Chapter 17 - LINDA TAKES THE STAND
Linda testified on the third day.
She walked to the witness stand with the confidence of someone accustomed to being believed.
At first, she performed perfectly.
She loved her son.
She loved me.
She wanted harmony.
She had only accepted financial help because Mark insisted.
She believed I knew.
She believed I agreed.
She believed the loan paperwork was legitimate.
Then Rachel began cross-examination.
“Mrs. Mercer, you attended the bank closing on February 12?”
Linda hesitated.
“I accompanied my son.”
“Were you sitting in the place where the second borrower would normally sit?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Did the notary believe you were Anna Mercer?”
“No.”
The answer came too fast.
Rachel paused.
“How do you know what the notary believed?”
Linda blinked.
“I assume she knew who I was.”
“Did you tell her who you were?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Did you present identification?”
“No.”
“Did you see a copy of Anna’s driver’s license?”
“I don’t remember.”
Rachel lifted a document.
“Do you recognize this?”
“My daughter-in-law’s license.”
“Did you have access to this copy before February 12?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mrs. Mercer, you left Anna a voicemail stating that Mark did what he had to do because she would never have agreed.”
Linda’s mouth tightened.
“I was upset.”
“Were those your words?”
“I don’t remember exactly.”
The recording played.
Her own voice answered.
Mark only did what he had to do because you would never have agreed.
Silence followed.
Rachel stepped closer.
“If Anna would never have agreed, why did you believe she had agreed?”
Linda stared at her.
“I meant she was difficult about money.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Mark shifted at counsel table.
Linda looked toward him.
The judge spoke.
“Answer the question.”
Linda swallowed.
“I believed Mark handled it.”
Rachel continued.
“You received approximately thirty-four thousand dollars connected to draws from the home equity line.”
“I received money from my son.”
“Did you know the money came from equity in the marital home?”
“Eventually.”
“When?”
“I don’t recall.”
“Did you use those funds for your basement?”
“Some.”
“Your vehicle?”
“Some.”
“Credit card debt?”
“Some.”
“So money borrowed against Anna and Mark’s home paid for improvements to your property and personal purchases.”
“Mark wanted to help me.”
“Did Anna?”
Linda looked at me.
Then away.
“I don’t know.”
Rachel picked up the birthday menu.
“Do you recognize this?”
Linda’s face changed.
Barely.
But I saw it.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“My birthday menu.”
“Your handwritten menu?”
“Yes.”
“Turn it over.”
Linda did.
“Is that your handwriting?”
She stared at the figures.
“It looks like it.”
“Eighteen point five.”
“Twenty-two point seven.”
“Three point two.”
“What do those numbers mean?”
“I don’t remember.”
Rachel displayed contractor invoices.
“The basement invoices total approximately twenty-two thousand seven hundred dollars.”
Linda shifted.
“Coincidence?”
“I suppose.”
“The vehicle purchase was approximately eighteen thousand five hundred.”
Silence.
“Another coincidence?”
“I don’t know.”
“The credit card payoff was approximately thirty-two hundred.”
Linda’s voice became sharper.
“What exactly are you accusing me of?”
Rachel did not react.
“I’m asking questions.”
That made Linda angrier.
She was accustomed to controlling the questions.
Not answering them.
Rachel moved to the birthday party.
“You gave Anna this menu?”
“Yes.”
“You demanded she prepare twenty dishes?”
“I requested.”
“Did Anna tell you it was impossible?”
“She complained.”
“Did Mark tell her to cook or get out?”
“He was frustrated.”
“That is not my question.”
Linda’s face reddened.
“Yes.”
“Did you smile?”
Mark’s attorney objected.
The judge allowed limited questioning because the video had shown Linda’s reaction.
Rachel played the frame.
Linda stared at herself smiling.
“Mrs. Mercer, were you pleased when your son told his wife to cook or leave?”
“No.”
“Why were you smiling?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you believe Anna would leave?”
“No.”
There it was.
Rachel’s voice softened.
“Why not?”
Linda hesitated.
Then she made the mistake that defined everything.
“Because she had nowhere to go.”
The courtroom became absolutely silent.
I felt Rachel stop beside me.
Mark lowered his head.
Linda realized what she had said.
Too late.
Rachel asked only one more question.
“So when your son told Anna to cook or get out, you believed she would stay because she lacked the resources to leave?”
Linda opened her mouth.
Closed it.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
Rachel returned to counsel table.
“No further questions.”
I did not smile.
I did not celebrate.
I simply looked at Linda.
May you like
For eleven years, she had treated my dependence as proof of her power.
Now she had described it under oath.
