PART 12:

Don’t let a defense attorney’s theatrics make you doubt what you know to be true.” “But what if I Aaron?” Evelyn gripped his arm, forcing him to look at her. I was there. I was the one who felt my heart slow to almost nothing. I was the one who spent hours in that gray space between life and death. I was the one who saw Marcus’s face when I woke up.

And let me tell you, that was not the face of an innocent man. That was panic. That was guilt. That was a man watching his murder plot fail in real time. Aaron absorbed this, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. You heard what you heard,” Evelyn continued. “You acted on it. You saved me.

Everything else is just a defense attorney doing his job. Don’t give him power over your truth.” The afternoon session began with Dr. Harrison Webb taking the stand. He looked like he’d aged 20 years and 3 weeks. His hands shook as he was sworn in, his voice barely audible as he confirmed his name and credentials. Rachel Kim approached gently.

She needed Webb’s testimony, but she also needed the jury to see his genuine remorse. Dr. Webb, how long were you the Cross family physician? 12 years. I treated both Marcus and Evelyn for routine medical issues, annual physicals, minor illnesses. And did there come a time when Marcus Cross asked you to prescribe something unusual for his wife? Webb swallowed hard. Yes.

about 6 weeks before before the funeral. He said Evelyn was having trouble sleeping due to stress. Asked me to prescribe a sedative, ambient 10 mg. Nothing unusual about that request. What happened next? 2 weeks later, he asked for something stronger. Said the ambient wasn’t working. I prescribed a beta blocker to help with anxiety and heart palpitations.

Again, not unusual for someone under high stress. Rachel walked to the evidence table, retrieving a small vial. Doctor, do you recognize this? Webb’s face crumpled. Yes, that’s the third compound, the one that that caused the death-like state. Who provided this compound to you? Marcus did. He brought it to my office 3 days before Evelyn’s collapse.

He said it was a supplement, something to help her sleep more deeply. He asked me to administer it during her next office visit. Did you question what was in it? I should have. Tears ran down Web’s weathered face. I should have tested it, researched it, refused to give her anything I didn’t fully understand. But Marcus was he was persuasive, and he implied that if I didn’t help him, certain past medical board complaints might resurface.

Caruso was on his feet. Objection. Hearsay and speculation about implied threats. Sustained. Judge Thornton said the jury will disregard the witness’s statement about implied threats. Rachel shifted tactics. Dr. Webb, did you administer this compound to Evelyn Cross? Yes. During her office visit on November 12th, I told her it was a vitamin injection. She trusted me.

His voice broke completely. She trusted me and I poisoned her. What effect did it have? Within 6 hours, according to Marcus, she collapsed at home. He called 911, but by the time paramedics arrived, her vitals were so low they were barely detectable. She was brought to the hospital and I was called in as her physician of record.

I examined her and Webb covered his face with his hands. I pronounced her dead. I signed the death certificate knowing she wasn’t dead. Knowing the compound would wear off in 48 to 50 hours, knowing Marcus planned to bury her before she woke up. The courtroom was absolutely silent. Several jurors were crying. “Why did you go along with this?” Rachel asked softly.

“Because I was a coward. Because I’d already administered the drug, and Marcus convinced me we were both in too deep. Because he said if I backed out, I’d go to prison anyway, and Evelyn would still die from the cumulative dose.” I don’t know if that was true, but I believed it. I wanted to believe it. When did you realize you couldn’t go through with it? At the funeral.

When I saw her in that casket. When I reached into my pocket and felt the counter agent I’d brought just in case. When Aaron Cole started shouting that she wasn’t dead and I had to choose, be a murderer or be a coward who tried to make things right. Webb looked directly at the jury. I chose wrong so many times before that moment.

But when it mattered most, when Aaron gave me a chance to save her instead of killing her, I took it. I administered the counter agent and she lived. Not because of me, despite me. But at least I didn’t compound my evil by letting her die. Rachel let that sit for a moment before continuing. Dr.

Web, you’ve pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in exchange for your testimony here today. Is everything you’ve told this jury the truth? Every word. I have nothing left to lose except my soul. And maybe maybe this helps me keep a piece of it. No further questions. Caruso’s cross-examination was brutal. He painted Webb as a desperate man facing malpractice suits, willing to say anything to reduce his sentence.

He questioned the timeline, the compound’s effects, whether Webb could really know what Marcus’ intentions were. But Webb didn’t waver. He admitted his guilt, his cowardice, his terrible choices, and that consistency, that self- flagagillating honesty made him credible despite everything. By the time court adjourned for the day, the prosecution’s case had landed its first major blow.

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