Chapter 33
Thirty-Three
Caroline
NOW
Ihadn’t planned to come. What good would it do, I asked myself, to hear the details of what he’s accused of doing to that poor girl?
But with the kids in school and preschool this morning, I found myself showering and dressing for court.
I don’t want Ryder or anyone else to know I’m there, so I wait outside until I’m certain everyone else has arrived.
As I stare up at the stone stairs, I question my sanity once again in coming here.
No one would blame me for staying away.
“Caroline?”
“Oh, hi, Houston.” Is it weird to think how handsome he is in his uniform when I’m here to watch my husband face rape charges? I’m getting weirder by the day lately.
“I thought that was you.”
“It’s me, asking myself what the hell I’m doing here.”
“Anyone in your situation would be curious.”
“Really? You think so? Because it feels somewhat masochistic to me.”
“It might help you to get closure, whatever that is.”
“So you don’t think I’m insane for subjecting myself to this?”
“Not at all. Would it help to sit with a friend?”
I look up at him with gratitude. “It would help very much. I was also wondering what I was thinking coming here alone.”
“I’ll be happy to sit with you and be there for you as long as you need a friend.”
“That’s very kind of you, Houston.”
“It’s no problem at all. Shall we?”
“I guess we shall.”
We walk up the stairs together, and he holds the door for me, guides me through security, and directs me to the proper courtroom. He makes everything about this easier than it would’ve been if I hadn’t run into him outside.
We take seats in the back row, just as the prosecutor calls Denise to the stand.
As I listen to her story, I try to reconcile her recitation of the events with the man I thought I’d known so deeply over the last decade. The Ryder she describes bears no resemblance whatsoever to my husband.
I believe every word she says. I can hear the pain and agony in her voice as she relives the horror.
“After the assault, what did you do?” the prosecutor asks.
“I went home and showered. I was shocked, traumatized and injured.”
“Can you please describe your injuries?”
I want to cover my ears, so I won’t hear her recitation of the many ways the attack left her in pain. “I…I’d never done that before, so it hurt for a long time afterward.”
“Was there anything else that took place as a result of the attack by the defendant?”
“Yes, I became pregnant.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper. Just when I thought this couldn’t get worse…
Houston reaches for my freezing cold hand and puts it between his warm ones.
“What happened to the baby?”
“I miscarried right before the baby’s DNA could’ve tied him or her to the defendant.”
The courtroom erupts into chaos that’s contained by the judge banging her gavel and calling for order. “Outbursts of any kind will not be tolerated in my courtroom.”
In the quiet that follows her directive, I hear the distinctive sound of someone weeping.
I lean in for a closer look and see that Ryder has his head in his hands as he listens to Denise’s testimony. Is he weeping at hearing more about how she suffered?
“Mrs. Messner, can you please describe your overall state of mind in the months that followed the assault?”
“I was as low as I’ve ever been. Not only because I’d been assaulted and suffered through a painful miscarriage, but also because his brother and friends rallied around him afterward, claiming I’d slept with all of them, which was a lie.”
“Have those men admitted to lying?”
“They have.”
That causes another gasp and more intense whispering that has the judge banging her gavel again.
“Thank you, Mrs. Messner. Nothing further.” As she leaves the witness stand, Josh says, “The state calls Ramona Travers Silvia to the stand.”
Ramona is sworn in and seated.
“Mrs. Silvia, can you please tell us where you were on the night in question?”
“I was at the party held by Houston Rafferty at his parents’ home in Land’s End.”
“While you were at the party did you see Ryder Elliott?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Did you see Denise Sutton Messner, who was known then as Neisy?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Did you at any time see them together?”
“I saw them leave the party together and walk into the woods.”
“Did you report this to the authorities after Mr. Elliott was accused of sexually assaulting Ms. Sutton?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Why didn’t you report it?”
“Because I was afraid the other kids would do the same thing to me that they’d done to her when she reported it.”
“Why did you choose to come forward now?”
“Because I heard someone else had witnessed the assault itself and had come forward. I wanted to do the same. I’ve always regretted that I hadn’t done it before.”
“Had you ever known of Ryder Elliott to be inappropriate with girls or women?”
“Objection! Anything she heard from someone else is hearsay and is inadmissible.”
“Overruled. I want to hear her answer.”
“Mrs. Silvia?”
