CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE JULY

“You’re quiet today,” Wiley observes, typing with lightning speed. Wiley was an administrative assistant at a law office before this gig and boasts an eighty-words-per-minute rate.

“Am I usually really loud?” I ask, searching for Noah Thompson’s phone number without any success. He’s not on any social media, though he could be savvy, using an alias. I might have to dig through some of my secret people-search sites to find him.

“Well, you’re usually verbal at least,” Wiley says, and I snort-laugh at this.

I don’t say any more, however, having decided to put Eli’s text out of my mind for now. It’s none of my business anyway. The question sounds nefarious, only because I have a Crimeline brain and because it comes completely out of context. Did you take care of her? could refer to anything. “Take care of” doesn’t have to be a euphemism for threatening or killing. It could actually mean helping someone. It could refer to a client from the hedge fund with outstanding questions. It could be asking about Caitlyn, or some regulator with concerns. It could mean anything. Plus, I don’t trust Eli. So whatever he’s asking Jay to do, it doesn’t mean Jay would actually do it.

And it definitely doesn’t have to refer to me.

Why would Jay need to take care of me?

I don’t have time to worry about it anyway. Toby already nudged me about the profile. I was embarrassed to say I still hadn’t spoken with the main witness, only gotten bullied by Twitter bros and a farmer’s wife.

I check my phone to see I have an hour before my planned lunch date with Lainey and Melody.

Since I can’t reach anyone on the phone, I decide to peruse the court files.

Lawyer: “Can you state your name for the record?”

Noah: “Thomas Noah Thompson.”

Lawyer: “Thank you, Thomas.”

Noah: “Noah.”

Lawyer: “Excuse me?”

Noah: “That’s my full name. But everyone calls me Noah.”

Lawyer: “Oh yes. My apologies. Noah. Can you tell the jury how you know Ms. White … Nicole?”

Noah: “She was my friend.”

Lawyer: “Thank you. Were you … in classes together or …”

Noah: “Yeah. Math class.”

Lawyer: “Great. Okay. Could you describe the victim for us?”

Noah: “Sure. She was blonde. Um, sort of medium height and—”

Lawyer: “No, I’m sorry. Not her physical description. We can all see she was a beautiful girl. I mean, what was she like? As a person?”

Noah: “Oh. Yeah. She was … well … she was really nice.”

Lawyer: “Great, could you go into a little more detail there?”

Noah: “Um. Sure. She … was cool to everyone. You know? She was, like, really popular. But she still was nice to everyone. Like, she stood up to bullies. But not, like, physically or anything. She just kind of like … shamed them into being nicer. Yeah, so. Not everyone’s like that.”

Lawyer: “You’re right, Noah. Not everyone is like that. Not by a long shot. So … how well did you know her, would you say?”

Noah: “Not real well at first. But then, when she was tutoring me, I got to know her a little better.”

Lawyer: “As in …”

Noah: “Not like that. Just … better friends. She would even … confide in me. This made me feel, like, special. Like, she knew she could trust me.”

Lawyer: “Okay. Did the victim ever talk to you about the accused?”

Noah: “You mean about Eric Myers?”

Lawyer: “Yes. I’m sorry. Eric Myers.”

Noah: “Yeah. She did.”

Lawyer: “And what did she say about him?”

Defense Lawyer: “Objection, Your Honor, that’s hearsay.”

Judge: “I’ll allow it.”

Noah: “She … she was afraid of him.”

Lawyer: “She told you that?”

Noah: “Yes, she did.”

Lawyer: “And what exactly did she say? Can you tell us her words?”

Noah: “She said he asked her out a couple times. She went to a movie with him once, I think. But then she found out how old he was, and she didn’t want to see him anymore. Because she was like, only sixteen, you know. And he’s like … a lot older.”

Lawyer: “Twenty-five.”

Noah: “Right. And she said he was sort of stalking her. He would come up to her after school. More than once. And he texted her a lot. She showed it to me. Like fifty times or something crazy like that. She finally had to block him. She was afraid of him, I think.”

Lawyer: “Did she say anything to make you think that?”

Defense Lawyer: “Leading the witness, Your Honor.”

Judge: “I’ll allow it.”

Noah: “Yeah … she … said he was creepy. Like he was the type of dude who would shoot up a school.”

Lawyer: “Those words?”

Noah: “Those words. And … she said … she was joking, I think, but also kind of serious. She told her friend Talia if I ever get killed, Eric Myers did it.”

Defense Lawyer: “Your honor. That is definitely hearsay.”

Judge: “Agree. Jury, please disregard that statement.”

Lawyer: “Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you, Noah. That will be all.”