Chapter 21
Valerie Harbour had a nervous mannerism.
She kept her chin angled high and kept shaking her hair behind her shoulders as she took the stand.
She repeated the gesture half a dozen times while she was being sworn in.
She refused to look Katy’s way. She never looked at the jury or Addison Quick either.
She kept her gaze fixed on a point in the center of the wall in front of her.
“Ms. Harbour,” Quick began. “Can you explain to the jury how you know the defendant, Katy Loomis?”
“Um … we are … we were friends. Our daughters, that is, my daughter and her stepdaughter, became fast friends when they started kindergarten together. Lola and Emma were pretty inseparable all the way through grade school. My friendship with Katy grew from there.”
“How would you describe the nature of that friendship? In the sense of how close you were. How often did you communicate?”
“Oh, good lord,” she said. “Honestly, though it started with Lola and Emma, Katy and I got even closer. We started having coffee after dropping the girls off at school. Then my husband Keegan and her husband Joe hit it off. They’re both pretty outdoorsy.
They went on some fishing trips together.
It used to be an annual thing. But the four of us used to go on vacation together.
You know, it’s really hard to find couples’ friends.
Where the husbands get along as well as the wives do.
But that’s what it was like for us for a number of years. ”
“What kinds of things did you share?” Addison asked.
“Everything. At least, I thought so. I mean, we borrowed each other’s clothes if that tells you anything.
We talked about the girls. Worries and struggles they had.
We asked each other for advice about our husbands.
Katy was always somebody I felt I could tell anything to and she wouldn’t judge me.
Now, don’t get me wrong, we sure did judge other people.
There was no harm in it. We weren’t mean girls.
But we shared a similar sense of humor. I’d say for a long time, I considered Katy my ride or die. ”
Beside me, Katy leaned over and whispered in my ear. “We weren’t that close, for Pete’s sake. Valerie talked about other people to me behind their backs. Which means you know she was talking about me to them behind my back.”
I patted her arm gently to get her to settle. The last thing I needed was for Quick, Valerie, or the jury to overhear her remarks.
“You speak in the past tense,” Quick said. “Am I to understand that your relationship with Katy changed at some point?”
“Well, friendships evolve, you know? I’d say we were closest during those first ten years when our girls were younger.
By the time they were moving out of middle school, Emma and Lola had a falling out.
And it was nothing serious. Not to me anyway.
Just typical teenage girl stuff. Emma said something about Lola, or the other way around.
One got jealous of the other; I don’t know.
Anyway, I’m sure I didn’t handle it very well if you asked Katy.
But, of course, we each had to support our own girls. It just got awkward for a bit.”
“I see,” Quick said. “So how did your relationship change?”
“We didn’t hang out as couples so much anymore.
We didn’t vacation together. And part of that was just schedules.
I’ve got two younger sons after Lola. One’s involved in travel baseball, or was.
They’re all out of high school now. So we were never available.
But Katy and I always kept in touch by text.
She was one of those friends that even if we didn’t talk every day or went weeks or months without hanging out, we could pick right back up.
And actually, once the girls graduated and went their separate ways, Katy and I got closer again. ”
“In recent years, how often did you talk or see each other?”
Valerie did that thing again, tossing her hair over her shoulders. “We got together for lunch or coffee maybe once a month. We didn’t text every day, but certainly every week.”
“Did that ever stop?”
“Yes,” Valerie said sharply. “Katy went through some stuff. I don’t know what you’d call it.
Like a midlife crisis. I found out kind of by accident that she was cheating on Joe with Tom Loomis.
And look, it’s not my place to judge, but that made things really awkward for me because Joe and my Keegan were still friends.
Not as close as before, but it’s different with guys.
There’s no bull crap. When I told Keegan I saw Katy and Tom out together at this little coffee shop in Brooklyn …
and it was just by sheer bad luck. I was shopping with another friend and there they were at this little booth. Kissing.”
“Did you confront Katy about that?”
“Of course I did. She was embarrassed, but I’ll give her credit for being honest. You know, not try to cover it up or gaslight me.
Now, her business is her business. And you never know what’s going on inside a marriage, right?
But I always liked Joe and I thought he was good to her.
And you take a vow. I wouldn’t call myself super religious.
