She was sworn in and gave the court her maiden name, place of residence, and former relationship to Frank. Mr. Bates began his questioning, and several of the jury leaned forward in their seats.

“Mrs. Lowell, will you please tell the court how you came to be here today?”

“I been reading about this in the paper and I seen the lies Mr. Mattison’s brothers were telling about—”

“Objection!”

“Your Honor, Mrs. Lowell’s testimony will clarify her accusation.”

“Objection overruled. Proceed.”

“Well, that’s what they were,” said Wanda Lowell. “It looked like no one knew Mr. Mattison’s side of the story except me, so that’s why I decided to speak up.”

“Will you tell the court why you waited so long?”

“My husband didn’t want me to get mixed up in it. I had pneumonia in January and lost three weeks at work. And I don’t get paid for today, either.”

Mr. Bates guided her through an explanation of how she had known Frank from the third grade on. She made it clear—and Mr. Bates underscored the fact—that the two of them had never been romantically involved.

“And you never went out with him on a date? You never had a romance with him?”

“He didn’t have any money for dates. He never went out with anyone. He was too busy looking after his sister. She was retarded.”

Several of the jury sat up and leaned forward.

“Now tell us about the evening you visited the Mattison house.”

“It wasn’t visiting; no one saw me. It was in the winter, around Christmas time. A couple of days before, I asked him to go to a school dance, the kind where the girls are supposed to ask the boys. I asked him in front of his friends and it embarrassed him. He didn’t have any money to go to a dance. I wanted to tell him I was sorry, but in school there were always too many people around. I knew him and his sister slept in this shack behind their house and I was going home after a baby-sitting job and their place was on the way so I figured I could talk to him alone. I took the shortcut through a field so I wouldn’t have to go past the house. Well, I got nervous thinking he might get mad at me for coming around at night. I stood behind the shack awhile, trying to make up my mind. Then someone opened the back door of the house and I heard voices coming. I was scared if I ran they’d see me, so I stayed where I was. I heard them pound on the door and Regina started crying inside.”

“And who was it pounding on the door?”

“I couldn’t see but I could hear them. Two young men and a woman. They broke the door open and—”

“They broke it open? Something was blocking it?”