Heartstone

“What happened then?”

“Billy drove too close and we bumped them. Then the other car bumped us back and we spun around. I screamed, but Billy got the car under control and we stopped.”

“How did Billy and Bobby feel about the other car making you spin out?”

“They were very mad. They said they should get them and they drove very fast in the direction the other car had went.”

“Did they find the other car?”

“Not at first. At first they went too far up Monroe and there was no sight of them. Then Bobby said he bet they were in the park and we drove back there.”

“What park is that?”

“Lookout Park. We drove around, but we couldn’t find them. Then I saw the car in the meadow.”

“Police officers have driven you to the meadow where the body of Richie Walters was found, have they not?”

“Yes.”

“And you were shown the car in which his body was found, were you not?”

“Yes.”

“Was the meadow where you saw the car the meadow where Richie Walters’s body was found?”

“Yes.”

“And was the car you saw Richie Walters’s car?”

“Yes.”

“What happened then?”

Esther took another sip from her glass of water. She could feel Bobby’s eyes on her and she felt her head turning toward the defense table. She had expected to see fear or anger in Bobby’s eyes. Instead, she saw nothing in them. It was as if he was looking past her at some scene she could not see.

“Billy drove the car onto the meadow and behind the other car and the car door on the driver’s side of the other…of Richie’s car opened and Richie got out.”

“Could you see that it was Richie?”

“I think it was. I couldn’t see real well, ’cause it was dark.”

“What happened then?”

“They were yelling and all of a sudden Billy hit the boy and Bobby crawled out of the back seat and ran around the car.”

“What did you do?”

“I got out to watch.”

“Were you frightened?”

“No. Not really. I thought they would just beat him up. I’d seen Billy do that and other fights before.”

“What happened then?”

Esther felt suddenly dizzy and nauseous.

“Mrs. Pegalosi, are you all right?” Judge Samuels asked.

“I’m just…If I could have some more water.”

“Would you like us to take a recess?” the judge asked. She shook her head. She didn’t know why, because she suddenly felt that she could not remain in the courtroom any longer. Yet she was equally afraid to move. She wished that Roy was there. If she could only see him…

The clerk handed her back her glass. She took a drink and sat back.

“I’m okay, now,” she heard herself say. It sounded like someone else’s voice.

“What happened after you got out of the car?”

“They hit him a few times and he fell down. Richie fell down. And they kept hitting him.”

“Did you see them hit Richie with any object?”

“I don’t know…remember if…I wasn’t paying attention, because I was looking at the girl in the car.”

“The girl?”

“The light was on in the car because the door hadn’t closed and you could see inside. And while they were fighting there wasn’t…It didn’t look like there was anyone else in the car. Then this girl sat up and Billy saw her and Billy and Bobby raced around the car and I walked over to where the boy was lying.”

“Did you look at the boy?”

She could feel the tears now and she could feel the pain in her throat when she tried to talk. She could not speak. She could only cry.

“Mrs. Pegalosi, I know this is difficult for you, but we must know. This jury must know. What did you see when you looked at that boy lying in the grass in that meadow on the evening of November 25, 1960.”

“He had no face,” she heard herself scream. “He had no face.”

They had to recess before she could go on. Mr. Heider and Roy sat with her in a small room next to the courtroom and Roy spoke to her in a soothing voice. She wanted to die. She told them she could never go back in there with all those people staring at her, after making such a fool of herself. They told her everything was all right and she cringed and folded up inside. In the end, she agreed to go on.

“Mrs. Pegalosi, after you saw Richie lying in the grass, what did you do?”

“I guess I ran away. Just kept ru

“And where did you end up?”

“At first, in a backyard. I ran into it and these dogs started barking and ran out at me. I ran out of the backyard and out onto the highway.”

“Which highway is this?”

“Monroe Boulevard.”

“What happened then?”

“I started walking and every time a car would come by I would jump in the bushes so they wouldn’t see me. Eventually I felt that I couldn’t walk all the way home and that I would have to take a ride. So, when I saw lights coming I got out of the bushes and walked out and a car stopped and it was them.”

“Who?”

“Billy and Bobby and the girl.”

“What girl?”

“Elaine Murray.”

“How do you know it was Elaine Murray?”

“Well, I knew her from school. She was very popular.”

“Tell us what you observed at that time.”

“Bobby was driving and Elaine was in the back with Billy. He had her by her arms and around her shoulders and she looked, I don’t know, dazed.”

“Did she say anything or try to get away?”

“No.”

“What happened to you?”

“They just dropped me by my house. In the street.”

“Did they say anything to you?”

“No. Just dropped me.”

“And did you see the Coolidges again after that?”

“Not much. They were in an accident shortly after and in the hospital and there was the vacations and my mother said I couldn’t hang around with that crowd no more, because I was drunk and sick when I came home.”

“Mrs. Pegalosi, did you lose anything on the evening of November 25, 1960?”

“Yes. My glasses, a lighter and a blue rat-tail comb.”

Heider handed Esther a plastic bag containing a pair of woman’s glasses, a blue rat-tail comb and a cigarette lighter.

“I hand you what have previously been marked as State’s Exhibits 35, 36 and 37 and I ask you if you recognize these items?”

“Yes. I lost these that night.”

“Now you were contacted by the police regarding these items shortly after the murder of Richie Walters, were you not?”

“Yes.”

“What did you tell the police about the glasses?”

“I told them I lost them three months before they came.”

“Why did you tell them that?”

“I believed it.”

“All right. Now, you have testified that you dated a Roger Hessey in 1960.”

“Yes.”

“And can you tell us about an occasion that occurred between you and Mr. Hessey shortly before the Walters murder in 1960.”

“Yes. We went to a movie and up to the meadow to make out. It was where everyone would go, you know. And I was mad because he was dating some other girl and I found out, so I wouldn’t kiss him and I ran out of the car and he caught me and slapped my glasses off my face.”

“What happened then?”

“Well, I got the glasses and he drove me home.”

“Did you have several meetings with Dr. Arthur Hollander during which you were hypnotized and, sometimes, put under the influence of sodium amytal?”

“Yes.”

“How many meetings were there?”

“Gee, I…Several. More than ten, I know.”

“Prior to these meetings did you recall what you have told us today?”

“No, I did not.”

“And today, when you related what happened on November 25, 1960, was that from your own independent memory?”

“Yes, it was.”

“No further questions.”

Mark checked over his notes from the tapes and transcript and made sure that the other documents that he would use during cross-examination were in order. They had dressed up Esther, so she looked like a secretary or a schoolteacher. Respectable. But nervous. Very nervous.