nonadversarial proceeding, a fact-finding mission, but to Patrick, it doesn’t feel that way. His eyes shift over to the jury box, now empty. He shudders involuntarily.
The coroner’s inquest is in open court, with the public and the media permitted to attend. And they’ve taken advantage; the place is almost full. The press is keen to hear salacious details about how he might have deliberately murdered his wife and unborn child. How they will love this, Patrick thinks, his bitterness growing. Patrick sits down in the first row of seats, with Stephanie rigid beside him. The sheriff who questioned him after the accident, and the coroner, will be called as witnesses. He and Erica will be called. There shouldn’t be any surprises. He glances at Stephanie, tense beside him.
Patrick’s gaze sweeps the courtroom nervously. Then, suddenly, he sees the sheriff, Michael Bewdly. Patrick almost didn’t recognize him because he’s not in uniform. He’s in plain clothes now – he’s not the Grant County sheriff any more. Patrick’s attorney, Robert Lange, has told him that the former sheriff will probably be adamant that they made the right finding. Next he sees the current sheriff arrive – his uniform gives him away – and take a seat on the other side of the courtroom. He will be at the inquest to listen to the evidence, Lange warned, in case, after the jury returns its verdict, he needs to decide whether to move ahead with further investigation or criminal charges. Patrick looks at the sheriff and swallows, then turns away, his eyes searching the courtroom. He recognizes Lauren, Lindsey’s sister, sitting towards the back, as if she doesn’t want anyone to know she’s there. Then – another face he recognizes, although the man is somewhat older. It’s the coroner, George Yancik. He was there that day, leaning over Lindsey’s body in the snow, studying the car in the snowbank. But it’s Erica who worries him. It’s her word against his. Where is she?
He hears a slight commotion behind him and turns to look. It’s her, as if he’d summoned her somehow. She’s in a charcoal-grey business suit, her hair up, make-up kept to a minimum. She looks professional, and he feels a tremor of fear run up his spine. He’s afraid she will come across better than he will – it has been his fear all along that they will believe her over him. He feels Stephanie stiffen as Erica sits in the front row on the opposite side of the room without looking at either of them.
Lange comes up to Patrick then and leans in close. ‘You okay?’ He glances quickly at Stephanie, as if worried about how she’s holding up.
Patrick nods. ‘We’re fine.’
‘Good, we’re about to start.’ Lange moves away and sits at counsel’s table.
Moments later, the six jurors file in and take their seats with a minimum of fuss. Patrick, unsettled, watches them come in. These six people might determine the course of the rest of his life. The idea frightens him. He has never thought of himself as a coward, but right now, he’s scared. He feels himself clenching his jaw and forces himself to relax as the judge enters from a side door and sits at the dais. The jurors are sworn in. The coroner is represented by an attorney by the name of Susan Spellman. Patrick has elected to be represented by his own counsel.
They begin. The judge addresses the court with opening remarks. Coroner’s counsel then addresses the jury and calls the first witness. Patrick knows that as each witness is called, Lange will have the opportunity to ask relevant questions of the witnesses and challenge them in cross-examination.
First the coroner’s attorney calls the coroner, George Yancik.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
YANCIK WALKS BRISKLY to the witness box. As he takes his place, Patrick notes that he seems slightly nervous as he’s sworn in. That’s not what they want. They don’t want the coroner to be on the defensive. It makes Patrick anxious too.
Once they establish his credentials, the attorney asks, ‘Did you, as the Grant County coroner at the time, attend at 712 Dupont Street, Creemore, on the morning of January 10, 2009?’
‘Yes, I did.’
‘Tell us about that morning, and what you found there.’
The coroner says, in a clipped voice, ‘A 911 call had come in at eight twenty-nine a.m. I was notified of the sudden death of a woman and made my way there immediately. When I got there, a woman had been pulled out of a vehicle and