Brian Freeman - Immoral

"Maybe," Sally said. "I'm really not sure."

"But you do own such an outfit, don't you?"

Sally nodded. "Yes."

Gale crossed his arms, studying the girl. "Now, you didn't stay at Canal Park the entire time that Kevin and Rachel did, is that right?"

"No, I left about nine-thirty or so."

"What did you do then?" Gale asked.

"I drove home."

"Did you stop anywhere?"

Sally shook her head. "No, I went straight home."

Gale flipped through his notepad again. "Did you go out again after that?"

"No, I didn't."

Gale smiled coldly. "You're absolutely sure about that?"

"Yes," Sally said.

"All right, then. Tell me, Sally, why did you go home early? Why didn't you stay with Kevin? He's your boyfriend, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is."

"But you left him alone with Rachel?" Gale asked.

Sally smiled weakly. "I was tired."

"Oh, come on. Sally. You know what Kevin testified, don't you? He told us that Rachel made sexual advances to him on the bridge."

Sally said nothing. She bit her lower lip and avoided Gale's eyes.

"The fact is, you saw them together, didn't you? You saw what they were doing?"

"No, I didn't."

Gale arched his eyebrows. "You weren't watching? Your boyfriend was riding the bridge with a beautiful girl, and you paid no attention? You simply left?"

"I told you, I was tired," Sally repeated.

"Actually, you were furious, weren't you? Your boyfriend was cheating on you in front of your eyes. This girl was kissing him and fondling him right there so you could watch." Gale paused. "You stormed away, didn't you, Sally? You were enraged and humiliated. Isn't that right?"

Sally blinked. A tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away. "I was hurt," she said softly.

"So you did see them."

Sally nodded.

"You were angry at both of them," Gale said.

"No, not at Kevin," Sally blurted out.

"You were mad at Rachel," Gale said.

Sally frowned. "It was like she could cast a spell over him. She did that with all the guys. But she didn't care about any of them. She just used them."

"And that really upset you, didn't it?" Gale asked.

"She was cruel," Sally said. "I knew she was just toying with Kevin. I knew she wasn't really interested in him."

"But how did Kevin feel about Rachel? Doesn't he have a crush on her?"

Sally flushed. "It was nothing. Just a crush. He loves me."

"And yet, Sally, wouldn't he throw you over in a second for a chance to be with Rachel?"

"No!" Sally shouted.

"But isn't that what he did that night?"

"That's not what happened!"

"What did happen?" Gale asked. "What did Rachel do that night?"

Sally looked down. "She kissed him."

"What else?"

"I don't know."

"You don't? You already said you saw them. What did Rachel do to your boyfriend in front of your eyes?"

Sally hesitated. "She put her hand inside his pants."

"She's up there making out with your boyfriend, and you're left alone on the sidewalk?"

"Yes."

"And you think she was just playing games with him? She wasn't serious?" Gale asked.

"Yes! That was how she was! She didn't care about him at all."

"But Kevin cared. He was always secretly in love with her, wasn't he? And you knew it. And now here was his fantasy girl coming on to him. You were afraid he was going to dump you, weren't you?"

"Kevin would never do that."

"We know he made a date with Rachel for the following night. He broke a date with you. Didn't he?"

Sally bit her lip. She looked like she wanted to escape. "He called and canceled our date."

"And all this was Rachel's fault?"

"Yes!"

"So, after seeing the two of them on the bridge, you went home?"

"That's right."

"That was it, you just went home?"

"Yes, I did. I was upset."

"Didn't you want to confront them?"

"Not then, no, I couldn't. I couldn't look at them."

"And what time was this again?"

"About nine-thirty."

Gale took off his glasses. He ruffled the pages of his notepad as he closed it Sally's eyes followed him. She started to get up, as if she thought Gale was finished, but as she stood, Gale turned back. Sally swallowed and sat back down. Gale tugged at his goatee and studied the girl thoughtfully.

"What did you do when you got home?"

"I talked to my parents for a few minutes, then I went to bed."

Gale nodded. "Did you call Kevin?"

"No."

"Did you call Rachel?"

"No."

"It must have been hard to sleep, since you were so angry."

"I don't remember," Sally said. Her lower lip bulged from her mouth. She was getting belligerent.

"Is your bedroom on the first floor?" Gale asked.

"Yes."

"So if you wanted to, couldn't you sneak out without your parents knowing?"

"I didn't do that," Sally said.

"You didn't walk over to Rachel's house to confront her? To have it out with her?"

"Objection, asked and answered," Dan snapped.

"Sustained."

Gale tried a different approach. "All right, let's be very clear about this, Sally. Did you see Rachel that night after you went home?"

Before Dan could object, Sally's eyes flew wide open. "No!"

Several of the jurors inched forward in their seats. Dan watched Sally suspiciously, then turned to Stride with an inquisitive and hostile stare.

Stride leaned down and whispered to Maggie. "What the hell is this about? Where's he going?'

Maggie's honey skin looked several shades paler. "I think you're going to kill me, boss."

"Tell me," Stride said.

Maggie whispered, "Her clothes."

Gale waited until the courtroom was hushed. Then, in a quiet voice, he said, "Sally, explain this to us. If you didn't go confront Rachel-if you didn't leave your room that night-why were you seen on the street just a few blocks from Rachel's house at a few minutes after ten o'clock that night?"

Judge Kassel banged her gavel as another wave of noise rippled through the courtroom.

Sally seemed to wilt in front of their eyes. "That's impossible. I wasn't there."

Gale sighed. He extracted a white piece of paper from his notes and approached the witness stand. "This is a police report, Sally, from the night Rachel disappeared. It's an interview with a Mrs. Carla Duke, who lives four blocks from the Stoner house. Would you please read the passage that's highlighted, Sally?"

Sally took the paper as if it were on fire, holding it at the comers with her fingertips. Her voice was almost inaudible.

"'I did see a girl going by a little bit after ten. I saw her in the streetlight. But she didn't look anything like this girl you're trying to find. She had bushy brown hair and was wearing jeans and a red parka.'"

Gale retrieved the paper from her hands. "Sure sounds like you, Sally."

"It wasn't," she murmured. "It wasn't me."

Stride murmured, too. "Son of a bitch, how did we miss that?"

"We were looking for people who saw Rachel," Maggie said. "Not other girls."

Gale shook his head in disbelief. "Someone wearing the same clothes as you, same hair as you, near Rachel's house on the night she disappeared, just a few minutes after Rachel humiliated you in the park. But it wasn't you."

Sally was crumbling. "No."

"I say you're lying, Sally," Gale snapped.

"Objection!" Dan said.

Judge Kassel nodded. "Sustained."

Gale wasn't bothered. "If we bring in Mrs. Duke as a witness, do you think she'll identify you?"

"Objection, calls for speculation."

"Sustained."

But the message was getting through.

"What did you say to Rachel?" Gale asked. "Did you warn her to stay away from Kevin?"

"I didn't see her."

"Did she answer the door? Were the keys to the van right there inside the door? Did the two of you go for a ride?"