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Skye tried to keep her mouth from flying open. Bobby had mentioned that there was a possibility they might call her, but for the life of her, she couldn't think of a reason why they would. Ahhh, boy, she was really in for it now. Blair hated her much more than Carly- she could really do some damage to her case. Skye tried to avoid Blair's glance as she walked towards the witness stand. Blair gave her a smirk. Skye stopped herself from staying something--the last thing she needed was for Blair to ger a reaction out of her that the jury could misconstrue. Skye sighed. This was not going to be pretty.
"Could you please state your name for the record?"
"Blair Cramer Manning."
"And what is your relationship to the defendant?"
"We knew each other when she lived in Llanview. We even shared a house for a short time."
"Then, you and the defendant were friends?"
Blair snorted sarcastically. "Hardly."
"Would you care to explain why you were living together, then, if you were not friends?"
Blair's cheeks blushed. "I, uh...I was married to Max Holden at the time, and uh...he invited her to live with us."
Dara gave a phony smile. "Isn't it true that the defendant had an affair with your husband?"
"Yes," Blair replied curtly.
"Right under your nose? In your own home?"
"Yes. The slut that she is-"
"Objection!" shouted Bobby.
"Sustained!" the judge replied. "Ms Manning, please try to keep your answers civilized and to the point, without your lewd commentary!"
"Sorry, your honour...But, yes, it is true."
"During the time while you two shared residence, did the two of you ever get into any sort of physical confronation?"
"Oh, several." Blair said with a cold smile, staring at an expressionless Skye.
"Do you care to elaborate?"
"Well, she attacked me with pillows once."
She paused while some people in the crowd began to snicker.
"Order!" called the judge. The room quieted down.
"I'm serious," Blair continued. "She was whacking the hell out of me." She watched as Skye whispered something to Bobby.
"Any other altercations you can recall?" Dara pressed.
"Oh, yes. She once drugged the food I was eating so I'd conk out. Then while I was out of it, she hacked off all my hair with a pair of scissors."
"Hacked off?"
"Yes. It wasn't exactly the kind of cut you get from a four star salon; my hair was ruined. And those scissors were sharp, she could have slashed my eyes out."
"So it is your opinion that the defendant is the type of person to resort to violence as a means of revenge?"
"Objection, your honour-" Lindsay began.
Dara cut her off. "Your honour, the witness has obviously seen firsthand what the defendant is capable of. She's just said so herself."
"I'll allow it," said the judge.
"Yes, in my opinion, Skye Chandler Quartermaine is the type of person who uses physical means to get payback."
"Thank you, Ms. Manning. Nothing further."
Dara sat down, and Bobby went up to the witness stand. He was ready for this.
"Ms. Manning, you said she could have slashed my eyes out. But she didn't, did she?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Thank you. Now, in the alleged pillow fight that the two engaged in, did you fight back?"
"Well of course I did-"
"So you hit my client, more than once, presumably?"
"Yeah. Of course."
"And could you tell us who instigated this fight?"
Blair paused for a moment. "I don't recall."
"I see. Now, Ms. Manning, isn't it true that approximately two years ago, my client returned to her hotel room, only to find you cutting up her entire wardrobe with a pair of scissors?"
Blair winced. "Yes."
"And isn't it true that when my client tried to get you to stop, you cut her hand with that pair of scissors, injuring it and causing it to bleed profusely?"
"Yes."
"Interesting. Now, Ms. Manning, do you recall the shooting of your ex-husband, Max Holden?"
"Yes, of course," she snapped.
"Isn't it true that you were the one who shot him?"
"Objection, your honour, relevance?" Dara argued.
"There is a point to this, your honour, which you will soon see if you allow me to continue."
"I'll allow it."
"Yes, but I was acquitted."
"Okay. That's fine. But, who was originally arrested for the crime?"
"Skye."
"And why was that?"
Blair cleared her throat nervously. "Todd and I framed her for it."
"Oh, so you and Mr. Manning made it look as if my client shot Max Holden?"
"Yes, that's what I just said-"
"But my client never did shoot him, did she?"
"No."
"Even upon finding out that he had been lying to her constantly, was two-timing her, playing her for a fool? That didn't drive her to shoot him?"
"No."
"Would you say that my client was upset upon finding out about Mr. Holden's duplicity?"
"You'd have to ask her."
"But, to your knowledge, not even something as damning as finding out that the man you love has been making you out to be a laughingstock was enough to make my client resort to physical violence against Mr. Holden?"
"No, not to my knowledge."
"Thank you, Ms. Manning, it's been a pleasure."
