“Josh,” Olivia said hesitantly, but I urged her on with a look. She had wanted to be the one to ask Josh, said he had a better relationship with her, but we only had a few minutes for this conversation, and she needed to spit it out. “How would you feel about testifying?”

“What? I thought you said I didn’t have to?” he responded.

“You don’t have to,” I jumped in. “But we are asking if you are willing. After the testimony from your brother yesterday, we both think it would be beneficial for you to tell your side of the story."

He looked at Olivia, and she nodded in agreeance before I continued, "There are no eyewitnesses, you have no alibi, so this case is purely circumstantial, and we think it could go a long way for the jury to hear from you, what you were doing the night Cecilia died."

"We also think it could be good for you to talk about your relationship with Cecilia," Olivia said. "A lot of witnesses, as you've heard, have painted your relationship in a negative light. Your testimony on how your relationship really was could help counteract that."

“You told me murder suspects rarely testify?” Josh shouted at Olivia. “You told me I wouldn’t have to be a witness!”

“I know I did,” she said calmly. “And it’s true, and until your brother’s testimony, I had no plans to have you testify, but James thinks it could really help our case.”

“But you don’t?”

“I didn’t at first, but I do now,” Olivia admitted.

“We won’t call you as a witness unless you agree,” I said. “We’ll also make sure you clearly understand your Fifth Amendment rights so you don’t answer any questions from the prosecution that could be incriminating.”

“I don’t have anything incriminating to say!” Josh yelled.

“Calm down, Mr. Delaney, no one is saying you do, but Mr. Drew is a very talented attorney. You’ve seen how easy it can be to twist a witness's words and use them against him.”

Josh exhaled loudly and stared up at the ceiling, clearly thinking about what we had just said. I checked my watch … we needed to be in the courtroom in the next five minutes.

"Do I have to do it today?" Josh asked.

"No," I said. "It would be tomorrow. We would ask the judge for an afternoon recess, so we could have time to go over our questions and prepare you."

He was silent for what felt like an eternity. Olivia and I exchanged several glances, neither of us able to tell which direction he was leaning.

“You really think it will help my case?” he finally asked.

“We do,” Olivia said. “We wouldn’t suggest it if we didn’t.”

Josh let out another long sigh and locked eyes with Olivia, then he nodded.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” The look on his face was one I’d never seen before. It was a look of determination. For the first time in weeks, his eyes were full of fight and fire. He had a purpose now, something he could do to influence the course of his life. Seeing that look in his eyes, I had no doubt we were making the right decision.

“Ms. Roberts, Mr. Beck, does the defense have any more witnesses to call?” Judge Davidson asked ninety minutes later when Chad Delaney stepped down from the witness stand.

“Your Honor,” Olivia stood to address the judge. “We plan to call Mr. Josh Delaney.” There were several gasps, and the courtroom erupted into loud whispers. Drew stared at us from the prosecution table; he clearly didn’t see that coming.

“Order, order! Quiet down now,” Judge Davidson said from the bench. “You were saying, Ms. Roberts?”

“Yes, Your Honor. We would like to call Mr. Delaney, but since this decision was just reached a few hours ago, we’d like to recess until tomorrow morning to give us a chance to prepare Mr. Delaney for the witness stand, mostly going over Fifth Amendment rights and other protocol that Mr. Delaney isn’t familiar with.”

“Your Honor, with all due respect…” Drew stood from his chair. “Mr. Delaney doesn’t deserve any special rights as a witness. If the defense plans to call him, it should be now.”

“Your Honor,” I stood as well and addressed the judge. “Every other witness who has been called has had weeks, in some cases months, of advance notice before taking the stand. Mr. Delaney has had no such notice. We are not asking for weeks to thoroughly prepare him as a witness. We are simply asking for a few hours to go over with Mr. Delaney the rights he has as a suspect.”