But I do abide by the Ten Commandments.”
“Okay. Let’s fast forward a bit,” Addison said. “Did you remain friends with Katy after her divorce from Joe Leary?”
“I did. Yes. It’s not that I condone what she did. But I can respect that her life is her life. Even though I might not make the same decisions, friendship shouldn’t be conditional like that.”
Big of you, I thought.
“You remained friends after Katy divorced Joe and married Tom Loomis?”
“Yes. But I’ll be honest. It got hard to stay that way. Katy just seemed bound and determined to destroy her own life.”
“In what way?”
“She was barely married to Tom before she started seeing Joe again. I tried to talk her out of divorcing Joe. I felt sure she’d end up regretting it. Joe’s a good man. He didn’t deserve how things ended between them.”
“Did you at some point become aware that Katy and Joe had begun seeing each other again?”
“Yes.”
“How did you become aware of this?”
“This time she told me. I’ll give her credit for that. She was upfront with me. Asking me for advice.”
“What did you tell her?”
Valerie sighed. “I told her she was making a huge mistake. It was bad enough that she cheated on one husband. Now she was cheating on the other one. Plus, I just didn’t like how she was jerking poor Joe around.
And I told her. It seemed like a hundred times.
She shouldn’t have married Tom. Not that soon.
But he was so attentive to her. He put her on this pedestal and it was new and exciting. That I understood.”
“Did you notice any changes in Katy’s behavior?”
“Not just her behavior. Her appearance. She went out and got a facelift and a boob job and …”
“Your Honor,” I said. “I’m sorry. None of this is relevant to the issues at hand.”
“I agree,” Castor said. “Let’s stick to the facts of the case. Not speculation about life choices.”
“Okay,” Quick said. “I’d like to draw your attention to some text exchanges that took place between you and Katy Loomis. Particularly starting around fall of last year. Do you recall the ones I mean?”
“Of course I do,” she said. “You want to know about how Katy wanted Tom dead.”
“Objection,” I said. “Calls for speculation and assuming facts not in evidence.”
“Sustained,” Judge Castor said. “Ms. Harbour, first, please respond to the question asked. Second, Mr. Quick is asking about text exchanges. Not your interpretation of the accused’s intent. Stick to the facts. The jury will disregard the witness’ last statement.”
“Sure,” she said. “Sorry.”
“Let’s do this,” Quick said. “Ms. Harbour, I’d like to show you State’s Exhibit 41. Do you recognize what this is?”
He handed Valerie a stack of papers. A printout of the text exchanges he would introduce into evidence.
Once he had, he directed her to read them into the record.
The jury would of course be able to comb over them at their leisure once they deliberated in the jury room.
As soon as they saw and heard them, the damage was done.
I could only do my best to impeach Valerie’s credibility in terms of her interpretation.
Katy: It’s all just gotten so complicated, Val.
Val: Girl, I know. But you can’t blame Tom for not trusting you.
Katy: I don’t. I know I’ve got to do my penance. But he’s not blameless either. He was going to dump me. I know it.
Val: You don’t know that. You were being paranoid. I told you that then. You know I love you. But you made your bed. You have to lie in it.
There was a three-day break between texts. Val sent a series of question marks that went unanswered. Finally, Katy responded.
Katy: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ghost you. I just had some thinking to do. Things are bad again. Tom’s not talking to me.
Val: I’m sorry.
Katy: It’s like he’s Jekyll and Hyde. One minute he’s all over me.
Saying he’s sorry for ignoring me for so long.
He even said he could understand why I went back to Joe.
Like he took responsibility for shutting me out.
He said he just wasn’t used to sharing his life with someone.
Maybe he wasn’t ready to get married as fast as we did.
And things are good. Better than good. He’s attentive.
He’s ALL OVER ME. Insatiable. It’s soooooo good.
Like romance-novel good. And then. He turns into the iceman again and won’t talk to me for a day.
Val: I know I’ve said this before, but maybe you need to go into counseling.
No response from Katy for a full day.
Katy: I can’t do this anymore. I just can’t. Tom is so mean. He called me the worst names. He called me a whore.
Val: Ugh.
Katy: He can just decimate me with one look. I love him. I feel like I’m almost obsessed with him. And he doesn’t see it. He doesn’t see ME. I think I went back to Joe just to make Tom face what he was doing to me.
