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The Liar
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The Liar |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?” Lilly, her right hand placed firmly on the Bible the court clerk held for her spoke clearly. “I do.” It was the first lie she told today. She sat quietly waiting for the prosecutor to step forward to question her. She glanced at the jurors and saw herself reflected in their expressions. They saw her as a sweet grandmother (she was a grandmother). Someone who would be shocked if accused of lying to cover up a crime. Lilly lived in this town all her life. Everyone knew her, knew that she had taught school for 15 years until she hurt her back in a car accident and had to retire. Everyone knew she had been on the city council for two years. Everyone knew her. “Mrs. Cramer, can you tell the court where you were on the night of January 12, 1998?” Lilly folded her hands (she’d seen an actress do that in a movie and it made the actress look so innocent). “I had driven to the store to get some butter. I was making my grandson some cookies and needed butter.” She glanced at the jurors and imagined them all seeing her, dusted with flour in a warm kitchen rolling out sugar cookies for a toddler. “Right.” The prosecutor said. “Exactly what time was that?” “About eight o’clock. It was right after Matlock. I know because I never miss the show, even in the reruns, Andy Griffith just amazes me.” For a brief moment, Lilly thought she was laying it on too thick but caught the eye of an elderly woman who was nodding slightly. “Continue.” “Well, I rushed out to the store. I really never shop at that grocery but it’s the closest to my house so I went there.” “Please tell the jury what transpired as you entered the store.” “Well, I walked in and thought it was unusually quiet but since this isn’t my usual store, I guess I didn’t think anything much more about it. Most stores have the diary cases in the back so I just headed back there. I got to the diary case and heard a strange noise.” “Where was it coming from?” asked the prosecutor as he crossed in front of Lilly to stand next to her and between her and the jury. Lilly was a bit perturbed. The prosecutor drew the jury’s attention away from her and she was just getting ready for the big story. She took a hanky out of her purse, not a paper tissue, but a real old fashioned hanky and dabbed gently at her lips. “I heard a kind of a slam coming from the doors on my left. I turned to see the double doors to the back of the store moving back and forth. I didn’t think much of it until I heard a second sound. A kind of scream.” “Object your honor!” A large woman stood up from the defendant’s table. “On what grounds counselor?” the judge asked. “The witness seems unsure that it was a scream and therefore it cannot be stated clearly that in actuality it was.” Lilly turned to glare at the defendant’s lawyer. How dare that woman take away her moment of glory! She would really have to do something about that she decided. “Overruled.” The judge said. “Continue.” The prosecutor told Lilly. “I heard a scream. It was definitely a woman screaming and it sounded like it was cut off, like someone put a hand over a woman’s mouth.” “Why didn’t you leave?” “I don’t know. I guess I felt like someone needed help…why else would they scream? So I walked over to the doors and pushed them a little to see if there was someone in the back room.” “What did you see behind the doors Mrs. Cramer?” “I saw that young man over there…” The prosecutor intejected “let the record show the witness is pointing to the defendant”. “I say him holding a young woman by the hair, a gun pointed to her head.” Lilly looked around smugly. Everyone hung on her words now. She was the center of attention. “What did you do next?” “I turned around and ran to the front of the store, there are some pay phones there. And I dialed 911 and told the police to come to the store. Then I ran back to the back of the store and when I went into the back room, the young man was gone, but the girl was lying on the floor crying. I knelt down to comfort her.” “Now be very clear, Mrs. Cramer. Are you absolutely sure that the man you saw holding the store clerk by the hair is the man over there. The defendant, Jim Roush?” Lilly turned and gazed at the young man for several moments. Then she nodded her head. “Yes. It’s him, I’m sure of it.” The young man turned to his attorney and seemed agitated, mouthing the words ‘she’s lying’ “I didn’t do it!” Surely the jury saw him do it, as had Lilly. But she continued to smile. She was a very credible witness. “No further questions. Your witness.” The prosecutor walked back to his table and sat down. The defendant’s attorney rose and stood by her chair. “Do you wear glasses Mrs. Cramer?” the woman asked. “No. I have perfect 20/20 vision.” “How well lit was the back room of the store?” “Well, it wasn’t as bright as in here, but it was bright enough to see everything and everyone.” “My client insists that he was no where near