That was the prosecution's last witness, so now it was the defense's turn. First, Lindsay called Tony Jones, the doctor that looked at Skye when she was brought to the hospital.
"Doctor Jones, you were the one who saw my client after she was brought in from the warehouse, correct?"
"Yes. That's correct," Tony said pleasantly.
"We've already had Officer Capelli's thoughts on my client's injuries, but you're more trained in the field, so could you please give your version of my client's condition?"
"Certainly. She had severe redness and contusion on the left side of her face, suggesting that she had been struck extremely hardly."
"Struck- as in slapped? Punched? Hit with an object?"
"From the shape of the contustions, it would be my observation that she was slapped, with much force."
"Anything else you noticed?"
"There was a scratch on her cheek, suggesting that she had been scraped by a long fingernail."
"I see. Now, were there any other injuries sustained besides the marks on her face?"
"She also had contusions and redness on her abdomen, suggesting that she was kicked. From the form of the contusions, the person who kicked Ms. Chandler Quartermaine was most likely wearing a shoe with a narrow, pointed toe, like a woman's boot."
"And was there any indication of when my client may have sustained these injuries?"
"Approximately 11:15 pm."
"Just around the time that a neighbour called upon hearing gunshots. Now, doctor, besides the physical injuries, you did some looking into her mental state, as well, correct?"
"Yes. When she woke up, she had no recollection of the past few hours. Her memory was just gone."
"And this is a common occurrence in someone who has just witnessed something traumatic, correct?"
"Yes, that is correct. When someone sees something that is incredibly painful, their brain tends to block it out, as a way of protecting themself."
"Thank you, Doctor Jones. Nothing further."
Dara approached him. "You said, the marks suggested that she had been scratched by a long fingernail, kicked with a woman's shoe. But can this be proven for certain?"
"Well, I suppose when you don't know exactly what happened, nothing can be said one hundred percent for certain."
"I see. Because your findings would indicate that another woman was present at the warehouse, and no one else was said to be present at the time of the shooting."
"Well, it is my professional opinion that a woman may have injured Ms. Chandler Quartermaine."
"But you can't be sure that Mr. Corinthos wasn't responsible for her bruises and scratches?"
"No."
"And as for her memory loss...couldn't it be as a result of the blow to the head, rather than the trauma of the meeting?"
"Well, it could have contributed to it, but I believe that-"
"I just asked, is it possible?"
Tony sighed. "Yes, it's possible."
"And doesn't memory loss sometimes occur as a way of protecting a person from guilt, Dr. Jones? From something they feel so guilty about that they just want to forget it?"
"Yes, that does happen as well."
"Such as, killing someone?"
"Objection!"
"Sustained."
"Thank you, Dr. Jones. That's all the questions I have for you today."
"I just have one more witness, your honour. I'd like to call my client, Skye Chandler Quartermaine, to the stand."
Skye took a deep breath, then headed to the stand. They had debated for hours whether or not to put her up there. If she did, they knew Dara would push her and push her until it looked like she really was crazy, maybe crazy enough to kill Sonny. But, if she didn't testify, it would not only suggest that she had something to hide, but it would quash any chance they had to explain the remarks to Carly, the phone message, and the notebook entry. They had decided that it would be in Skye's best interests for her to testify, as long as she kept her emotions reasonably in check.
First, Lindsay walked Skye through some easier questions, about Titans. Skye explained the origins of the company, the people involved, etc. Then Lindsay changed her line of questioning to the stress that she had been feeling. Skye hated having to explain to a courtroom of people about her nightmares and childhood memories, but she knew she had to. She explained about her dreams, and how she had written down some main ideas from them to try to make sense of it all. Whew, well at least that explained the eerie notebook entry.
Lindsay moved on to the events of the evening of August 25. Skye explained how she drove to Titans to get a file, and on the way had gotten the idea to propose a business deal to Sonny. Lindsay knew Dara had been planning to play the answering machine message during her cross-examination, so she felt it was best to get it explained ahead of time. Maybe then Dara wouldn't play it after all, because Skye had already explained what it meant. Skye next recalled her brief run-in with Carly, making it clear what she meant when she said Sonny had no longer been a problem.
"Okay," said Lindsay. "Now, if I may, can I ask you to recall the events that ensued once you arrived at the Corinthos-Morgan warehouse?"
Skye took a breath. "I arrived there around 10:15 or so. I pulled into the parking lot. There were two cars there. One was Sonny's; I could recognize it."
"And the other?"
"It was a blue sports car..an Alero."
"Did you recognize it?"
"No, I had never seen it before."
"OK. So what did you do next?"
