Naples Daily News, July 17, 2007—As testimony continues in the trial of Dr. Rafe Marino for the murder of his girlfriend, Jessie Michaels, the defense shifted tactics slightly yesterday in the courtroom. Up until this point, the defense has focused on the lack of evidence being presented, and insisted that what forensic trace evidence was present at the scene was the result of the victim having a relationship with the accused. But now the defense has taken a more aggressive stance, suggesting that a woman such as Jessie Michaels, a former stripper and drug user, and an alcoholic at the time of her death, led a double life. One in which she was the middle-class suburban girlfriend of the upstanding and charming young doctor, another in which she frequented strip clubs and mixed alcohol and recreational drugs. The defense suggested that such behavior could have brought her into contact with her murderer.

Throughout the course of the trial, Dr. Marino has adamantly declared his love and affection for the victim.

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Sara left Gabriel’s and drove back to her apartment, having scratched a return message on the bottom of his note to her. She couldn’t stay, not without access to her computer, and no idea how long it would be before he returned. It had been a mistake to leave her laptop and Angel at her place. She missed her kitten, was worried about her.

And those sketches had shaken her. Had shown her that this was real, no matter how distant in the past. This had happened and it wasn’t a puzzle or a murder mystery weekend to solve. It was a woman and her life. Just as real as her mother had been.

Growing up in the congested traffic of Naples and the surrounding areas, with laborious commutes on inadequate infrastructure, Sara hadn’t thought twice about getting an apartment twenty minutes from the French Quarter. But she was starting to see why Gabriel had expressed surprise. The convenience of the Quarter, with walking distance to food and shopping, was appealing, and the drive to Kenner was getting annoying. Or she should say the drive from Kenner. What kind of Freudian slip was that?

She had already pulled into her assigned parking spot when she realized there was someone at the door of her apartment. Instinctively, she reversed and pulled into the spot opposite hers and sat with the engine idling, watching the man knock repeatedly and actually peek into the window right next to her front door. He looked very normal, average height and weight, short brown hair barely visible under a baseball cap, dressed in tan khakis and a green golf shirt. There was a package or thick envelope in his hand, and a cell phone balanced on top.