Just before nine a.m. Lila walked into the conference room, carrying three bottles of water and a legal pad, as it was her job to write down everything Sadie would say, to give to Leo Reecey. Prosecutors can keep no secrets from the defense.

Sadie entered a few minutes later and the two women shared a smile that went deeper than a simple hello. The black business suit Sadie wore aged her at least five years, and with her hair pulled back she could have passed for a colleague instead of a victim. She seemed far more calm and self-assured than she had at the Rule Eight hearing, but when Lila shook her hand, Sadie’s fingers still held a tremor.

“How are you feeling?” Lila asked.

“Good, I think—a little nervous.”

“There’s no reason to be nervous,” Lila said. “This is simply an opportunity for you and Ms. Fitch to meet—get to know each other. That’s all.”

“She wants to see if I’m gonna flake out.”

“Not at all,” Lila lied. “She doesn’t want your first conversation to be when you’re on the witness stand.”

“It’s okay. I’d want to meet me too, if I was her. To be honest, I’m scared to death. I don’t know how I’ll react…when I see him face-to-face. I’m scared I won’t be able to talk.”

“You’ll do fine.” The words Lila spoke made her feel like a hypocrite.

Andi entered the conference room in that get-down-to-business way she had, barely managing to fake a smile as she introduced herself to Sadie. She took a seat directly across from her witness, and in a cold, toneless voice asked Sadie to detail what she remembered from the wedding. Sadie answered with nothing more and nothing less than what she had told Detectives Vang and Lopez. Andi asked Sadie about the evening at the salon, and Sadie again followed the script she’d given the investigators.

Then Andi asked about after the salon.

“I wish I could tell you that I remember Gavin Spencer raping me, but I don’t.”

“Just tell me what you do remember, if anything.”

“It’s not so much a memory as…Well, it’s more like a dream. I was tired. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. And I felt sick to my stomach. I remember sleeping, and I think I remember the hum of a car, but I’m not sure.”

“Were you in the car?”

“I must have been. It was like when I was a little girl and my dad would take me on a drive. The hum of the tires just kind of made me want to sleep.”

“Anything after that?”

“I have a vague memory of walking to the river, but that doesn’t seem right. Why would I walk to the river?”

“Was he with you then? Do you remember anyone with you?”

“He had to be. I think that’s where we were at when he said that thing about ‘All you had to do was be nice.’ I think that’s where we were, but…” Sadie closed her eyes. “It’s all so murky.”