Chapter 14 - The Deposition
The civil case began before the criminal proceedings were resolved.
David’s attorneys fought nearly every request.
Bank records.
Emails.
Property documents.
Insurance correspondence.
Eventually, the deposition date arrived.
Anna did not attend in person.
Rachel did.
David entered wearing the same confidence he had used in courtrooms for years.
That confidence lasted forty-three minutes.
Then Rachel asked about the Christmas dinner.
“Did your wife ask you to call 911?”
David adjusted his cuff.
“I don’t recall the exact words.”
Rachel played the recording.
Anna’s voice filled the room.
“Please, David.”
“I’m losing the baby.”
Then David’s voice.
“There will be no ambulance.”
Rachel paused the audio.
“Does that refresh your memory?”
David’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“Why did you refuse?”
“I was under stress.”
“Were you injured?”
“No.”
“Was your mother injured?”
“No.”
“Was your wife injured?”
“I didn’t know the extent.”
“She was bleeding.”
David looked toward his lawyer.
Rachel continued.
“Did you destroy her phone?”
“It fell.”
Another recording played.
A witness could be heard saying, “David, why did you throw her phone?”
David shifted.
Rachel asked about the life insurance.
He said it was normal financial planning.
She asked about the altered property forms.
He denied altering them.
Then Rachel produced an email.
David had written to an insurance representative three months earlier.
If anything happens during the pregnancy, I want to make sure the payout isn’t delayed by family interference.
David stared at the screen.
Rachel gave him time to read it.
His lawyer objected repeatedly.
The objections did not erase the words.
By the fourth hour, David stopped looking confident.
By the fifth, he looked tired.
By the sixth, angry.
Rachel finished with one question.
“Mr. Mercer, when did you first learn that Anna’s father was Chief Justice Jonathan Whitmore?”
“Christmas Eve.”
“Would you have behaved differently if you had known earlier?”
David looked directly at her.
“That question is insulting.”
Rachel did not blink.
“Answer it.”
David hesitated.
May you like
The hesitation lasted only three seconds.
It was enough.
