“Excuse me, Miss Headley. . .did you say you thought you killed Edith Eugenia Phillips?” Wally approached the witness stand slowly, leaning slightly forward.

“Yes. . .yes, of course I did. Tony was my own true love, like my own son, and when he went to work for that place, that Serenity Haven, he got bewitched. He was hypnotized by that woman, that patient, and he told me he couldn’t see me anymore because she needed him too much. . .can you imagine?” She lowered her gaze from the ceiling fans to Wally’s face. Her dilated pupils made her eyeballs look like something out of a science fiction movie.

Wally looked at his panel of lawyers and the three paralegals seated right behind their table, all of whom were as startled as Wally. They had screened all the witnesses and had assured Wally, Alex and Mark of Margaret’s stability. He walked close enough for only his team to hear him speak. “Apparently, no one perceived this witness is addicted to a hallucinatory drug. Her pupils are like black holes. If I don’t handle this correctly, she could get this declared a mistrial. How did you miss her substance abuse?”

Not waiting for an answer, he wheeled around and approached the witness again. “Margaret, would you be kind enough to tell the court about your relationship with Tony Deluca?”

She didn’t answer right away, and just as he prepared to repeat his question, she inhaled deeply and began to speak, her eyes focused again up on the ceiling. “Tony was. . .Tony needed me. I knew when I met him at the office. . .”

“And what office was that, Miss Headley?” Wally prodded her gently.

“My office at the Department of Social and Health Services. DSHS. I am a social worker and Tony’s case was assigned to me. During our first interview, I was impressed with this young man. He and I. . .well, we hit it off right away, you might say.” She smiled at the memory.

“And how did you manage to get someone with his background accepted for consideration as an employee by a place such as Serenity Haven?”

Margaret ducked her head, suddenly contrite. “I. . .I made some. . .some minor alterations in his files. His childhood had been traumatic for him and his mother had done her best as a single mother, but when she died, Tony didn’t have anybody. So he made several bad choices, back then, but he swore he had changed. And I believed him, because I loved him and I know he was beginning to love me.”