Chapter 29
LIZA
Gasps rippled through the courtroom. I stood there, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears, unable to believe I had just interrupted a custody hearing by shouting that a piece of evidence was fake.
What had I done?
But I couldn’t just sit there and let it happen.
I saw Darek’s shoulders stiffen as that asshole lawyer declared him unfit, and then when that judge looked at him, I saw him cave in.
I couldn’t see his face, but I didn’t have to.
I felt it in my very bones. It was like we shared the same heart. I felt his pain.
And I knew for an absolute fact that picture was fake. It wasn’t just a feeling. It wasn’t because Darek told me. I knew. And I could not stay quiet.
“Miss, sit down,” the judge ordered.
“No! That picture is fake!”
Darek slowly turned to look at me. Hell, everyone was looking at me, but I stared directly at the judge. I challenged her, begged her to let me prove my statement.
Then there was a low hum. I realized people around me were whispering. Sasha and her lawyer had their heads together as they whispered.
Oh shit.
What had I just done?
The judge’s gavel came down with a sharp crack that made me jump. “Order! I will have order in this courtroom!”
Everyone fell silent, and I became acutely aware that every single person in the room was still staring at me.
The judge, the lawyers, the court reporter, the handful of observers in the gallery.
And Darek, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and something that might have been hope.
And also maybe a little irritation. His whole life was hanging by a thread and my outburst might have just been the tiny little weight that snapped it clean.
Judge Morrison fixed me with a look that could have frozen the ocean. “Sit down, ma’am.”
“But I’m a whale scientist,” I blurted out, then immediately wanted to die. That was what I led with? That I was a whale scientist?
The judge’s expression shifted from stern to confusion. “That’s… interesting. But I don’t see how that’s relevant to today’s proceeding. One more outburst and I’ll have you removed from my courtroom, miss, whale scientist or not.”
“I’m sorry, your honor. I apologize.” I sat down quickly, my face burning with embarrassment.
Darek’s attorneys looked at me like I had lost my mind.
Sasha’s lawyer looked smug, probably thinking I had just tanked Darek’s credibility.
And Darek was still staring at me with that expression I couldn’t quite read.
I leaned over and put my mouth close to his ear. “The picture is totally fake. Put me on the stand. I swear, I know. Not a feeling. I know.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ll explain, but you need to trust me. The picture has been altered. I can prove it.”
Before Darek could respond, Aaron stood up. “Your honor, may I request a brief recess to confer with my client?”
Judge Morrison looked annoyed but nodded. “Fine. Fifteen minutes. But no more funny business, Mr. Brennan. When we reconvene, I expect this proceeding to continue in an orderly fashion.”
That last bit was said directly to me. I grimaced and offered an apologetic look. I was always the good student. I never made a fuss in class. It was not my nature to make a spectacle of myself.
“Of course, your honor.”
“Court is in recess.” The gavel came down again, and Judge Morrison stood and disappeared through a door behind the bench, presumably to her chambers to have snacks or coffee or whatever judges did during recesses.
The moment she was gone, Aaron scowled at me. “What the hell was that?”
I glanced over and noticed Sasha, Grant, and their attorney had left the courtroom.
“I can explain. Look at the picture.” I rushed to the monitor where the image was still displayed, Darek and his lawyers following me. “Look at the background. Way out in the water. Do you see those shapes?”
They all squinted at the grainy image.
“Those dark spots?” Sarah asked.
“Yes! Those are humpback whales spouting. That’s when they blow water out their blowholes after surfacing. See the mist pattern? That’s distinctive to humpbacks.”
I looked around at them expectantly. Eh? Eh? Was anyone getting this? I expected there to be fireworks. Applause. Lightbulbs going off above their heads. I cracked the case. It was the big moment you always saw on those legal shows.
I did it.
Unfortunately, there were no fireworks or lightbulbs and there was definitely no applause. They all stared at me blankly.
“Yes, gorgeous,” Darek said gently, like he was trying to humor someone who’d clearly lost their mind. “I know you love whales. But maybe now’s not the time.”
“No, you fools!” I pointed at the whales more emphatically. “Daisie’s birthday is at the end of February, right?”
“February twenty-fourth,” Darek confirmed, still looking confused.
“Those whales would still be in the Caribbean at that time!” I practically shouted.
“Humpback whales migrate south to breeding grounds in the Caribbean and don’t start their migration back north until late March at the earliest. They follow very predictable patterns based on water temperature and food availability.
There is no way—absolutely no way—that humpback whales would be in Maine waters in late February. ”
The confusion on their faces slowly transformed into understanding.
“Someone messed with this picture,” I continued. “They changed the background to make the water look rougher, more dangerous, and they didn’t notice they included whales that shouldn’t be there at that time of year.”
Darek grabbed my face and kissed me hard, right there in the courtroom. “My little nerd, you might have just saved me.”
“Does this actually work?” Aaron asked, his legal mind already spinning. “Can we use this?”
“Yes!” Brittany was already on her phone tapping away. “Whale migration patterns are well-documented, scientifically established. If Liza testifies as an expert witness, we might be able to establish it’s fake.”
“I’m not technically an expert yet,” I interrupted. “I’m still working on my doctorate.”
“You’re a PhD candidate at a major university studying this exact topic. That’s good enough for expert testimony.” Aaron was grinning now. “This is good. This is really good.”
