If the situation were any other, I’d feel bad for Gabriel. He’s being made to look incompetent. First it seems he never put two and two together to realize that the reason Richard threw up on me was because I was his wife’s lover, and now he’s going to say that it never occurred to him that Richard had the opportunity to take my cell phone during his office visit. Of course, I had never shared with him anything about my affair with Lauren, so there was no reason for him to consider any of it. But hindsight is twenty-twenty, especially in a murder trial.

“Do you know if during that visit Mr. Trofino took Ms. Goodwin’s cell phone?”

“I have no reason to believe that he did.”

“That wasn’t my question, Lieutenant. Any reason you chose not to answer my question?”

“I thought I had.”

“Really?”

LeMarcus has a way of making the word “really” sound like “bullshit.” From the expression on Gabriel’s face, he knows it too.

“Up until now, you’ve been very precise, Lieutenant. In fact, I bet that Ms. Broden, when she was preparing you to testify, told you to answer my questions, but only my questions, so as not to volunteer information that wasn’t asked of you. She said that, right?”

Every lawyer preps their witnesses that way. Two cardinal rules of witnessing: tell the truth; don’t volunteer.

“She said something along those lines, yes.”

“Okay, so I’m going to ask you to follow Ms. Broden’s instructions. I’m going to ask my question again. Yes or no, can you categorically deny that Mr. Trofino took Ms. Goodwin’s phone during his visit to her office the night of the murder?”

“I will answer you the way I did before. I am not aware of any evidence that he did that.”

“Come now, Lieutenant. That’s not true. You are aware of evidence that Ms. Goodwin’s phone had been stolen, aren’t you?”

Gabriel’s jaw tightens. It’s subtle, and I’m sure not noticeable to the jurors, but I recognize the gesture as a sign that he’s angry at himself.

“I know she claimed she lost her phone.”

“The evidence will show Ms. Goodwin bought a new iPhone on the very day that she learned of Ms. Wright’s murder. In fact, shortly after she was told about the crime. You’re not testifying that her receipt from the Apple store is a forgery, are you?”

“No. I’m saying that—”

LeMarcus cuts him off. “Thank you, Lieutenant. So. Let’s revisit this issue. You don’t dispute that the Apple receipt is genuine, and that proves Ms. Goodwin bought a new phone on the very day that she learned of the murder. And you also concede that your investigation revealed that on the evening Ms. Wright was killed, her husband was in Ms. Goodwin’s office, alone.”