Page 59 of The Best Lawyer
Two days with no texts. Then the most damning one of all.
Katy: I can’t stand him. I don’t even want to look at his smug face. Mr. Charming. He’s got everybody fooled. I’d like to carvethat handsome smile right off of him. I can’t take it anymore. I don’t know what else I can do. Tom is so mean now. So cold. He acts like he hates me one second. Then he’s all over me. He gets rough. Not abusive. But … it’s like hate sex. Like he wants to punish me. Lord help me, Val, it’s a turn-on.
Val: Oh boy.
Katy: Then I feel so violated when it’s over. And I know that’s what he’s doing. He wants to humiliate me in bed. And the thing is, I know I have it coming. I know I deserve every bit of it for what I did. And if this is what it takes to get him back. To fix things. Then I have to endure it. But I swear. I want to kill him. I fantasize about it sometimes.
Val: Katy …
Katy: Don’t judge me. You don’t know what it’s like now. He’s so vile. He degrades me. I can’t even tell you what he makes me do. You want me to say it? Yes. Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe it was better with Joe. You’re right. I still love him. And I know I made my own bed here. But I feel it coming. I feel like I’m going to snap and you’ll see me on one of those true crime shows. I’ll be Lorena Bobbitt or whatever.
She texted a series of laughing and crazy face emojis. Then they both exchanged GIFs.
“Just so we’re clear,” Addison said, shutting off the large screen. “When was that last exchange? The Lorena Bobbitt bit?”
“Last November,” she answered.
“So, just weeks before Tom Loomis’s murder.”
“I guess so. Months. Weeks. Yes.”
“Did you believe Katy was serious?” Addison asked.
“It scared me, yes. That’s why I tried to play it off, sending those GIFs. Like I wanted to joke her out of it. But after that, I needed a break from Katy. I didn’t text her again. She tried to call me a few times, but I didn’t pick up. Then, I got a call from a mutual friend telling me Katy was arrested for killing Tom.”
She broke down and started sobbing. Quick gave her a moment. Then he said, “I have no further questions for this witness.”
“Can I go now?” Valerie said.
“You may not,” Judge Castor said. “Ms. Leary?”
I stepped to the lectern.
“Ms. Harbour,” I said. “How many times did you text Katy Loomis your own desire to kill your husband?”
“Objection!” Addison whipped around. He hadn’t even made it back to his chair.
“It’s fair game,” I said. “This witness is ascribing intent to my client’s words. I think it’s important to establish the context of their exchanges.”
“I’ll allow it,” Castor said.
I had screenshots of five exchanges between Katy and Valerie Harbour going back five years. Thankfully, Katy’s cell phone was cluttered.
One by one, I projected the screenshots for the jury. For each, I had Valerie read her own texts into the record. The first was sent four years ago.
Val: Keegan is driving me crazy. Is it wrong that I keep imagining driving the sharp end of a hammer into the back of his skull?
Katy: Can I watch? Joe’s been Captain Charming all week, thinking he’s the only one who ever does anything around here.
Then, three months later.
Val: If I have to pick up one more pair of underwear with skid marks on them, I swear I’m going to stuff them down Keegan’s throat and suffocate him.
Six months after that.
Val: Men. Can’t live without them. Can’t feed them into a wood chipper.
One year ago.
