The Answer He Will Give

The transcript arrived with the corners turned up from the rain. Vale read Mara’s testimony in his cell before the lawyer came, standing beside the narrow table because sitting made the pages harder to hold steady.

The court reporter had caught the pauses. She had caught Mara saying she knew the chair could kill, and that she believed Vale would test it on himself. She had caught her saying Jonah asked to leave before Vale shut the door.

Vale read that last sentence again. Then he folded the transcript along its existing crease and set it beneath his hands.

When the lawyer arrived, Vale had put on his jacket. The cuffs had been returned from property that morning, and the sleeves still held the shape of the plastic bag. He buttoned them carefully.

“You’ve read it,” the lawyer said.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“She said what happened.”

The lawyer looked at the transcript. “You’re still deciding whether to testify.”

“I thought I had decided.”

“You told me you were considering it. That is different.”

The conference room had a glass wall. Beyond it, an officer moved a stack of folders from one shelf to another. Vale watched the folders pass from hand to hand.

His lawyer explained the practical limits. His recorded statement and his sworn testimony from the earlier hearing could be used. The jury would hear them whether Vale took the stand or not. If he testified, the prosecutor could ask about the novel, the mill, the chair, his reason for continuing after Jonah asked to leave. The defense could ask him to tell the story in his own sequence. The prosecutor could take it apart in theirs.

“They’ll use the word vanity,” Vale said.

“They may use several words.”

“I know the list.”

“Do you?” The lawyer leaned forward. “You’re accustomed to choosing which fact comes first. On the stand, they choose the question. You answer what they ask. You don’t correct the shape of it afterward in a new edition.”

Vale looked down at the crease in the transcript. “I heard Mara.”

“That isn’t a legal answer.”

“It’s the reason.”

The lawyer did not argue. He opened his folder and took out a yellow pad. “Then let’s see what answer you’re offering.”

He asked Vale what he had understood when he brought Jonah into the room. Vale gave the answer he had already given under oath: he knew the chair was dangerous. He knew the boy wanted to leave. He shut the door and continued.