Judge Davidson looked from me to Olivia to Drew and then to Josh, sizing up the situation before making his decision.

“Very well,” he said. “Court will reconvene tomorrow at nine AM.”

Olivia and I stayed at the courthouse with Josh until the bailiff informed us the last transport back to the prison was ready to leave and Mr. Delaney had to go. We went over everything, from the questions we would be asking, to some of the counter questions it was possible Drew would ask, to the rights he had as both a witness and a suspect.

“Remember,” Olivia said, gathering her things and standing, “only answer the question that is asked. Don’t expound or offer any information that wasn’t specifically asked for, especially when Drew is questioning you.”

“Got it,” Josh said. “I’ll be ready. I am ready.”

“Good, we’ll see you in the morning,” Olivia said. We both watched as he was escorted from the room.

“God, I hope we aren’t making a mistake,” she sighed.

“We aren’t.”

“How can you know that?”

“Did you see his face this morning when he agreed to testify?” I asked. “It was the most alive I’ve seen him. He is excited to be able to have some part in the control of his future. It may be a minuscule, but he’s latched onto it nonetheless.”

Olivia shook her head and sighed.

“Don’t overthink this,” I said. “You don’t have anything to worry about. I’ll be doing the questioning. We got this. The finish line is in sight.” We had already argued about that, and I hoped she wasn’t going to start that again.

“It’s a damn good thing, too,” she said. “I’m exhausted.”

* * *

“Mr. Delaney, is it all right if I call you Josh?” I asked after getting the formalities of getting his full name down for the record.

“Yes, sir,” he nodded.

“Josh, how did you know the victim, Cecilia Stanford?”

“She was my fiancé.”

“How long had you been in a relationship with Ms. Stanford?”

“A little over two years,” Josh said. “We were planning to get married next month, on our three year anniversary.” Josh’s voice cracked a little on the last word, and I paused for a second before continuing. I asked Josh a few lighter questions about how he and Cecilia had met, what their relationship was like, before I jumped into the heavy stuff.

“Josh, when was the last time you had sex with Cecilia?” I had prepped him on this question, but he still glared at me. We needed to establish that he’d had consensual sex with her some time during the seventy-two hours before her death.

“That morning,” he answered. “I had stayed over, and we did it that morning before I went to work, before everything else happened.”

“Josh, did you know Cecilia was pregnant?”

“Yes, she told me the same day she died.” There were a few gasps in the audience like this was new information.

“What was your reaction?”

“I was upset. I was only 25. It wasn’t in the plans. We were going to get married and travel for a while, then have kids later. She told me she was on birth control, so I was upset. We argued about it. She wanted to keep the baby, and I wanted her to take care of it.”

“You wanted her to get an abortion?”

“Yes, that was my first reaction.”

“But she told you no?”

“Yes, she said that absolutely wasn’t an option, that she was keeping this baby with or without me.”

“What happened then?”

“We argued some more and I left. It was clear neither of us was going to concede at that time.”

“Did you physically touch her?”

“I would never,” Josh said vehemently.

“What time did this all happen?”

“It was after I got done working,” Josh answered. “She said she had something to tell me, so I went to her place straight from work, so about six I would guess. I didn’t check the time.”

“Do you know what time it was when you left?”

“I know it was after eight when I got home, because Mr. Steel, the night shift doorman was there already.”

“Did you leave your apartment again the rest of the night?”

“Yes, I went for a run around ten.”

“Where did you go?”

“Just around, on the streets, into the park, wherever my feet took me, I didn’t really pay attention … I just ran and ran and thought about Cecilia and the baby. I decided while I was running that she was right. I was a shit to ask her to do that. I tried to call her when I got home … I wanted to go over and tell her I was sorry, but she never answered. I tried a few times, then gave up and assumed she was in bed.”

“Mr. Steel confirmed you arrived back at your building after midnight, does that sound correct?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t paying any attention to the time. I stopped and sat on a bench for a while to think so I could’ve been gone that long.”