“What do we do?” Darek asked.
“The judge will be back in five minutes,” Aaron said. “I’ll ask to put Liza on the stand. Once I do, Whitmore will have the right to cross-examine her. He’ll try to discredit her expertise, poke holes in her testimony. Are you comfortable with that?”
Darek looked at me. “Are you sure about this? About the whales?”
“I’m completely sure. This is literally what I’ve been studying for the last eight years of my life. Humpback whales are not in Maine in late February. Period.”
“Then do it,” he said to Aaron. “Put her on the stand.”
I was terrified I was going to screw up. What if their attorney asked me questions I couldn’t answer? Would that ruin my credibility? Would I screw everything up? Now I was the one who felt like throwing up.
The bailiff told everyone to sit down and a minute later we were ordered to stand.
Judge Morrison returned, looking slightly more patient after her recess. I hoped she had really good snacks and was in a better mood. “Mr. Brennan, are we ready to proceed?”
“Yes, your honor. The defense would like to call a witness to address the authenticity of the photograph submitted by the petitioner.”
“Objection, your honor.” Whitmore shot to his feet so fast his chair squeaked against the floor. “We had no knowledge of this witness. She’s not on the witness list provided during discovery.”
Aaron didn’t miss a beat. “Your honor, this is a new witness. We only just discovered the relevance of Dr. Jefferies’s testimony during the recess.”
“Dr. Jefferies?” Judge Morrison raised an eyebrow, looking at me. “I thought you were a whale scientist.”
My face burned. “I’m a PhD candidate, your honor. Not quite a doctor yet.”
“Ah yes, the whale scientist.” The judge’s tone was bone dry. I couldn’t tell if she was mocking me or just deeply unimpressed. “The one who interrupted my courtroom with an outburst about fake evidence.”
“I apologize again for that, your honor. I was—”
“Save it.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Mr. Whitmore, what’s your concern here?”
“Your honor, this is highly irregular. We haven’t had any opportunity to prepare for this witness or to conduct our own investigation into her credentials or her testimony. This is ambush tactics.”
“Ambush tactics?” Aaron scoffed. “Your honor, the petitioner submitted photographic evidence that we believe has been doctored. Ms. Jefferies has specialized knowledge that directly speaks to the authenticity of that photograph. We were never provided the original footage that photo was pulled from. We have a right to argue its authenticity.”
Judge Morrison looked back and forth between the two lawyers. Then she looked at me, studying me with those sharp eyes that seemed to see right through to my soul.
The judge tapped her fingers on the bench, considering. The silence stretched out so long I thought I might pass out from holding my breath.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” she finally said. “I’m going to allow this testimony, Mr. Whitmore. But I’m also going to give you additional time to cross-examine. And I warn you, Mr. Brennan, if this turns out to be a waste of my time, I won’t look kindly on it.”
“Understood, your honor.”
“And Ms. Jefferies?” The judge fixed me with a stern look. “No more outbursts. You will speak when spoken to, answer the questions asked of you, and conduct yourself with appropriate decorum. Is that clear?”
“Yes, your honor. Crystal clear.”
“Good. Bailiff, swear her in.”
I stood on shaking legs and made my way to the witness stand. The bailiff swore me in, and I sat down, acutely aware of everyone’s eyes on me. What the hell had I been thinking?
“Ms. Jefferies, can you please state your qualifications?”
“I’m a PhD candidate in marine biology at Columbia University. My dissertation focuses on humpback whale migration patterns along the eastern seaboard, specifically between the Caribbean breeding grounds and the Gulf of Maine feeding grounds.”
“And how long have you been studying whale migration?”
“Four years in my doctoral program, but I’ve been interested in marine mammal behavior since my undergraduate degree. That’s eight years total of focused study.”
“And in your expert opinion, what do you see in this photograph that leads you to believe it’s been altered in some way?”
I looked at the monitor with the image that had nearly destroyed Darek’s case. “I see humpback whales. Specifically, I see the distinctive blow patterns of at least three individuals surfacing in the background of this image.”
“And is there anything unusual about seeing humpback whales in Maine waters?” Aaron asked.
“Not in general, no. Maine is part of their summer feeding grounds. But according to Mr. Whitmore, this photo was taken on February twenty-fourth. At that time of year, humpback whales would still be in their winter breeding grounds in the Caribbean. They don’t begin their northward migration until late March or early April. ”
“And you’re certain about this?”
“Completely certain. Humpback whale migration is one of the most well-documented and predictable animal migrations in the world. There are decades of research supporting these patterns. The whales in this image could not be in Maine waters on the date this image was supposedly taken.”
Aaron nodded. “So what does that tell you about this photograph?”
“That either the date is wrong, or the image has been digitally altered.”
“Thank you, Ms. Jefferies. No further questions.”
I started to stand, but Judge Morrison stopped me. “Stay right there, Ms. Jefferies. Mr. Whitmore, your witness.”
Sasha’s lawyer stood. I braced myself for whatever he was about to throw at me. But before he could say anything, there was a commotion at the petitioner’s table.
Sasha had stood up and turned to face Grant, who was sitting in the row behind her.
And then she slapped him.
The crack of her palm against his cheek echoed through the courtroom. Everyone froze.
“What the hell did you do?” Sasha’s voice was shaking with rage. “Grant, what the hell did you do?”