the store that night, and in fact wasn’t arrested until after you picked him out of a book of photos, isn’t that correct?” “Yes. I had to go to the police station and look at some pictures and when I saw his, I knew it was the man in the store.” “Mrs. Cramer, your favorite show is Matlock, is it not, you enjoy the drama of finding criminals and bringing them to justice?” The prosecutor rose saying “I object your honor, this has no bearing on the case!” “Objection sustained. Jury will disregard the question.” The defense attorney looked at Lilly then suddenly sat down. “No more questions.” “The witness may step down.” The judge said. Lilly rose and left the witness box, walking in front of the jury and the prosecutor to the back of the room. She left through the double doors and walked out into the lobby of the courthouse. She sighed. She wished she could stay to see the rest of it, but had been told she was not allowed in the room after her testimony. She decided to go have lunch and return in case they ended quickly and a verdict came in today. After lunch, she returned to the courtroom to find that court was still in session. She sat down on a bench in the hallway. In her mind, Lilly thought she had given a great performance. She looked the part, she spoke the right words. “How did it go? Did they believe you?” The voice intruded on her reverie. Lilly looked up and saw the young man staring at her. She recognized him immediately. “What are you doing here?” She asked. “Came to give you this,” he said as he handed her an envelope. Lilly looked around to make sure they were alone (they were), then took the envelope and slipped it into her purse. “You should get out of her before someone sees you!” she hissed. She felt nervous, began to sweat and wished she hadn’t come back to the courthouse. “Ok. But I may have another job for you soon.” The young man stood up and smiled at her. His dark eyes glittered. “Not here, I can’t do it again here, not so soon!” “No. My cousin in Los Angeles. He’s up on a drug charge. We need a witness to help this other guy take the fall. I’ve got it all set up. Your identity is in the envelope along with the money for this one. See ya!” and he walked away. Lilly opened the envelope. Besides two pieces of paper, her temporary identity, she found 10 one hundred dollar bills. She smiled. It pays to lie sometimes. She decided to go home. This job was done. |
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| © Copyright 2001 Poet deVine - All Rights Reserved | |||
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
Sharon I liked this, but would have liked to have seen it more fleshed out...and just one nit-picking thing? Here: “I heard a scream. It was definitely a woman screaming and it sounded like it was cut off, like someone put a hand over a woman’s mouth.” I felt there should properly be an objection, as the witness was drawing a conclusion--for realism, by the way, the objection should be properly "sustained."  A good premise though, I think it has possibilities for an interesting short story, with potential for many of your famous "twists of irony." Hats off to ya, lady! |
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fractal007 Senior Member
since 2000-06-01
Posts 1958 |
An interesting piece of work. Though, I bet Lilly will get her just deserts one of these days, lol. "If history is to change, let it change. If the world is to be destroyed, so be it. If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh" |
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Allan Riverwood
since 2001-01-04
Posts 3502Winnipeg |
I felt this was a bit farfetched for my tastes, but you wrote it well. The story was interesting, the court setting good. Some of the description was good at setting the scene, but I would describe more of the setting... more about the facial expressions of everyone in the room. I felt it wasn't quite vivid enough overall. Hey, just my opinion. Cool story, PDV. ~Allan "I know it's nice to be known - It caresses your ego - but the society cost is terrible." |
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Solstice Son Member
since 2000-09-19
Posts 469 |
hee hee...I liked this....it could easily be continued so that it ends not the way it did....but with a more " Twilight Zone " finish...hee hee hee..I like it I like it I like it! Sol " The question shouldn't be...'Why are we here?' but rather 'ARE we here? " |
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Dusk Treader
Moderator
Senior Member
since 1999-06-18
Posts 1187St. Paul, MN |
Awesome, Sharon. Love this story, but I also had a few problems believing parts of it.. It's odd that a woman witness would so often be looking to the jury and I'm not sure about changing one's statements as she did about the scream.. Those little nit pickings aside, this is wonderfully written! I enjoyed it! "A hard, cold wisom is required for goodness to accomplish good. Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil" - Robert Heinlein |
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