“Josh, when did you see Cecilia again?”

“I ... I...” he stammered, tears quickly filling his eyes. “I never saw her again. Not a—alive anyway. The next time I saw her she was in a casket.” A few tears dripped down his face. “I loved her, I loved her so much. I just wanted to tell her I’d do whatever it took to keep her, baby and all.”

“Do you know anyone who would want to hurt Cecilia?”

“No.” He shook his head. “No, Cecilia was the sweetest person. Everybody liked her. You couldn’t not like her. Everywhere she went, she lit up the room, her smile and laugh were infectious. I could never imagine anyone doing this to her.”

“Nothing further, Your Honor.”

“Mr. Delaney,” Drew stood from the defense table, “so from ten PM to after midnight, no one can account for your whereabouts?”

“No,” Josh said stiffly. “I was running alone.”

“Mr. Delaney, did you know the garage code to Ms. Stanford’s apartment building?”

“Yes.”

“So, it is possible that you could’ve used the garage code, taken the elevator to Ms. Stanford’s apartment, and never have been seen by the doormen in her building?”

“Yes, it is possible,” Josh said dryly.

“How far apart are your two apartments?”

“I don’t know … I would guess a couple miles. I’ve never mapped it out.”

“Does one-point-four miles sound about right?”

“I guess it depends on the route you take, but sure, that could be correct.”

“How fast do you run a mile, Mr. Delaney?”

“Excuse me?”

“A mile, Mr. Delaney, how fast can you run a mile?” Drew repeated.

“About eight minutes, I guess.”

“So, the two hours and fifteen minutes you were gone running leave plenty of time for you to get to Ms. Stanford’s, rape and murder her, and get back to your apartment?”

“Objection!” I shouted.

“Withdrawn,” Drew conceded.

“Mr. Delaney, did you know the surveillance cameras in Ms. Stanford’s building weren’t working?”

“Yes, Cecilia and I had already complained about it to management twice.”

“Nothing further,” Drew said.

“Mr. Beck, do you have any redirect?” Judge Davidson asked.

“Just a few questions, Your Honor.”

“Mr. Delaney, did you know that Cecilia’s baby wasn’t yours?” Josh looked like he had been punched in the gut. This information has already been presented, Josh knew the truth, but it didn’t make it any easier.

“No. She didn’t mention that fact.” A new round of tears fell from his eyes.

“How would you have reacted if you had known?”

“How would you react? I would’ve been mad as hell. The woman I loved, my future wife, was pregnant with someone else’s baby … any man would be furious.”

“Mad enough to hurt her?” I asked. Josh was quiet for a few moments.

“No,” he whispered. “I could never have hurt her. I loved her. I loved her with everything I have. When I think about what happened to her, that someone did that to her, I get so mad, so mad at myself.”

“At yourself?”

“Yes!” he nearly shouted, tears streaming down his cheeks now. “I should have been there! I should have been there to protect her. My fiancé told me she was pregnant, and instead of celebrating with her, or at the very least staying with her like a man should do, I ran away. I was a scared, selfish little boy, and I ran away! If I had stayed, none of this would’ve happened. Cecilia would be here, we’d have a baby now, we’d be a family.”

Josh’s head dropped, and his shoulders shook as he cried.

“Nothing further, Your Honor.”

“Does the defense rest its case?” Judge Davidson asked, his voice thick with emotion.

“Yes, Your Honor,” Olivia stood and answered. Her face was white and her voice shaky. I looked at her with concern, but she wouldn’t meet my eye.

“We’ll reconvene after lunch for closing arguments,” Judge Davidson said, even though it was barely 10:30. When the jury and judge had left the chambers, I turned to ask Olivia if she was all right, but she was already halfway out of the courtroom.

“She said she needed to use the bathroom,” Josh offered, but I didn’t buy it. Something was off with her, and I needed to find out what.