Richie's inner life, Paget realized, Caroline had earned Terri a measure of compassion.

Salinas looked unruffled. ‘And how did he respond?'

‘That he had an “appointment” that night and couldn't see me.'

‘Did he say with whom?'

Terri rearranged her hands. ‘No. But he made it sound like a date.'

‘Did he sound depressed or discouraged?'

‘No.' Terri raised her head, looking directly at Salinas. ‘But as I understand you've developed in this trial, Richie hid things. From his mother, his psychologist, Elena's teacher, from me – even, I think, from himself. As you've also developed, he was emotionally disturbed.' She paused and then spread her hands in a gesture of helplessness. ‘Really, there's no fair answer to your question.'

Paget saw Salinas consider moving to strike Terri's answer and then decide that she was still too sympathetic. ‘She's doing well,' Paget whispered. But Caroline, eyes narrow with thought, did not respond.

‘Did you believe,' Salinas came back, ‘that Mr Arias was emotionally disturbed at the time you lived with him?'

Terri regarded him calmly. ‘Only at the end,' she said, ‘when I knew I should try to get Elena away from him.'

It was another good answer, Paget thought, making the jury see Terri as a mother instead of Paget's lover, eager to desert her husband.

‘In all of those years,' Salinas asked crisply, ‘did you ever know him to write a letter in his own hand?'

Terri hesitated; Paget saw her deciding to concede the point. ‘No.'

‘Even a short note?'

‘Not that I remember.'

‘You're familiar with the contents of the note found with the body, correct?'

‘Yes, I am.'

‘Did you ever hear Richie describe himself as “selfish and pathetic”?

Terri shook her head. ‘No.'

‘And he certainly didn't on the night you last spoke to him, correct?'

Quite deliberately, it seemed to Paget, Terri unclasped her fingers. ‘That's correct.'

Salinas had a rhythm now. ‘You also had plans to dine with Mr Paget, true?'

‘Yes.'

‘Which he canceled.

‘Chris called me, to say that he was sick. He certainly
sounded
bad. So I decided not to make him feel guilty.' Terri paused. ‘I'm sure I could have, Mr Salinas. And then he would have taken me to dinner, and none of us would be here.'

‘Move to strike,' Salinas promptly said to Lerner. ‘Unresponsive. I understand Ms Peralta's sympathies, Your Honor. But I begin to see a pattern of tacking speeches onto whatever truthful answers don't help Mr Paget.'

‘Not speeches,' Caroline retorted. ‘Explanations. The sense of Ms Peralta's answer is that
she
let Mr Paget off the hook on dinner.'

Lerner nodded. ‘I'm going to deny the motion.' He turned to Terri. ‘But please confine your answer to a fair response to Mr Salinas's question.'

‘Of course, Your Honor.' Terri's expression was grave and puzzled; it suggested that it had never occurred to her to quarrel with Salinas. ‘Sometimes ‘yes' or ‘no' isn't really the right answer, that's all.'

The remark was delivered with such innocence that Lerner, who knew better, smiled before saying to Salinas, ‘You may continue, Counselor.'

‘How did Mr Paget seem the next morning?' Salinas asked promptly.

‘Tired. But all right.'

Salinas put his hands on his hips. ‘And between seeing him that morning and his phone call the night before, you don't really know where Mr Paget was, do you?'

For the first time, Terri looked nettled. ‘I know what he told me.'

‘But you have no firsthand knowledge, do you?'

‘No,' Terri said softly. ‘But Chris is
not
a liar. Or a murderer. Which is what this is all about, isn't it?'

The simple statement of faith seemed to throw Salinas off. But before he could move to strike, Terri added with equal quiet, ‘I apologize, Mr Salinas. I needed to say what I know in my heart.'

Suddenly there was nothing that Salinas could do. For the first time today, Joseph Duarte had looked up from his notes.

‘When you went to Italy,' Salinas asked abruptly, ‘did you try to contact Richie?'

Terri folded her hands again. ‘Yes. No one answered.'

‘For how long?'

‘Two or three days.' Terri glanced at the jury. ‘I thought he was avoiding me. It was the kind of thing he
would
do.'

‘Did you call the school?'

‘No. I called my mother and found out that Richie had never picked up Elena.'

