Now the pressure in his belly is moving up to his chest. He feels a sheen of sweat on his forehead and wipes it off with the back of his hand. He blinks twice to refocus. The taillights ahead are blurry. Those drinks must have been stronger than he thought. Concentrate on driving!

Suddenly, a gap opens up in the far-right lane. Graham cranks the wheel and veers into the opening. He can’t feel his hands. His chest is exploding in pain.

He jams his foot down on the brake. It slips off. He thrusts his foot down again. His leg is shaking. He hits the gas pedal instead.

There’s a loud metallic bang as the Audi rams through a barrier.

A flash of green. Then it’s gone, like someone flipped a switch.

Dr. Cameron Graham is dead before the Audi’s hood hits the tree.

CHAPTER
97

Rockingham County Courthouse, New Hampshire

I get to court early to snag a good seat for the second day of the trial. The media people are already in place. I wave to Ron Reynolds, and he tips his tweed newsboy cap at me.

As the defendant and his team of attorneys file in, I catch a glimpse of his ankle monitor, well hidden beneath his somber bespoke suit.

The cameras light up. So does the tension in the room.

Testimony opens with the deputy attorney general calling the deputy chief medical examiner Alice Woods to the stand.

Bastinelli takes her through a review of her educational credentials and forensics experience. As she starts to explain how she positively identified the remains, Tess Hardy stands up and interrupts.

“Your Honor, in the interest of time, the defense is willing to stipulate that the remains found in the trunk of the Sentra are in fact those of Suzanne Bonanno.”

Smart move. Hardy looks like she’s being accommodating but she’s actually taking control. The defense attorney wants Bastinelli to hurry up with Woods so she can get a crack at her.

The strategy throws Bastinelli off his game; it takes him a few seconds to adjust and skip down his question list. He grabs a controller from the lectern and turns on a video screen.

“Your Honor, State’s exhibit eleven C.”

The monitor shows a full set of human bones laid out on an exam table in the rough shape of a human—the human who was Suzanne.

I look over at Cole Wright. His head is bowed. He’s the only person in court not looking at the screen.

Bastinelli hands Dr. Woods a laser pointer. Under the deputy AG’s questioning, the expert witness highlights ribs, vertebrae, femurs, radii. She shows the landmarks that identify the skeleton as female. She tells him how she determined the approximate age of the bones and length of time they’d been buried.

There’s one bone Bastinelli seems particularly interested in.