Free Confessions: The Private School Murders by James Patterson

before or after Matthew came home, and he took his weapon with him.
    “And what that means is that the real killer is alive and well, roaming the streets of New York City.
    “Matthew Angel is guilty of getting drunk.
    “But he’s not guilty of murder.”

20
    After Philippe’s opening,
I pulled my hands up into my sleeves and wiped at my cheeks. Phil was
on
. If he ran the rest of this case with the same passion he’d brought to that opening, he’d win, no question.
    Then the prosecutor called her first witness.
    The housekeeper answered the questions while looking straight into Matthew’s eyes, which was pretty damn brave. It also made it look like she didn’t feel guilty at all about her testimony—that she believed every word she was saying.
    So my heart sank to the floor when she said, “I believe Matthew killed Tamara.”
    Phil jumped up with an objection that was sustained,but the damage was done. The jury members were already shooting one another wide-eyed looks.
    Then Detective Ryan Hayes described Matthew’s defiance when he and Caputo had come to the Dakota to arrest him. He said that Matthew hadn’t cried. That he hadn’t asked questions. That he had seemed unaffected by Tamara’s death.
    Well, in my humble opinion, Matthew was being judged by people who didn’t know that he had been innocently taking Angel Pharmaceutical’s special emotion-killing drugs for years.
    Was it possible that the pills had not only numbed Matthew but had turned him into a cold-blooded killer? With the exception of Harry, everyone in the family had been labeled a sociopath at some time or other. If Matty hadn’t been taking those pills, he might have reacted normally. He might not even be on trial for murder right now if he’d had the simple, God-given ability to show grief.
    What had our parents
done
to us?
    When court was adjourned for the day, I left Hugo with Harry and ran up the aisle against the tide of spectators and reporters heading for the hall to join the media circus undoubtedly already waiting outside. I reached Matthew and grabbed his hand. He spun around even as a guard was coming to escort him out of the courtroom.
    “I just wanted to tell you we’re here,” I said.
    He looked into my swollen eyes and tried for a bolstering expression. “Everything is going to be okay, Tandy.”
    I nodded as if I believed him, but, friend, I knew he was wrong. I just didn’t know if he was lying to me or to himself. And then I heard shouting: “Matty, Matty!”
    Hugo had broken away from Harry and was running toward Matthew, but he never reached him. Before he could throw himself over the barrier and into our big brother’s arms, Matthew was dragged away by the guard.
    “Don’t worry, Hugo!” he shouted over his shoulder. “Hear me? I’ll be home soon.”
    Hugo’s chest heaved like he was about to start hyperventilating. All around us, people stared, and not in a kind or sympathetic way. I think the court artist was even starting to sketch us.
    “Come on, you guys,” Harry said, putting his arms around our shoulders. “Let’s get out of here.”
    Of course, the press was waiting for us in a huge jumble in the hallway.
    “Tandy! What did you think of the opening statements?”
    “Does it bother you that your brother didn’t seem to care that his girlfriend was brutally murdered?”
    “Why aren’t you kids in school?”
    Obviously, I ignored them, and smirked when I sawHugo shoot them his famous middle-finger salute right before Harry bundled us all into the elevator. When we reached the lobby, the crowds of courthouse employees leaving the building unthinkingly surrounded us and we flowed anonymously out to the street.
    I took a deep breath of the cool, fresh air, thinking it would calm me, but instead my stomach suddenly heaved. I looked around, desperate, and puked right there in the gutter.
    “Tandy? Are you okay?” Hugo asked, alarmed.
    I managed to nod as Harry helped me up.
    A woman with a