‘Did you also tell your mother not to call the police?'

‘Yes.' Terri's voice was level. ‘Elena was happy with my mother, and Richie and I were in a custody fight. I didn't want to make him seem more responsible than he was.'

For the first time, Salinas looked openly disbelieving. ‘Had Mr Arias
ever
failed to pick up Elena?'

‘No.'

Joseph Duarte made a note. Salinas's tone sharpened. ‘This was
also
two weeks before the hearing on Mr Alias's motion, correct?'

‘That's true.'

‘To keep Elena from going near Mr Paget and his son.'

‘Yes.'

‘Because he had accused Carlo Paget of molesting
your
daughter.'

Salinas was firing his questions now. Paget saw Terri decide to slow him, taking her time to answer. ‘Yes,' she said quietly. ‘Richie said that about Carlo.'

‘And with all of that, Ms Peralta, did you have any concrete reason to believe that Ricardo Arias would start blowing off his custodial time?'

Terri's gaze was steady. ‘He hadn't in the past. Really, I didn't know what to think.'

Salinas stared at her now. ‘Isn't what happened that Mr Paget asked you
not
to find him?'

Yes, Paget answered silently. ‘I really don't remember that,' Terri said. ‘It was
my
decision.'

‘Your decision,' Salinas repeated softly. ‘Because you were afraid that your lover had murdered your husband.'

Silence. ‘No,' Terri said tightly. ‘I've never thought that.' She clasped her fingers again. ‘No?' Salinas asked. ‘Just how
did
Mr Paget feel about Mr Arias?'

‘At first? I don't know. Later, Chris despised him. But not as much as I did.'

Abruptly, Salinas changed subjects. ‘How long have you known Mr Paget?'

For the first time in a while, Terri glanced at Paget; for Paget, the moment was shadowed with the untruths she had already told. ‘A year and a half,' Terri said softly.

‘And when did you become romantically involved with Mr Paget?'

‘A year ago, almost.' Turning back to Salinas, Terri added pointedly, ‘After I left Richie.'

Salinas gave her a skeptical smile. ‘How long “after,” Ms Peralta? “A year ago” is cutting it pretty close.'

Terri gave him a cool look. ‘Three weeks after, I would say. I can date it from the day I lost interim custody.'

‘So let's see. Within three weeks, you left your husband, lost custody of your daughter, and commenced an affair with your boss.'

Terri stared at him. ‘You have a knack, Mr Salinas, for making the most painful things in my life sound cheap. The only thing you've got right is the chronology.'

‘How did that happen, then – your involvement with Mr Paget? Did you just happen to fall into bed one night?'

‘No.' Terri seemed to make herself be patient. ‘It wasn't like that.'

‘It also wasn't like he'd never touched you before.'

‘Do something,' Paget whispered to Caroline.

‘I can't.' Caroline's voice was flinty. ‘I refuse to make this worse for you.'

‘No,' Terri said quietly. ‘Chris had touched me.'

‘And kissed you.'

‘Yes.'

‘And when did
that
first happen?'

Terri sat back. ‘A few days after I left Richie.'

‘Getting closer, aren't we? Isn't it a fact that you were sleeping with Mr Paget
before
you left Ricardo Arias?'

Paget could feel the jury watching Terri with newly withheld sympathy. ‘No,' Terri answered firmly.

‘Didn't Mr Paget
ask
you to leave your husband?'

Terri sat straighter. ‘You really don't understand, Mr Salinas. Chris never said or did anything. I thought the feeling I had for Chris was only
mine,
and I didn't even know
that
much until a few days after I left Richie.' She glanced at Paget again, finishing softly: ‘Then I told Chris that I cared for him, and saw that it had happened to us both.'

‘Isn't it true that Mr Arias accused you and Mr Paget of having an affair?'

‘Yes,' Terri answered simply. ‘Just as he accused Carlo Paget of molesting our daughter.'

Salinas stopped for a moment. Paget could see the jury consider anew that Ricardo Arias might be a liar; Marian Celler whispered something to Joseph Duarte, who nodded. And then Salinas was back again, holding a scrap of paper in the air. ‘In fact, Ms Peralta, didn't Mr Arias accuse you and Mr Paget in the
Inquisitor
?'