Ramona licks her lips before she speaks. “Once in the library when we were juniors, he backed me into a corner and told me he thought I was pretty. He got very close. I was afraid he was going to try something more, but thankfully someone else came along, and he backed off.”
A gasp goes through the courtroom as people start to whisper.
“Did you report the incident to anyone?”
“No, I was afraid to. He was so popular, and I… well, I wasn’t.”
“Did you ever hear anyone else say he was aggressive or inappropriate with them?”
“Objection!”
“Overruled. Please answer the question, Mrs. Silvia.”
“A few people said things here or there, like he wasn’t as devoted to Louisa as he wanted everyone to believe, he was flirty and wasn’t afraid to touch them if he wanted to… That kind of thing.”
“Objection!”
“Nothing further. Thank you, Mrs. Silvia. You’re dismissed.”
The courtroom decends into chaos that has the judge repeatedly banging her gavel and demanding order in her courtroom.
I simply cannot believe what I’m hearing about the man I thought I knew so well.
I’d never known of Ryder to be inappropriate or out of line with any woman.
But I believe Ramona. What reason would she have to lie?
What reason would anyone have to testify under oath about something like that if it wasn’t true?
After Ramona is excused, Blaise Merrick is called to the stand.
She raises her right hand, which is supported by a splint, and swears to tell the truth.
“Ms. Merrick, would you please explain your obvious injuries to the court?”
“I was involved in a car accident on the Mount Hope Bridge earlier this week.”
“Was this accident intentionally caused by someone else?”
“I was hit from behind by truck, which forced me into oncoming traffic, where I was hit head on. I was later told the license plate of the truck that hit me was tied to Mr. David Elliott, the defendant’s father.”
Josh delivers several papers to the judge.
“I would ask the court to note that Mr. Elliott has been the subject of an intense manhunt that now includes the U.S. Marshals. He remains at large. When he’s arrested, he’ll be charged with two counts of attempted murder of Ms. Merrick as well as arson, after the cottage where she was staying was burned. ”
“So noted,” the judge says with a frown.
“Will you please tell the court what you saw on the night in question?”
The details are no less excruciating the second time I hear them.
“What did you do after Miss Sutton was assaulted?”
“I did all the wrong things. I was worried about myself when I should’ve been worried about Denise. I should have gone to her, offered help and told the police what I’d seen. I did none of those things because I was afraid everyone would hate me if I told the truth.”
“Why were you so afraid?”
“Everyone loved Ryder. He was a star in our class. I was afraid no one would believe me. And he was my brother’s closest friend, which made it that much harder to believe what I’d seen.
” Blaise glances at Arlo, who has his head down.
“I love my brother. I didn’t want everyone to hate me, so I stayed quiet, and that nearly killed me. ”
“How so?”
“I had so many health problems. Anxiety, depression, eating disorders. I was literally sick with guilt.”
“And you’d had none of these issues prior to witnessing the attack?”
“None of them. I withdrew from my life as a high school senior, and as soon as I was able to, I left for college out of state and never looked back. I’d been back to Rhode Island only once before I returned recently, and that was when my father died.”
“When you were growing up together in Hope, did you ever know of Ryder Elliott to be inappropriate or aggressive with girls or women?”
“Objection!”
“Overruled. Please answer the question, Ms. Merrick.”
“No, I’d never seen or heard of anything like that, which is why I was so shocked by what I saw him do to Denise. He’d been with Louisa for years.”
“Why did you decide to come forward now?”
“I heard Ryder was running for Congress, and I couldn’t live with this secret for another minute. I drove home and reported it the next day.”
“Ms. Merrick, did anyone else witness the attack on Ms. Sutton, that you know of?”
“I’m speaking only for myself.”
“Ms. Merrick,” the judge says, “you’re under oath. Please answer the question.”
“Ms. Merrick,” Josh says, “did anyone else witness the attack?”
I can tell Blaise wasn’t expecting them to push her on this point.
“Yes.”
“Who was that person?”
“Sienna Lawton Elliott.”
Once again, chaos erupts.
I’m shocked to my core to hear that Sienna, my sister-in-law and friend, knew all along that Ryder had done this and never told me.
“I think I’ve heard enough,” I whisper to Houston.
He gets up and gestures for me to go ahead of him out of the courtroom.
I’m surprised when he follows me.
“I’d ask if you’re all right…”