Page 108 of The First Gentleman

“Your Honor, State’s exhibit two A, already in evidence.” He clicks the controller and an image jurors saw earlier appears on the screen: a dirty blue bundle in which the skull is visible.

“Detective, is this what you saw then?”

“Yes, it is.”

“So what told you that the contents of the trunk were previously buried and recently unearthed?”

“There was dirt all over the bottom of the car’s trunk, the blue fabric, and the bones themselves. The dirt was moist and fresh, indicating that the exhumation had happened within a day or so.”

“And did you at some point discover a grave in the area?”

“We did. It was in a wooded area near the Reverend Bonus Weare memorial rock in Seabrook.”

“And what did you find there?”

“We found evidence of disturbed ground and excavated it.”

“And what were you searching for at that time?”

“We were looking for more bones. Another skeleton or skeletons or any further evidence connected to the bones we’d already found.”

“Did you find any weapons? A gun? A knife?”

“No, we did not.”

“And did you find any other items relevant to the case?”

“We did.”

“Can you describe them, please?”

My heart is thumping hard. I’ve heard nothing on the news or from Felicia about whether the bracelet I reburied was found.It must have been, right?

“We found several metatarsals—foot bones—which later proved to belong to the skeleton found in the Sentra.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes. We found a woman’s tennis bracelet.”

Mission accomplished.I give myself a little internal fist pump.Here we go.

Bastinelli introduces the item into evidence and puts a photo of it up on the screen. The red jewels gleam in the enlargement.

“And have you identified the owner of this bracelet?”

“From video evidence, we conclude that it belonged to Suzanne Bonanno.”

“Did you find anything else, Detective?”

“We did.”

I freeze in place.Oh, shit. Did I leave something behind?

“Can you describe it, please?”

“We found a man’s watch.”

Where did that come from?At least I know it wasn’t left by me or Garrett. It’s been years since either of us wore a watch as we used our phones to check the time.

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