Stuart Woods - Dead In The Water

"Before you left the United States, how would you describe your relationship With your husband?"

"We-were extremely happy-euphoric, really. You know how newlyweds are." She said this directly to a juror, who blushed.

"And when you began your voyage across the Atlantic, did your relationship change?"

"Only in that we became closer. When you spend a lot of time with a person on a boat, you really get to know him."

"Did this constant proximity wear on your marriage?"

"On the contrary, I think it made our marriage stronger."

"You are aware that not all couples do as well at sea."

She smiled. "Oh, yes; we met a number of couples in our travels who were sick of each other. On the other hand, we met a lot more who enjoyed being alone together on a boat."

"You were nearly fifteen' years younger than your husband, Mrs.Manning; did that become a problem in your marriage?"

"Never at any time. We were both very comfortable with the age difference."

"When you sailed from the Canaries for Antigua, was your marriage still a good one?"

"I would say that it was better than ever. We talked about that, and Paul felt the same way. We both felt very grateful for each other."

"Take us back, now, Mrs.Manning, to your departure from the Canaries, and tell us, with as much detail as you can, what happened in the days after that."

Allison devoted her attention entirely to the jury. She told of their start across the Atlantic and how, after ten days, it had been necessary for her to be hauled up the mast to retrieve the top swivel of the headsail reefing system. She explained this carefully to the jury, and they seemed to understand what the problem was. She told then of looking down and seeing her husband, apparently ill, and of his collapse and her fear of being stuck at the top of the mast. Tears had begun to roll down her cheeks, and she dabbed at them with a tissue. When she told how she had buried her husband at sea, she wept openly, and the judge had to call a brief halt to her testimony while she recovered herself. Stone was delighted; she hadn't cried at the coroner's inquest, but the tears flowed freely now, and a glance at the jury revealed how affected they were. Finally, she stopped crying, and the judge nodded at Stone to continue with his questions.

"Mrs.Manning, did you know how to sail the yacht after your husband's death?"

"Only in the most general sense. The deck of the boat was laid out so that Paul could easily handle it without my help. The only time I had any real job to do was handling the bow-line when we docked."

"So, alone in the-middle of the Atlantic Ocean, you had to learn how to sail the boat?"

"Yes, and to navigate, as well. There was a book on celestial navigation, and from that I learned to take a moon sight to establish our latitude. From then I just tried to keep the boat on the same latitude. I off a little, though, when we made our landfall. I was aiming at Antigua, but I fetched up in St.Marks."

"When you say 'we,'" to whom are you referring?"

"To the boat and me. I began to think of the boat as my partner in survival."

"Mrs.Manning, has everything you have told the today been the truth, the whole truth, and nothing bt the truth?"

"Yes," she said firmly. "As God is my witness it is the truth."

Stone turned to Sir Winston. "Your witness," he said, then sat down.

Sir Winston rose slowly and looked contemptuously at Allison for a good half minute before he began. "Your Lordship, I will be brief," he said. "Mrs.Manning, why did you kill your husband?"

"I…" she began, but Sir Winston cut her off. "Was it for the millions he had earned?"

"Was it for the twelve million dollars in insurance?"

"Sir Winston…"

She was beginning to grow angry now, and Stone had warned her against that.

"Was it because you had learned to hate him while you were confined with him aboard the yacht for protracted periods?"

"Sir Winston!" she shouted. "I did not kill my husband!"

"Oh, but you did, Mrs.Manning," he replied. "There were many times aboard the yacht when Mr.Manning was vulnerable, weren't there?"

"Vulnerable?"

"Times when a small shove would have put this large man overboard. Weren't there such times?"

"I did not push him overboard!"

"Answer me, Mrs.Manning! Were there not opportunities?"

"If that was what I wanted, I suppose so. But…"

"As when your husband stepped outside the lifelines to urinate, holding on to the yacht with only one hand?"

"Perhaps, but I didn't…"

"You could have stabbed that one hand with a knife, couldn't you?"

"No. I…"

"You could have bitten that hand, couldn't you?"

"I didn't!"

"That hand that had fed and clothed and given you every luxury!"

"I did not do that!" Tears were streaming down her face again.

"Oh, yes, you did, Mrs.Manning. This jury can look into those angry eyes and see that you did!"

"You're mad!" she screamed at him. "Completely mad!"

"But not as mad as you were with your husband. So mad that you could abandon him to his fate in the middle of a huge ocean."

"I did not!" she bawled. "As God is my witness…"

"Yes, you did!"

Stone was on his feet. "Your Lordship, Sir Winston is badgering the witness, not offering evidence."

The judge held up a hand to quiet him. "Sir Winston…" he said.

"I am finished with this witness, Your Lordship," Sir Winston said, looking at her once again with contempt. "I think the jury can see through this performance." He sat down.

Allison sat in the witness chaff, sobbing.

"You may step down, Mrs.Manning," the judge said guietly.

The bailiff helped her down and back to the dock, where she continued to weep.

The judge looked up at the jury. "Gentlemen, we will now move to closing arguments. Sir Winston, may we have your closing?"

Sir Winston Sutherland rose and faced the jury, offering Stone and Sir Leslie Hewitt his back. "Gentlemen," Sir Winston said. "Today you have seen evil incarnate in the form of a pretty woman, not the first time the devil has used this form. You have heard how Paul Manning, a successful writer, gave his wife every-thing-a big house, expensive cars and clothes, a dream trip on a glorious yacht-and how she showed her gratitude by ending his life so that she could have all his money for herself.

"Think of it, gentlemen: a yacht filled with the utensils of death-knives, harpoons, and, no doubt, other weapons since disposed of at sea."

Stone was halfway to his feet, but Sir Leslie put out a hand and stopped him. He held a finger to his lips, and Stone sank back into his chair.

"Was there a pistol aboard the yacht?" Sir Winston continued. "Was there a shotgun? Probably, but the Atlantic Ocean is a very large rubbish bin, so we shall never know. Instead, we must put ourselves aboard that yacht and see what certainly happened there how Paul Manning was, one way or another, consigned to the sea; how he may have watched the yacht sailing away without him, leaving him alone with the sharks and other creatures that would devour the evidence of his murdered corpse.

"Allison Manning thought she could get away with it, but she had not counted on the will for justice in St.Marks, and she had not counted on you-a jury of honest men who would see through her protestations and hor tears to the truth-that she coldly and maliciously and with malice aforethought murdered her husband. Not even when he suspected her motives, as his diary shows he did, could he be on guard every second of the day and night, to protect himself from his evil wife. No,his fate was sealed as soon as he sailed from the Canary Islands. At that moment, he was a dead man.

"In St.Marks we do not placidly accept the murder of human beings. We have constructed a system of justice which has no tolerance for murderers and which rids us of them with dispatch. Today, you are the instrument of that justice, and your island nation expects of you that you will swiftly reach a verdict of guilty and allow His Lordship to pronounce the sentence that follows from such guilt. "Gentlemen," he said slowly and gravely, "do your duty!" He turned and sat down.