10:19 a.m. Shad tenders witness and . . . NO FUCKING CROSS! You gotta get down here man. You have 2 fire Quentin. Obvs malpractice! Shad dragging your dad to Parchman with nobody pulling the other way on the rope.

In less than an hour, my bewilderment has escalated to anxiety, frustration, and now outright anger.

10:24 a.m. Sheriff Byrd on stand now.

10:32 a.m. Byrd testifies Shad showed him the tape of V’s death at 1:07 p.m. Monday 12-12 and said he was first person other than Shad to see it. Shad explained Henry Sexton provided camera, recording made accidentally. Sexton pointed out existence of recording. Shad, Byrd put tape into evidence, later had copy made by pro.

10:44 a.m. Shad tendered Byrd, reserved right to recall. No cross from Quentin. No surprise. I need some f’ing Xanax.

Rusty doesn’t even bother to raise hell this time. Every lawyer in the courtroom must be about to burst, but of course no one can say anything.

10:49 a.m. Fingerprint expert on stand. Prints on syringe and vial your dad’s. Immediate AFIS match based on your dad’s gun carry permit. Yawn.

11:01 a.m. Shad tenders witness. No cross. u surprised?

11:08 a.m. Hair and fiber xpert. Your dad’s hair all over the scene. DNA match. Carpet fibers from your dad’s house all over. Shad tenders . . . no cross. Too depressing to watch, man. This is going to be a conviction in world record time. Q’s lost it. I’ll take over if u want. It’s that bad.

I’m definitely panicked now. My heart is headed into tachycardia, and it’s all I can do to keep Annie from realizing how upset I am.

11:10 a.m. More hearsay now. Judge unfazed. Shad says his office contacted by Lincoln Turner and told about suicide pact. He called the mayor and asked him to speak to his father about what happened.

It’s improper for the DA himself to read something like this into the record, but Judge Elder seems to be proceeding on the premise that Quentin’s failure to object waives Dad’s right to keep it from the jury.

11:14 a.m. Later same morning, Henry Sexton informed DA that a camera he left in decedent’s room had a hard drive on it. They checked said drive and found the tape you watched, showing the death of VT 5:38 a.m. Monday, December 12th. Dr Cage refused to answer questions on any of those events.

11:18 a.m. Judge mentions lunch, but Shad calls one more witness. Leo Watts, asks to treat him as hostile. Elder grants.

Leo Watts is a local pharmacist and longtime friend of my father’s. By asking to treat Leo as a hostile witness, Shad will be allowed to ask him leading questions on the stand. Furthermore, the jury will know that they are hearing testimony from someone predisposed to view my father in a favorable light.