That afternoon, Oliver called to tell me he had received Marlene's statement. He said it was clear, and honest, and exactly what we needed. He said it would help the judge understand what had happened on the night the two babies were born, and why Veronica's claim about Poppy made no sense. A woman who had given her own daughter for adoption, he said, could not then claim to be the mother of another woman's child. The statement would make that clear. I thanked him, and I went out into the garden, and I sat with Poppy while she finished her tower, and I felt, for the first time in days, that we were moving forward, one careful step at a time.
Chapter 26
— Three Witnesses
Oliver asked me to bring Rosalind, Elspeth, and Dolores to his office on the same afternoon, so that he could prepare them together for the hearing. He said it would be easier that way, because they could hear the same instructions, and ask the same questions, and leave knowing exactly what to expect. I called each of them in turn, and each of them said yes without hesitating, and that alone told me something about the kind of people they were.
We met in Oliver's office, the four of us sitting in a row of chairs while Oliver stood in front of us with his notebook in his hand. He began by thanking them, and he meant it. He said that witnesses were the heart of a case like this, because a judge could read forms and papers all day, but only people could tell a judge what had actually happened, in their own words, with their own memories. He said each of them had something different to offer, and that was why we needed all three of them. Rosalind knew about the night the two babies were born. Elspeth knew about the adoption, and about Maisie, and about Veronica's fixation. Dolores knew about the night Poppy's curls were cut, and about what Poppy had told her afterward.
He explained how a hearing worked, step by step, in plain language. He said they would each be called to the front of the courtroom, one at a time, and they would be asked to swear to tell the truth. Then he would ask them questions, and then Veronica's lawyer would ask them questions, and they should answer both sides in the same way, calmly and honestly, without guessing and without adding anything they did not know for certain. If they did not remember something, he said, they should say so. If they did not know something, they should say so. A simple I do not remember was better than a guess, and a simple I do not know was better than a story.
Rosalind listened with her arms folded, nodding now and then, and when Oliver asked if she had any questions, she said she had only one. She wanted to know if she would be allowed to look at Beau while she was speaking, because she had known Meredith, and she had known me, and she wanted to speak to someone she trusted rather than to a room full of strangers. Oliver smiled and said yes, she could look at whoever helped her speak clearly, as long as she answered the questions she was asked. Rosalind nodded, satisfied, and she sat back in her chair, looking steadier already.
Elspeth asked about Maisie. She wanted to know if Maisie would have to come to court, or if anyone would ask Maisie questions, and Oliver shook his head at once. No, he said. Maisie was six, and she would not be called to testify, and she would not be brought into the courtroom. Elspeth's testimony would be about what she knew as an adult, about the adoption and about what Veronica had said and done, and that would be enough. Elspeth closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, she looked relieved. She had been carrying that worry with her, and now she could set it down.
Dolores asked the quietest question of all. She wanted to know if she would have to repeat, word for word, what Poppy had told her on the night her curls were cut. Oliver said yes, as best as she could remember, because Poppy's own words mattered, and Dolores was the person Poppy had trusted enough to tell. Dolores nodded slowly, and she folded her hands in her lap, and she said she remembered every word, because some things a person did not forget. She remembered Poppy's small voice, and the way she had clung to her, and the words about her curls being ugly and no one loving a girl with messy hair. She said she would tell the court exactly that, and nothing more, and nothing less.
When Oliver had finished, he looked at the three of them, and then at me, and he said something I have carried with me ever since. He said that a case was not won by one person being clever, but by three people telling the truth, simply and together, until the truth was too clear to ignore. Rosalind knew one part of it. Elspeth knew another part. Dolores knew a third. Put together, they made a whole picture, and that picture was the truth about Veronica, about the night the babies were born, and about what had happened to Poppy. He thanked them again, and we all stood up, and we shook hands, and we walked out of his office into the afternoon sun, feeling more ready than we had felt in weeks.