A Time for Mercy (Jake Brigance #3) - John Grisham Page 0,184

year, you made a 911 call to the county dispatcher. What happened?”

Dyer stood and said, “Objection, Your Honor. Why is this relevant to the murder on March the twenty-fifth?”

“Mr. Brigance?”

“Your Honor, this 911 call is already before the jury. Sheriff Walls testified about it yesterday. It’s relevant because it goes to the abuse, violence, and fear these people were living with leading up to the events of March twenty-fifth.”

“Overruled. Mr. Brigance.”

Jake said, “Josie, tell us what happened on December the third?”

She hesitated and took a deep breath, as if dreading the recall of another bad night. “It was a Saturday, around midnight, and Stuart came home in a foul mood, very drunk, as usual. I was wearin’ jeans and a T-shirt, no bra, and he began accusin’ me of sleeping around. This happened all the time. He liked to call me a slut and a whore, even in front of my children.”

Dyer jumped up again and said, “Objection. This is hearsay, Your Honor.”

Judge Noose said, “Sustained,” and looked down at the witness. “Ms. Gamble, I’ll ask you not to repeat specific statements made by the deceased.”

“Yes sir.” It happened just the way Jake said it would. But her words would not be forgotten by the jurors.

“You may continue.”

She said, “Anyway, he flew into a rage and slapped me across the mouth, busted my lip, and there was blood. He grabbed me and I tried to fight him, but he was so strong, and angry. I told him that if he hit me again I was leavin’, which made matters worse. I managed to get away and ran to the bedroom, locked the door. I thought he was gonna kill me. I called 911 and asked for help. I cleaned up my face and sat on the bed for a while. The kids were upstairs hidin’ in their bedrooms. I listened to see if he was botherin’ them. After a few minutes I came out, went to the den. He was in his recliner, a chair we couldn’t touch, drinkin’ a beer and watchin’ television. I told him the cops were on the way and he laughed at me. He knew they wouldn’t do anything because he knew them all, they were his buddies. He told me that if I pressed charges he would kill me and the kids.”

“Did the police arrive?”

“Yes, Deputy Swayze came out. By then, Stuart had settled down, and he did a good job of fakin’ it, said everything was okay. Just a little domestic spat. The deputy looked at my face. My cheek and lips were swollen and he noticed some blood at the corner of my mouth. He knew the truth. He asked me if I wanted to press charges and I said no. They left the house together, went outside, smoked a cigarette, just a couple of old friends. I went upstairs and spent the night with the kids in Kiera’s room. He didn’t come after us.”

She dabbed her eyes with the tissue and looked at Jake, ready to proceed.

He said, “On February the twenty-fourth of this year, you called 911 again. What happened?”

Dyer stood and objected. Noose glared at him and said, “Overruled. Continue.”

“It was a Saturday, and that afternoon a preacher, Brother Charles McGarry, had stopped by the house, just payin’ a call, you know. We had been visitin’ his church down the road and Stuart didn’t like it. When the preacher knocked on the door, Stuart got a beer and went into the backyard somewhere. He didn’t go out that night, for some reason, just hung around the house watchin’ basketball games. And drinkin’. I sat with him and tried to have a chat, you know. I asked him if he wanted to go to church with us the next day. He did not. He didn’t like church and didn’t like preachers and told me that McGarry was not welcome ever again in his house. It was always ‘his house,’ never ‘our house.’ ”

Charles and Meg McGarry sat two rows behind the defense table, waiting for Josie to join them.

“Why did you call 911?” Jake asked.

She patted her forehead with the tissue. “Well, we started arguin’ about the church and he told me I couldn’t go back there. I said I’d go anytime I wanted. He was yellin’ and I wasn’t backin’ down and suddenly he threw a can of beer at me. It hit me in the eye and cut my eyebrow. I was covered in beer and I