The Witness

ALSO BY NORA ROBERTS

WRITING AS J. D. ROBB

E-BOOKS BY NORA ROBERTS

G. P. P
UTNAM’S
S
ONS

New York

G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS

Publishers Since 1838

Published by the Penguin Group

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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published in the United States of America by G. P. Putnam's Sons 2012

Copyright © 2012 by Nora Roberts

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any

printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy

of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Published simultaneously in Canada

is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

ISBN: 978-1-101-58036-3

Printed in the United States of America

Book design by Meighan Cavanaugh

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product

of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons,

living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

While the author has made every eff ort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

Version_3

For Laura Reeth

Master of details

Elizabeth

1

2

3

4

5

6

Brooks

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

Abigail

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

Elizabeth

23

24

25

26

27

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30

Epilogue

June 2000

E
LIZABETH
F
ITCH’S SHORT-LIVED TEENAGE REBELLION BEGAN
with L’Oréal Pure Black, a pair of scissors and a fake ID. It ended in blood.

For nearly the whole of her sixteen years, eight months and twenty-one days she’d dutifully followed her mother’s directives. Dr. Susan L. Fitch issued
directives,
not orders. Elizabeth had adhered to the schedules her mother created, ate the meals designed by her mother’s nutritionist and prepared by her mother’s cook, wore the clothes selected by her mother’s personal shopper.

Dr. Susan L. Fitch dressed conservatively, as suited—in her opinion—her position as chief of surgery of Chicago’s Silva Memorial Hospital. She expected, and directed, her daughter to do the same.

Elizabeth studied diligently, accepting and excelling in the academic programs her mother outlined. In the fall, she’d return to Harvard in
pursuit of her medical degree. So she could become a doctor, like her mother—a surgeon, like her mother.