"I went in the warehouse, and I remember being surprised that there were no bodyguards. Sonny usually had at least one or two by the front door, and a few others by his office."
"You know this because you've been there before?"
"Yes."
"All right. Go on."
"Okay, so I went down the hall to Sonny's office. I heard voices, so I waited a moment."
"Voices, as in plural?"
"Yes, I could tell there were two people talking."
"Do you know what was being said?"
Skye shook her head. "I may have at the time, but right now, it's a jumble. I can't remember what they were saying, but I know there was a conversation going on."
"And you can state with certainty that there were two people speaking in his office when you arrived there?"
"Yes, I'm positive."
"And then what happened, Ms. Chandler Quartermaine?"
Skye bit her lip. "I...I can't remember anything after that. I'm sorry."
"You don't have any recolletion at all from the time you were outside the door until the time you woke up at the hospital early the next morning?"
Skye sat up straighter. "Actually, I do have one short piece of memory. I got a flash the other day, and I could tell it was a memory of the night Sonny was killed."
"Could you share it with us, please?"
"I could tell I was lying on the ground...I remembered looking up, and seeing Connie Peterson standing in the doorway."
There was a gasp in the crowd. Skye looked up, peering out at the onlookers. She was curious who had let out that noise of surprise. She looked past Sonny's entourage. There were several people she didn't recognize, probably just curious citizens hoping to look in on a juicy case; a woman with frizzy gray hair, a balding man with a curly mustache, a girl with messy hair tumbling over her face, two young men with blond spiky hair, twins perhaps.
"Could you explain your relationship to Connie Peterson?" asked Lindsay.
Skye told the jury that Connie was the girl they had hired to answer phones and do odd jobs at the office. Nice girl, kind of quirky.
"Is it true that near the beginning of her tenure at Titans, young Miss Peterson gave you a new purse as a gift?"
"That's right. She had spilled coffee on my old one, and gave me the new one as a peace offering, so she said."
"And isn't it true that upon your arrest, a search of your personal effects resulted in the discovery of a listening device planted in one of the inside pockets of the purse Miss Peterson gave you?"
"Yes. That's what I was told."
"Is it possible that someone was sping on you by means of this bug?"
"I think so, definitely." Skye explained how Titans had been losing all of their business deals recently.
"So it could also be possible that someone is framing you for this murder?"
"Objection, your honour, speculation!" bellowed Dara.
"I am going to allow this."
"Yes, I would definitely say that it is possible."
"Thank you, Ms. Chandler Quartermaine. That's all for today."
Dara was furious, the judge had been knocking down all of her objections. She walked towards the witness stand with fire in her eyes.
"Miss Chandler Quartermaine, you hated Sonny Corinthos, correct?"
"Well, he wasn't my favourite person."
"You two were business rivals, would that be a more accurate term?"
"Yes."
"He has insulted you publicly on many occasions, correct?"
"Maybe one or two."
"He is also enemies with your boyfriend, Jasper Jacks, and your brother, AJ Quartermaine, isn't that right?"
"I'd say they're more rivals than enemies, Ms. Jensen. This isn't a Batman movie."
"Oh, well pardon my choice of words," Dara shot back sarcastically. "Well, isn't it also true that those deals Titans lost ended up being won by Sonny Corinthos's new business venture, MC Inc.?"
"Yes."
"So Sonny was getting the best of you? And you didn't like that one bit, did you?"
"It wasn't exactly making me happy, no."
"Why the ambiguous choice of words to Mrs Corinthos when you ran into her at Titans?"
"I don't know...I guess I just didn't feel like explaining my business proposal in detail. I was in a hurry."
"In a hurry to kill Mr. Corinthos?"
"Objection!"
"Sustained! Strike that from the record."
"Why did you go into the warehouse when you noticed there were no bodyguards present? Didn't you feel unsafe?"
"At least from what he says, Sonny didn't hurt women. I had no reason to be afraid of him."
"Miss Chandler Quartermaine, did you kill Sonny Corinthos?"
"I can't say anything for sure. I've already explained that I don't have any recollection of our meeting-"
"But you do have a memory of Connie Peterson being present?"
"Yes."
"Kind of convenient that you can remember someone else being at the scene of the crime, but you can't remember the murder itself, isn't it?"
"I didn't pick what to remember-"
"Ms Chandler Quartermaine, is it possible that you may have killed Sonny Corinthos?"
"I don't know! But I do know that when I went there, killing him was the last thing on my mind-"
"But IS IT POSSIBLE?"
"I..I..." Skye's voice began to crack.
"Answer the question!" Dara bellowed. "Is it possible?"
"NO!" shouted a voice. "She didn't do it!"
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