Edward had wheeled around back down the hall, where he was deep in conference with his lawyer, a tall, older, stooped man in a three-piece suit. The reporters were examining the photos. Lily's eyes were drawn to one photo in particular—a mummylike figure in a bed, hooked up to tubes.

“Is that you?” Lily asked.

“Yes,” Judy said. “That was the night Edward beat me for coming home late. He accused me of being out with another man, even though I was at my sister's.”

“I'm so sorry,” Lily said, tears welling up with compassion for what Edward had done to her.

“He broke my nose and shattered my cheekbone,” Judy said. “With just one punch, he broke my jaw in three places. All my front teeth, and the ones in back on the right, were broken. I went flying across the room and smashed into the window. That's how I got this.” She touched the long scar on her cheek.

“Oh, Judy,” Marisa whispered.

“He didn't hit us,” Lily said.

Judy glanced down the hall, where Edward was hunched with his lawyer, talking and gesturing.

“No,” she said. “He learned not to. The police came. He got arrested.”

Lily remembered Edward telling her about hitting Judy. He had made it seem so long ago, a fleeting incident, almost unreal. She had been disturbed even then about his seeming lack of remorse. Looking back, of course, she knew that he had told her about his previous violence to put her on notice. But now, to meet this real woman, to know that he had disfigured her face and put her in the hospital, literally made Lily sick.

“We knew about Edward's record of assault,” Patrick said, stepping forward. “It's one of the reasons we looked at him so hard when you went missing, Lily.”

“And one of the reasons we went looking for Judy again now, for this hearing,” Joe said.

“Liam really pushed us,” Patrick said, and Lily glanced up, saw Liam blushing.

“Judy wasn't so easy to track down,” Joe said. “It was touch and go, and we didn't say anything because we didn't want you to be disappointed, and you needed to be prepared to go forward without her if necessary.”

“I left Hawthorne,” Judy said. “After everything that happened. And after Ed, well, he wouldn't fulfill his obligations to me.”

“Obligations?” Lily asked.

“I remember reading about your disappearance,” Judy continued. “At first I was sure he'd killed you. But I always hoped that you'd just gotten away.”

“I did get away,” Lily said. “I ran for my life. And my baby's . . .”

“How is she?” Judy asked with a smile.

“She's wonderful,” Lily told her, smiling back.

Just then, Edward came back over. He was pale and drawn, and his voice shook as he stood there, staring from Judy to Lily to Marisa, and he said, “You can't hurt me now.”

“Hurt you?” Judy asked.