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“Molly’s her name.”
“Okay, Molly. You were with Molly. Now, what time was it when you heard the gunshot?”
“Eight o’clock.”
“You know that how?”
“I looked at the clock. Molly hadn’t napped that afternoon and she needed to go down. On days like that, you have an eye on the clock.”
“Now, when did you look at the clock, in relation to when you heard the gunshot?”
Lambertsen thought a minute, pursing lips lipsticked a light, feminine pink. “I looked at the clock right after I heard the gunshot.”
Be
“No, it’s a small, round one on the oven front. You know those?”
“Sure. So you have to read it, like the old days?”
The witness smiled. “Yes.”
“Mrs. Lambertsen, what did you do after you looked at the clock?”
“I went to the door, opened it, and looked out.”
“Did you? Let’s go back over the exact sequence of events.” Be
“I was in the kitchen.”
“What were you doing in the kitchen?”
“Rocking the baby, trying to get her to settle down.”
Be
“The kitchen’s in the front of the house, to the left of the front door.”
“How large is the kitchen?”
“It’s long and ski
“So, Mrs. Lambertsen, you walked through the kitchen, about twenty feet, to get to the front door?”
“Yes.”
“I see.” Be
“God, no. I put her down.”
“Where did you put Molly?”
“In her baby chair, on the counter. One of those portable chairs, with a handle. It was in the kitchen.”
“So you put Molly in her chair. Did you strap her in?”
“Yes. I always do. She’s wriggly. Wiry.”
“Did she sit in the seat willingly?”
Mrs. Lambertsen burst into light laughter. “Molly doesn’t do anything willingly. She has a mind of her own.” The jurors laughed, too, relishing the baby talk, which Be
“Did Molly cry in the chair?”
“A little, and kicked. Fussed, you know. Molly was kind of clingy at that age. She didn’t like it when I left the room. She’d kick and cry.”
“So you had to settle Molly before you went to the door, right?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do to settle her?”
“Gave her a pacifier, then patted her. Smoothed her hair, she likes that.”
“Did she settle down then?”
“No. I think I gave her a toy, too. Her favorite toy then was Rubber Duckie. I gave her Duckie.”
Judge Guthrie smiled benevolently from the dais. “You’re a very good mother, Mrs. Lambertsen,” he said, and the witness blushed at the praise.
“I agree,” Be
“Yes.”
“Where was the rubber duck, by the way?”
“It was in a plastic bin on the kitchen counter.”
“Were there other toys in the bin, Mrs. Lambertsen?”
“There are toys everywhere in my house. Fisher-Price is our decorator,” she answered, and the jurors laughed again.
“So you had to root through the toy bin to find the rubber duck, is that right?”
“Right.”
“How long would you say it took for you to do all those things that good mothers do-that is, put Molly in her chair, fasten the strap, find her a toy duck, give it to her with a pacifier, and pat her and smooth her hair?”
“How much time? Uh, maybe five minutes, maybe more.”
Be
“Maybe, but more like seven.”
Be
“Uh, yes.” Mrs. Lambertsen glanced regretfully at Hilliard, taking notes at counsel table.
“Mrs. Lambertsen, after you got Molly the duck, did you walk or run the twenty feet to the door?”
“Walked.”
Be
“No.”
“So you had to leave Molly out of sight, on the counter, while you went to the door?”
“Yes.”
“And she was kicking and crying, in one of those baby chairs?”
“Yes.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Be
“Objection!” Hilliard shouted, his voice booming from the prosecution table. The sound had the intended effect of interrupting the good vibes Be
Be
Judge Guthrie leaned back in his chair, touching his teeth with the stem of his reading glasses. “Overruled.”
Be
“Yes, I was. I should have put the chair on the floor, but I didn’t. I was so distracted by the gunshot and all. It was like two things happening at once.” The witness paused, thinking. “Now that I think of it, I ran back to check when I was halfway there.”
Be
“Yes, probably.”
“So would it be fair to add three to five minutes to the time you saw Alice Co
“Yes.”
“Would that bring us to a total of ten to twelve minutes between the time you heard the gunshot and the time you reached the door and saw Alice Co
“Well, yes.”
Be
“Objection, Your Honor.” Hilliard half rose from his chair. “This line of questioning is totally irrelevant and calls for the witness to speculate.”
“Your Honor,” Be
Judge Guthrie frowned. “Mrs. Lambertsen, please don’t speculate or guess at your answers. Feel free to say so if you don’t remember.”