Val: That’s not really fair to Joe, though.
Katy: I know. I don’t need you to tell me that. You don’t have to agree with my choices. But I need you to be my friend. Even when I do stupid things.
Val: Well, I’m not going to hide my opinion. I wouldn’t be a good friend if I did. And I don’t expect that of you either.
Two days with no texts. Then the most damning one of all.
Katy: I can’t stand him. I don’t even want to look at his smug face.
Mr. Charming. He’s got everybody fooled.
I’d like to carve that handsome smile right off of him.
I can’t take it anymore. I don’t know what else I can do.
Tom is so mean now. So cold. He acts like he hates me one second.
Then he’s all over me. He gets rough. Not abusive.
But … it’s like hate sex. Like he wants to punish me. Lord help me, Val, it’s a turn-on.
Val: Oh boy.
Katy: Then I feel so violated when it’s over.
And I know that’s what he’s doing. He wants to humiliate me in bed.
And the thing is, I know I have it coming.
I know I deserve every bit of it for what I did.
And if this is what it takes to get him back.
To fix things. Then I have to endure it.
But I swear. I want to kill him. I fantasize about it sometimes.
Val: Katy …
Katy: Don’t judge me. You don’t know what it’s like now.
He’s so vile. He degrades me. I can’t even tell you what he makes me do.
You want me to say it? Yes. Maybe I made a mistake.
Maybe it was better with Joe. You’re right.
I still love him. And I know I made my own bed here.
But I feel it coming. I feel like I’m going to snap and you’ll see me on one of those true crime shows. I’ll be Lorena Bobbitt or whatever.
She texted a series of laughing and crazy face emojis. Then they both exchanged GIFs.
“Just so we’re clear,” Addison said, shutting off the large screen. “When was that last exchange? The Lorena Bobbitt bit?”
“Last November,” she answered.
“So, just weeks before Tom Loomis’s murder.”
“I guess so. Months. Weeks. Yes.”
“Did you believe Katy was serious?” Addison asked.
“It scared me, yes. That’s why I tried to play it off, sending those GIFs.
Like I wanted to joke her out of it. But after that, I needed a break from Katy.
I didn’t text her again. She tried to call me a few times, but I didn’t pick up.
Then, I got a call from a mutual friend telling me Katy was arrested for killing Tom. ”
She broke down and started sobbing. Quick gave her a moment. Then he said, “I have no further questions for this witness.”
“Can I go now?” Valerie said.
“You may not,” Judge Castor said. “Ms. Leary?”
I stepped to the lectern.
“Ms. Harbour,” I said. “How many times did you text Katy Loomis your own desire to kill your husband?”
“Objection!” Addison whipped around. He hadn’t even made it back to his chair.
“It’s fair game,” I said. “This witness is ascribing intent to my client’s words. I think it’s important to establish the context of their exchanges.”
“I’ll allow it,” Castor said.
I had screenshots of five exchanges between Katy and Valerie Harbour going back five years. Thankfully, Katy’s cell phone was cluttered.
One by one, I projected the screenshots for the jury. For each, I had Valerie read her own texts into the record. The first was sent four years ago.
Val: Keegan is driving me crazy. Is it wrong that I keep imagining driving the sharp end of a hammer into the back of his skull?
Katy: Can I watch? Joe’s been Captain Charming all week, thinking he’s the only one who ever does anything around here.
Then, three months later.
Val: If I have to pick up one more pair of underwear with skid marks on them, I swear I’m going to stuff them down Keegan’s throat and suffocate him.
Six months after that.
Val: Men. Can’t live without them. Can’t feed them into a wood chipper.
One year ago.
Val: Breaking Bad. Season 4 finale. You wouldn’t happen to have any lilies of the valley growing in your backyard, would you? Asking for a friend.
Six months before Tom’s murder.
Val: Why did we get married again?
Katy: For the sex, probably. Oh, and sometimes they’re handy.
Val: LOL. Let’s just say I’d love to fluff Keegan’s pillow for him tonight. Over his face …
“You can’t be serious,” Valerie said. “This is not the same as what Katy was texting me. And guess what, Keegan is very much alive!”
“I have no further questions for this witness,” I said, turning my back on her.