Chocolate Chip Cookie Conundrum (Murder in the Mix Book 32) by Unknown (the lemonade war series .TXT) 📕

“About how many times have you and Judge Baxter come to blows over this situation?”

“I don’t know.”

“Lost count?” the DA asks, amused. “More than a half a dozen times?”

Noah remains quiet for far too long. “I don’t remember.”

“It sounds as if Judge Baxter indeed wanted you out of the picture.”

Fiona jumps to her feet. “Motion to strike. The DA is leading the jury.”

“Sustained.” He nods to Mr. Mitchel. “Proceed.”

The DA plays the incriminating footage from the nanny cam once again.

“Detective Fox, can you identify this man for the jury?”

Noah hesitates a moment. “I can. It’s Everett.” His voice is low, solemn, and drenched in misery.

“I’m through with this witness, Your Honor.”

Fiona gets up and grills Noah without ceasing. She paints a picture of warring brothers and it frightens me because, to be honest, she only seems to be building the DA’s case for him.

“Detective Fox, while you were living with the Baxter family during the time your father was married to his mother, did you make a move on Everett’s longtime girlfriend, Cormack Featherby?”

I roll my eyes without meaning to. Cormack and Everett were hardly together for a long time.

“Yes,” Noah says. “Not only did I make my move, but it was an aggressive one. I’m not proud to say this, but I decided I wanted Cormack for myself and I made sure that happened.”

“I see. And did the two of you ever make amends?”

“No. Our parents divorced and we both went off to college. I didn’t see Everett until we met up years later in Honey Hollow.”

“And was there a woman between the two of you once again?”

“Yes, Lottie Lemon, the love of my life—and apparently his.”

A whisper circles around the courtroom.

Fiona nods. “Detective Fox, have you ever wished that Judge Baxter would exit the relationship he has with Ms. Lemon so that you would be free to make your move once again?”

Noah offers a mournful look my way. “Yes.”

“Do you believe Judge Baxter wishes you would stay away from Ms. Lemon once and for all?”

“I know he does.” Noah doesn’t hesitate with that one.

“Thank you. The defense is through with this witness, Your Honor.”

Fiona brings up an entire string of character witnesses. Three different judges and Everett’s poor secretary, too, an older woman by the name of Millicent Meyers. They all paint Everett as a saint. Heck, I even like him a little more after listening to their testimonies, and I liked him plenty before.

She calls Eliza, Everett’s mother, next and gets her to admit that Everett had a long history of sleepwalking. He partook of those nocturnal strolls long into his teen years, and that’s when Eliza got her mitts on the best psychiatrist money could buy—segue to her next witness, Dr. Goldberg himself.

Dr. Goldberg is in his eighties, at least, with a small gray wreath of hair, kind eyes, and a trusting smile.

The good doctor takes the stand and testifies to the fact people with severe tendencies to sleepwalk can carry over those traits into adulthood. Although it is rare, it’s almost always brought about by severe stress.

“Severe stress.” Fiona nods. “Say, like when your old stepbrother is trying to steal your pregnant wife from underneath you?”

Dr. Goldberg gives a definitive nod. “Precisely.”

“Your Honor”—Fiona looks up at Judge Macalister—“the defense rests.”

The DA doesn’t offer up a cross-examination and rests as well.

The judge offers the jurors a brief break before we head into closing arguments, and I bolt over and give Everett a firm embrace as Lyla Nell sleeps soundly between us.

“It’s over,” I whisper.

“It is.” He dots a kiss to Lyla Nell and me. “The bright spot in all of this is that I still get to go home at the end of the day.”

A shiver of fear runs through me. That means there could be a day that he doesn’t get to come home.

Noah slaps Everett on the shoulder. “I hope I didn’t hurt you, man.”

Everett shakes his head. “You did great. I appreciate it. If we got along any better, I wouldn’t have had a leg to stand on.”

“So you’re saying I should keep up the good work,” Noah teases. “I was too stubborn to give up anyway.”

After a few minutes, the jury files back in and the DA starts in on his closing arguments.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this case is self-explanatory. Is Judge Essex Everett Baxter a man of the law? Yes. But that doesn’t mean he’s not human, that he cannot commit a moral failure. He was threatened by the fact his old stepbrother might just take back what he deemed was rightfully his. He wanted Detective Noah Fox out of the picture. What better way to do that than plant a body in Detective Fox’s backyard? There was a mob war afoot. Detective Fox was on that taskforce. Judge Baxter knew that tampering with a mob boss’ niece was like holding a lit stick of dynamite. Detective Fox is the proud owner of a golden retriever, a dog known to be a digger. What better way to unearth the evidence he planted against him? If the sheriff’s department wouldn’t arrest and prosecute Detective Fox, Judge Baxter knew that the mob would rub him out. Either way, Judge Baxter had concocted the perfect plan to get rid of his nemesis and keep his hands clean, or so he thought. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you must find Judge Baxter guilty.”

Fiona is up next. She expounds on Everett’s impeccable record, on the fact he is an exemplary citizen, and known as a fair judge. She segues into the fact Noah and Everett had a long-standing beef. She starts in on that rehash of Cormack and Noah just as Lyla Nell wakes with a start and screams at the top of her sweet little lungs.

All eyes are on me, and without thinking, I lift my top, pull my bra up, and start nursing without hesitation as if I were