“Yes.”

“Who did you see?”

Ashley looked across the room and pointed at Joshua Maxfield.

“I saw him, the defendant.”

“What was he doing?”

“He was walking by the river.”

“Was there anything unusual about the way he was walking?”

“No. I really didn’t think anything of it because he lived near the boathouse.”

“Was he walking toward or away from the boathouse?”

“Toward it.”

“Did anything unusual happen shortly after you saw the defendant?”

“Yes, I heard a woman scream. Then I heard another scream.”

“How close together were the screams?”

“Pretty close. I can’t say exactly.”

“Where did the screams come from?”

“The direction of the boathouse.”

“What did you do after you heard the screams?”

“I was scared. I froze after the first one. Then I thought someone might be hurt so I cut through the woods and ended up on the side of the boathouse.”

“Did you see anyone else on your way to the boathouse?”

“No.”

“What happened next?”

“I heard a woman say something.”

“What did she say?”

“I don’t know. I just heard the sound. It was muffled by the walls.”

“How do you know it was a woman?”

“It was high-pitched.”

“What did you do after you heard the sound?”

“I looked in the window of the boathouse.”

“What did you see?”

Ashley pointed at Maxfield. “I saw him and there were two women lying on the floor. And he was holding a knife. There was blood on it.” Ashley was finding it hard to breathe, but she forced herself to finish her testimony. “He saw me and he tried to kill me. He killed my mother and he ran after me and tried to kill me.”

“Who killed your mother, Ashley?” Delilah asked. “Who tried to kill you?”

“Him. Joshua Maxfield. He tried to kill me. He killed my mother.”

Ashley began to sob.

After a recess, Delilah had Ashley recount her recovery on the Academy grounds and the attack in the dormitory that followed Maxfield’s escape. Eric Swoboda’s cross-examination was mercifully short, and her testimony ended just before five o’clock. Judge Shimazu adjourned court for the day. Delilah, Jerry Philips, Larry Birch, and Tony Marx formed a protective circle around Ashley and helped her get through the crowd outside the courtroom. Delilah stopped in front of the elevators and faced the cameras and microphones. Her body shielded Ashley from the glare of the lights and the questions shouted at her by the reporters.

“Miss Spencer will not answer any questions. She is exhausted. These past five years have been a terrible ordeal for her and I ask you to respect her privacy. She has been very brave today. Let her have some peace.”

Several reporters shouted questions at Delilah. She answered them while Jerry and the detectives hustled Ashley into the elevator.

“You were fantastic,” Jerry said when the elevator doors closed.

“I don’t feel fantastic,” Ashley said.

“Well it’s over now and Swoboda didn’t lay a glove on you.”

“I didn’t see it as a boxing match, Jerry.”

“No, no. I meant that your testimony was basically unchallenged. It was everything Delilah could have hoped for. You’re going to be a major reason that Maxfield will be convicted. He couldn’t even look you in the eye. The jury saw that.”

Ashley felt no elation, only exhaustion, although there was also a feeling of peace because her part in the trial was over.

The elevator stopped and Jerry and the detectives brought Ashley to Delilah’s office. A few minutes later, Delilah joined them. There was a huge smile on her face.

“Come here, girlfriend,” she said as she wrapped Ashley in a warm embrace. After a moment, she stood back and held her witness at arm’s length.

“You can be mighty proud of yourself, young lady. You have single-handedly brought a terrible murderer to justice. I know we have a way to go but I was watching the faces of those twelve jurors and they are converted. It would take the intervention of the Almighty to work an acquittal for Joshua Maxfield, and he only has Eric Swoboda and Satan on his side.”

Ashley blushed at Delilah’s effusive praise.

“How you feelin’?” Delilah asked. “You feelin’ relieved?”

Ashley nodded.

“You’ll sleep good tonight, child, because you done good. You avenged your parents. You did them proud.”

“I’m so glad I don’t have to come to court anymore.”

Delilah’s smile disappeared. “I know you want to stay away and put this behind you, but I need you in court every day until the trial ends.”

Ashley looked stricken. Delilah looked right at her. When she spoke her tone was firm.

“Your parents need you in court to face down their killer. You represent Norman and Terri Spencer and Tanya Jones. It’s important that the jury see you every day. They have to know that you’re watching them and holding them to account.”

“All right.”

Delilah gave Ashley’s shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Your day of rest will come soon, but you have to play your part to make sure that Joshua Maxfield never has another peaceful day.”

Jerry couldn’t go to court with Ashley the next day because he had an appearance in Washington County in a divorce case. He offered to try to set over the case, but Ashley wouldn’t hear of it. When she walked into the courtroom, Miles Van Meter was already in his front-row seat.

“I didn’t get a chance to talk to you yesterday,” Miles said. “Your testimony was excellent. I was watching the jurors. They hung on every word. I hope Casey holds up as well as you did.”

“I’m sure she will. She’s a very strong woman.”

“I appreciate the time you’re spending with her. It’s helped her recovery tremendously.”

“She is my mother,” Ashley responded. Thinking of Casey as her mother was getting easier.

“The way she treated you, you don’t owe her anything. That’s what makes what you’re doing so great.”

“Getting to know Casey has helped me, too. It’s like I’m starting to build a family again.”

Miles was about to respond when the bailiff rapped the gavel and called the courtroom to order.

Delilah began the day by calling three members of Joshua Maxfield’s writing seminar. They told the jurors how upset Terri Spencer was during Maxfield’s reading of the excerpt from his serial-killer novel. Delilah’s next witness was Dean Van Meter’s secretary, who established that Terri had met with the dean on the day of her death. After the secretary, Delilah called a representative of the phone company to prove that the dean had phoned Ashley’s mother within an hour of the meeting at the Academy.

During the testimony, Ashley would glance at Joshua Maxfield when a witness made an important point. He never looked back. His shoulders were hunched and he stared at the tabletop. It appeared to Ashley that he had given up.

Delilah’s next witness was Dr. Sally Grace, the medical examiner. It took a good part of the morning for her to explain the cause of death for Tanya Jones and Ashley’s father and mother. Dr. Grace’s explanation was accompanied by graphic photos, which were passed to the members of the jury. Fortunately for Ashley, the spectators could not see the autopsy and crime-scene photographs. The testimony about her parents’ and her friend’s injuries was gruesome enough. Even though Delilah had warned her about what she would hear, it took all of Ashley’s self-control to stay in the courtroom.

After the lunch break, Delilah used Tony Marx to introduce evidence that had been gathered at the boathouse and Joshua Maxfield’s cabin. Then she called Detective Birch, who introduced the evidence that had been discovered at the Spencer home crime scene. After an hour of this, Delilah asked a question about another subject.