Chapter 4

The next witness identified herself as Marie Beauchamp, a friend of Lana’s. Sendrhea found the pronunciation of the name fascinating. Beecham. That sure didn’t sound anything at all like it was written.And humans think our names are complicated, Fharezhan sent.

Marie took the stand, swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help her God. The truth, Sendrhea decided, was heading to the door, and it would leave in a few moments, to be replaced by lies. Marie would tell a story that would help her friend, and whatever god these humans believed in would be nowhere in sight to punish her.“Could you please tell us your full name,” Aaron Farrow said, rising to his feet. He stayed by his desk a moment longer before approaching the witness.

Farrow’s request puzzled her. What had Senha Beauchamp’s full name to do with giving testimony? He hadn’t asked Dr. Hallman’s full name.

“Marie Louise Danielle Beauchamp.”

“You’re pronouncing your name ‘Beecham.’”

“That’s the way my mother wants it. She and my father are divorced, and he’s French Canadian, and he insists the name should be pronounced the proper way.” She pronounced it as the French would pronounce it, made a face as if it had some distateful connotation.

“Mr. Farrow,” Kingsley said, “let’s get on with the questioning. If Miss Beauchamp wants her name to be pronounced a certain way, that’s the way we’ll pronounce it.”“Let’s get to the evening of April 22^nd, Miss Beauchamp. Can you tell the court what happened.”He forgot to add ‘In your own words,’ Fharezhan sent.

“I received a call about ... eight thirty, maybe a little later, and it was from Lana. She sounded really distraught so I asked her what happened, and she told me one of those furry aliens attacked her.One of those furry aliens. That sounded familiar.

“She wanted me to come and pick her up,” Marie continued. “I don’t have a car so I decided to walk over to the park, which isn’t too far from where I live. When I saw her...” She buried her face in her hands, sobbed like a lost child. “It was horrible.” She made it sound as if Lana was only an inch or two away from death.

“If it’s all right with the court,” Farrow said. “I don’t think we need to hear the details. They have already been adequately described by Dr. Hallman.”She’s not going to get away that easily, Sendrhea sent.Are we going to ask her about...?Yes.

“I called 911, and an ambulance showed up. They got there as quick as they could and took her to Westover General.”

“My next question concerns your personal observation of Miss Northwood. What was her mood when you first saw her in the park?”

Marie leaned forward. “What kind of question is that? What kind of mood do you think she was in? She just got scratched by an alien.”

“Bear with me, Miss Beauchamp. Was she crying ... angry...?

“You got it. She kept saying, ‘Why?’ She hadn’t done anything to the alien, so why did she get scratched?”

“Did you visit Miss Northwood at the hospital?”

“Objections, Your Honor,” Sendrhea said. “What happened at the hospital afterwards has no bearing on this case.”

“Your Honor,” Farrow said. “Miss Northwood’s demeanor both during the attack, as well as afterwards should be relevant to this case.”

“During this attack?” She stood. “Miss Beauchamp wasn’t there during the ... alleged attack, so how could she know what Miss Northwood’s demeanor was during this ... alleged attack.”

“I will overrule the objection,” Kingsley said. “Answer the question, Miss Beauchamp.”

“The question?”

“Did you visit Miss Northwood at the hospital?” Farrow asked.

“Yes. She was still angry.”

“Had she calmed down?”

“Somewhat.”

Sendrhea wanted to object to this line of questioning. What was Farrow doing, dragging it out in order to gain favor with the jury? Yes, Miss Northwood was angry, yes, she was crying those crocodile tears.

“I have no more questions for this witness,” Farrow said.

Sendrhea stood up, checked her notes. The ambulance bothered her, but she hadn’t had the foresight to have the ambulance drivers subpoenaed. They’d have given the court relevant testimony about Miss Northwood’s condition.What are you doing? Fharezhan asked.Thinking about the park. “Miss Beauchamp, how much do you know about Tereskàdians?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you know about my species? You’re a college student, aren’t you? Are you learning anything about us at college?”

“I’m not interested in aliens.”

“Your Honor,” Farrow said, remaining in his seat, “is Sendrhea going to ask an actual question.”“I will get to the questions in a moment, Your Honor. Miss Beauchamp, why are you lying?”