There’s a fairly long pause, during which I hear some throat clearing and the sound of heels on hardwood. Then Shad says, “Miss Cora, in all our talk about family and the past, I forgot to ask you one thing. We all saw the video recording that was accidentally made on the hard drive on Henry Sexton’s camera. But let’s talk about the camera that hard drive was attached to. When did Mr. Sexton put that into the house?”

“About a week before Viola died. Just after his second interview with her.”

“Did he tell you why he was leaving the camera there?”

“Yes. He wanted Viola to be able to record her recollections about the old days, if the mood struck her. That’s why he gave her that remote control.”

“Did she keep the remote control by her bed after Mr. Sexton left?”

“Yes, sir.”

“All that week?”

“That’s right.”

“And was there a tape in that camera?”

“Yes. I saw Mr. Sexton put one in it.”

“Do you know if your sister made any recordings prior to the day of her death?”

“I didn’t see her do it. But I know she did. Sometimes when I’d come in, that remote would be laying on her blanket. I think she was recording whenever I wasn’t around. One time she even asked me to leave, and I saw her pick up that remote.”

“I see. What about the day she died?”

“Well . . . that day was different. Late in the afternoon, Viola asked me to go out for a while. And she gave me some instructions.”

“Which were?”

“She said I should make sure Mr. Henry came back and got his camera the next day.”

“Is that all?”

“No. She told me Dr. Cage would be coming by later, but I shouldn’t say anything about her making a tape for Mr. Henry.”

“Did you do as she said?”

“I was going to. But then she changed her mind.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I got back—before Dr. Cage came that night—Vee told me she’d decided to ask Dr. Cage to give the tape to Mr. Henry.”

“Viola was going to give this videotape to Tom Cage?”

“That’s right. She said it was going to be like a test. That tape had things on it that would be painful for him, and she wanted to know if he’d do what she asked him—pass it on to Mr. Henry—in spite of that.”

“I see.” There’s another pause, and I sense Shad is about to try to draw blood. “Miss Cora, did your sister tell you anything about what she had recorded on that tape?”

The next sound I hear should be Quentin yelling “Objection!,” but all I hear is Cora Revels softly answering her coach’s question.